Reflecting on a year of community, growth and milestones at the Institute for Quantum Computing
As the year draws to a close, we reflect proudly on the accomplishments of the Institute for Quantum Computing’s (IQC) community of researchers, postdoctoral fellows and graduate students for their research excellence, academic achievements and collaborative outreach efforts.
As we look ahead to 2025, we are excited to celebrate the International Year of Quantum as proclaimed by the United Nations, with all of you. We wish all our partners, supporters, collaborators and community a joyful holiday season and a warm welcome to 2025!
Research
In the last fiscal year, IQC members received more than $25 million in funding and have attracted just over $150 million in funding in the last five years. The federal government committed $18.4 million over the next five years through the Strategic Science Fund (SSF) to advance quantum research and innovation. This funding, awarded to IQC Canada Inc., recognizes the Institute for Quantum Computing (IQC) as a cornerstone of Canada’s quantum ecosystem, driving national leadership and excellence in quantum science.This funding is consistent with the $50 million IQC has secured over the last decade.
In 2024, total IQC funded peer-reviewed publications exceeded 3,000 articles and 100,000 citations. We supported 53 postdoctoral fellows working across seven departments and invited 29 local and global postdoctoral fellows and junior professors to join our scientific event of the year, Quantum Innovators (QI). These rising stars of the global quantum science and technology joined the IQC community for a week of seminars, networking and collaboration.
Last year we welcomed new and returning faculty members. Assistant professor Bradley Hauer, who joins IQC from the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, is studying optomechanical systems and superconducting circuits.
Assistant Professor Luke Schaeffer, with the Cheriton School of Computer Science as his home department, is a theorist whose research is focused on quantum complexity theory and exploring quantum chemistry, looking forward to proving ways quantum computers can do things better than classical ones.
5 new startups spun out of IQC research, bringing current active startups to 23.
Photon detector made at IQC launches into space aboard SpaceX flight to find home on the International Space Station.
Speakers at IQC's Quantum Innovators (QI) 2024
People presenting posters at IQC's Quantum Innovators (QI) reception
Student presenting poster at IQC's Quantum Innovators (QI) reception 2024
Training
Graduates seated during the fall 2024 convocation at University of Waterloo
Jack deGooyer, Caroline de Lima Vargas Simões and Sarah Odinotski, IQC PhD students who were awarded the 2024 Vanier Scholarship
Q4Environment challenge winners
Speaker at IQC GSA Student conference 2024
In April, undergraduate and graduates students, and postdoctoral fellows participated in the Quantum for Environment (Q4Environment) Design Challenge hosted by Transformative Quantum Technologies with 12 winners receiving up to $10,000 in funding towards their green-tech solutions. Ideas included using quantum computing to improve medical devices and sensors that can detect microplastics and toxic nanomaterials in our oceans.
In June, three IQC students were awarded the prestigious Vanier Graduate Scholarship valued at $150,000 over three years from Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council (NSERC). In July, the IQC Graduate Student Association hosted the 2024 IQC Student Conference, bringing together 60 attendees to share research, foster collaboration and build community. The conference featured 17 talks, with speakers representing five departments.
Our quantum information graduate programs received 310 applications from across Canada with several hundred more to traditional programs. We congratulated 27 graduates earning 13 master's and 14 PhD degrees.
Outreach
Audiences in Canada and globally continue to be engaged with IQC through conferences and colloquia. IQC delivered over 100 talks across Canada and the globe informing the development of new standards, providing scope for novel legal interpretations and challenging leading researchers.
We also hosted the second annual Quantum Connections conference, welcoming more than 190 researchers, leaders and policymakers.
We continually develop and maintain of large networks of academic and entrepreneurial partnerships worldwide with more than 187 ongoing collaborations in Canada and abroad.
Our outreach efforts exposed 41,000 people to quantum information science. This includes 13,000 people who are deeply engaged - 10,000 of which are Canadian. In addition to the class visits, quantum lab days, science fairs and festivals we participated in, we hosted our annual programs:
Panelists at the Quantum Connections 2024 conference
Quantum for Educators (QEd) participants at the 2024 program
IQC booth at Lumen festival 2024
IQC hosted students from the Canadian Association for Girls In Science (CAGIS)
IQC hosted students from the Canadian Association for Girls In Science (CAGIS)
IQC booth at the UWaterloo Science Open House 2024
Students at the 2024 Undergraduate School on Experimental Quantum Information Processing (USEQIP)
Quantum for Educators (QEd) 2024 participants
Students at the 2024 Undergraduate School on Experimental Quantum Information Processing (USEQIP)
Quantum for Educators (QEd) 2024 participants
