Announcing a research alliance between AWS and Harvard University

Quantum science is progressing rapidly: in recent decades it has emerged from textbooks to enable tools we use in everyday life, such as lasers and GPS. Amazon, which is already involved in quantum computing, recently announced the creation of the AWS Center for Quantum Networking. That effort will focus on a more overlooked facet of quantum technology: networking and communication, aiming to connect quantum computers into a network, like the internet. Quantum networks could enable new technologies such as secure communication channels and powerful quantum computing clusters. With this new technology, there are both engineering and scientific challenges to be resolved on the way to building global quantum networks.

Today, AWS is announcing a research alliance with Harvard University to address the fundamental scientific challenges associated with building quantum networks. For more than 20 years, Harvard researchers have been on the leading edge of quantum technology, with a diverse research portfolio in solid-state physics, nanofabrication, quantum optics, and quantum computing and communications. Harvard researchers have been at the forefront of solving important technical problems in quantum networking. In 2020, scientists from the Harvard Quantum Initiative performed a groundbreaking demonstration increasing the usable range of a quantum network beyond the standard transmission limit using a quantum memory. In addition to the cutting-edge research, Harvard has a nanofabrication facility at the Center for Nanoscale Systems, which is available for industrial partners, and forms an ecosystem for many successful high-tech start-ups led by Harvard researchers.

The AWS Center for Quantum Networking is located in the Boston area, allowing for cooperation between scientists at AWS and Harvard. This new AWS research alliance will further bolster scientific research and support education of a diverse group of quantum scientists and engineers by providing funding for advanced quantum networking research, engineering, and fabrication. As noted in President Biden’s recent directives, these advances in quantum technology will not be possible without qualified researchers.

To support the development of a diverse quantum workforce, AWS established the “AWS Generation Q Fund at the Harvard Quantum Initiative.” Generation Q will enable the Harvard Quantum Initiative to offer new fellowship programs for post-baccalaureates, graduate students, and postdocs to train the next-generation of quantum scientists and engineers. Mikhail Lukin, a Harvard Physics Professor and the co-director of the Harvard Quantum Initiative, underscores the importance of the Generation Q Fund: “There is a shortage of qualified quantum-educated workforce, and it’s not just physicists but engineers and even people involved in running these businesses. We’re in a unique position to contribute: Essentially, all major quantum research centers in the US and abroad have several faculty members and group leaders who have been educated at Harvard.”

This alliance will add a new chapter to a successful story of collaboration between Amazon and leading research institutions and academics, which spans the fields from machine learning and artificial intelligence through health science and quantum physics.