UCL joined forces with Google to launch a £5.5m Prosperity Partnership, which aims to harness the revolutionary power of quantum computers for applications in modelling and simulation, in a bid to develop the foundation of a quantum software industry in the UK. The initiative, funded by the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC), is a collaboration between the UCL Quantum Science and Technology Institute, Google Quantum AI Lab and the University of Bristol Quantum Information Institute. It also includes UK start-up companies GTN and PhaseCraft. It officially started on the 1st of January 2019.

Quantum computers have tremendous promise to understand and predict the behaviour of materials and chemical reactions – issues that are fundamental to materials and drug discovery. The quantum mechanical effects in these systems makes them very hard to accurately model using current supercomputers. While the performance of quantum computers currently falls short of this promise, the pace of development is rapid. The prosperity partnership was founded to develop the algorithms, verification tools and benchmarks needed to realise the power of quantum simulation and the provide the foundation of a nascent quantum software industry in the UK.

The technical leads on the project from UCL are John Morton, Toby Cubitt, Dan Browne, Andrew Green and Simone Severini.

Hear from the Professor Andrew Green, who will share his journey and involvement throughout this partnership with Google and other quantum hardware companies. The talk will:

Identify the key drivers and critical moments of attaining the prosperity partnership.
Explain how it has evolved since the beginning of the partnership.
Present what he sees as the challenges and opportunities for those wishing to embark on a similar journey in their department.
Draw attention to the benefits this partnership has brought to his academic career, his colleague’s careers, and the LCN.

Please have your questions ready for Andrew.

Location: A1/3 Physics Building (3rd Floor) Gower Street, WC1E 6BT

Prosperity Partnership with Google to Grow Quantum Software Industry