Looking way over that big pond called the Pacific (50 percent bigger than the Atlantic, take that stogy East Coasters) I see that the Australian Research Council has funded two (count’em two!) big quantum centers (the OED tells me that the spelling is “center” and not “centre”—if you want to be historically correct for this definition of the word. I mean, come on upside down people: why follow Chaucer, when you could follow Humphrey Prideaux? Break the bonds of the Queen!) The funded centers are the ARC Centre of Excellence for Engineered Quantum Systems and ARC Centre of Excellence for Quantum Computation and Communication Technology. Both were funded at $24.5 million Australian for five years. Congrats to the teams involved!
O brave new quantum world!
Once again, the US is getting left in the dust.
That’s a pretty long list of partner organizations for a “center”. Maybe they are centers in momentum space?
Just sounds like more money for established institutions. Jobs for the boys again.
Ian, I don’t think so. For instance IARPA just completed a round of funding that is, I believe, larger than this.
Dave: I’ll believe it when I see it (sorry, I’m in a cynical mood).
Thanks Dave! We’re pretty happy about both results. 13 Centres were funded in all, see http://www.arc.gov.au/ncgp/ce/selection_report11.htm for a list. Actually there’s more depth in quantum in Australia than even this happy result suggests: I believe there is some quantum info stuff also in the Optics Centre (Ultrahigh Bandwidth Devices for Optical Systems), and our colleagues in the Australian Centre for Quantum-Atom Optics made the final short-list of 18 Centres, but just missed out on funding – at least this time!
Kea, while I appreciate cynicism as much, if not more, than the next person, it’s best to base it on facts lest people think you are a tool. Just sayin’.