MCQST mission and goals
The cluster of excellence Munich Center for Quantum Science and Technology (MCQST) comprises seven research units within disciplines such as physics, mathematics, computer science, electrical engineering, material science, and chemistry, covering all areas of Quantum Science and Technology (QST) from basic research to applications.
Its main goal is to build a world-leading center in QST, with a multidisciplinary profile, addressing important scientific and technological questions. It links groundbreaking research with industrial partners, creating a unique environment for Quantum Science and Technology via carefully designed structural measures that will transform the existing scientific and technological environment.
A (qu)bit of background
Quantum Mechanics and Information Science have revolutionized our modern world beyond imagination. Whilst quantum mechanics forms the basis for our understanding of the microscopic world, information science is the basic building block for information processing and communication in our digital age. Today we are witnessing a scientific and technological revolution in which Information Science and Quantum Mechanics no longer stand as separate entities but have been united in the common language of Quantum Information Science.
First developed to describe the working principles of future Quantum Computers, Quantum Information Science has emerged as an even more powerful description of our physical world, with wide-ranging relevance, directly linking fields such as quantum materials and quantum chemistry to seemingly disparate fields such as the cosmology of black holes . At the core of this description is the notion of entanglement, an essential feature without any classical analog that is responsible for a plethora of astonishing phenomena and applications of Quantum Physics.
Big Questions
At MCQST we like to ask big questions, therefore, our research units aim to find the answers to questions such as:
- How can we understand, control and shape entanglement in quantum many-body systems?
- How can we overcome the apparent fragility of quantum information?
- How can we store quantum information over sufficiently long time scales?
- How can we realize high fidelity quantum operations?
- How can we implement quantum error correction without a considerable experimental overhead? How can we engineer quantum materials with tailored properties?
- How can we reach levels of system integration sufficient to increase the technological readiness level of quantum technologies?
Supporting and Promoting Science
With its diverse measures, which include its structured research program, infrastructure measures, its strong support programs (such as the MQC Guest Program, START Fellowship, Gender Diversity Program, etc.) and a public outreach component, it aims to address outstanding challenges in the field. MCQST promotes researchers from vastly different research directions and varied faculties to work together on the key challenges in QST. At the same time, it establishes new opportunities for junior researchers. In addition, MCQST sets to attract scientists throughout the world to come together in Munich to accelerate progress in research and technological developments. Thereby, it educates early career researchers and enhances their international network of collaborators at an early stage.
Munich is in a unique position to form such a world-leading research center in QST due to its longstanding experience, broad and proven interdisciplinary expertise, and outstanding excellence of the participating senior and junior researchers in all core fields of QST. Developing education and support for junior researchers in QST, as well as advancing the strengths of Munich research structures within MCQST will ensure long-term and high-impact research, while at the same time offering an ideal entry point for industry in this increasingly important field.
MCQST is funded by the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG, German Research Foundation) under Germany’s Excellence Strategy. It comprises two of Germany’s most successful universities, the Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München (LMU) and the Technical University of Munich (TUM), as well as the international renowned partner institutions Max Planck Institute of Quantum Optics, Walther-Meissner-Institute and Deutsches Museum.