Quantum Information Graduate Program at Waterloo

The University of Waterloo is adding a quantum information graduate program, one step closer to being able to get a Ph.D. purely in quantum information. Application details here. Description of the program below the fold.

About the Program
The University of Waterloo, in collaboration with the Institute for Quantum Computing, offers graduate students unique opportunities to learn about and engage in world-leading research in quantum information through a wide range of advanced research projects and advanced courses on the foundations, applications and implementations of quantum information processing.
The new collaborative graduate program in Quantum Information leads to MMath, MSc, MASc, and PhD degrees. Students complete the requirements of both their home program and the specific requirements of the quantum information (QI) program to achieve the special QI designation. (E.g., MMath in Computer Science (Quantum Information), PhD in Chemistry (Quantum Information), MASc in Electrical and Computer Engineering (Quantum Information)).
MMath, MSc, and MASc students will receive a strong and broad foundation in quantum information science, coupled with knowledge and expertise from their home program. This will prepare them for the workforce or further graduate studies and research leading towards a PhD.
PhD students will be prepared for careers as scholars and researchers, with advanced expertise in quantum information science, along with the focus of their home program. The new program is designed to provide knowledge of quantum information, including theory and implementations, their home program discipline, and also developed advanced expertise in their particular research area within quantum information.
At present, IQC has a critical mass of expertise in several major research areas within quantum information, including:
Quantum Algorithms and Complexity
Quantum Information and Communication
Quantum Cryptography
Quantum Error Correction and Fault-tolerance
Spin-based implementations
Quantum Optics-based implementations
Nanoelectronics-based implementations.
New State-of-the-Art Building
In line with the expansion goals of the Institute for Quantum Computing, a new, state-of-the-art building for the Institute is on the way, as part of the Mike and Ophelia Lazaridis Quantum-Nano Centre (QNC). The building will contain a new fabrication and metrology facility, and a suite of laboratories for research in areas including quantum optics, nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) and electron spin resonance (ESR), quantum dots, superconducting qubits, coherent spintronics and quantum cryptography. The building will host IQC researchers from all three faculties (Engineering, Mathematics and Science) starting in 2011, and will have formal and informal meeting spaces designed to facilitate interaction and interdisciplinary research.
Courses
Students in all three faculties will be required to take two core quantum information courses (and must also meet the course requirements of their home program). These interdisciplinary courses provide a strong foundation in quantum information science.
The two required core quantum information courses are:
QIC 710: Quantum Information Processing
QIC 750: Implementation of Quantum Information Processing
PhD students are also required to take two additional courses in quantum information, and fulfill a research seminar requirement, a comprehensive exam and a thesis in quantum information
In addition to the two core courses, students will be able to take a wide range of advanced courses within quantum information, offered by leading researchers in the field.
Eligible supervisors include the core IQC faculty:
Jonathan Baugh
Andrew Childs
Richard Cleve
Joseph Emerson
Thomas Jennewein
Raymond Laflamme
Debbie Leung
Adrian Lupascu
Norbert Lütkenhaus
Hamed Majedi
Michele Mosca
Ashwin Nayak
Ben Reichardt
Kevin Resch
John Watrous
Frank Wilhelm
as well as a wide range of Associate and Affiliate Members of IQC and the University of Waterloo, including:
Daniel Gottesman
Thorsten Hesjedal
Achim Kempf
David Kribs
Jan Kycia
Anthony Leggett
Robert Mann
James Martin
Roger Melko
Bill Power
Pierre-Nicholas Roy
Contact Information:
Inquiries can be directed to Michele Mosca, Program Director at grad [at symbol]iqc.ca .

The list of advisors is impressive, rivaled by no other university in quantum computing as far as I know.

5 Replies to “Quantum Information Graduate Program at Waterloo”

  1. This is the natural follow-on to the one-year Perimeter Scholars International (PSI) Program, in which students simultaneously earn a Masters Degree in Physics from the University of Waterloo *and* a Perimeter Scholars International Certificate (PSIC).
    As recently written-up in McSweeney’s Literary Quarterly #32!
    Seriously, these are quite wonderful programs … PSI, U-Waterloo, *and* McSweeney’s Literary Quarterly. 🙂

  2. Unless, of course, you want to get a job in the Waterloo area 🙂 (But yes, “lots” of postdocs, very few faculty positions, with experiment faring better than theory.)
    But that withstanding are you in a CS field anon? I’m always amazed when I read CS theory blogs how many commentors are anonymous. I think that’s the sign of a very unhealthy field.

  3. Oh and I’m not trying to criticize you anon for your comment…it’s entirely understandable given talking about “jobs” is taboo in most of academia! But I find it amazing on the theory CS blogs when the subject isn’t even about such topics that the comments are all anonymous.

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