Events

Compilation in the NISQ, FTQC, and hybrid quantum-classical era 

Organizers: Kate Smith, Nikos Hardavellas, Neelesh Patankar, Enectali Figueroa-Feliciano, Begum Gulsoy (Northwestern)

Scope: Effective quantum computing systems require a complementary software stack to execute quantum programs. Further, robust and scalable compilers will help quantum applications and hardware reach their full potential. Compilation plays a central role in translating high-level quantum programs into hardware-executable instructions that maximize the utility of limited quantum resources. By integrating both the context of algorithm along with hardware-awareness into the compilation process, quantum compilers can reduce execution overheads, improve fidelity, and enable hybrid quantum-classical workflows that bring practical applications closer to reality. 

This workshop will explore the open questions and opportunities in quantum compilation, from designing intermediate representations (IRs) that balance generality and performance between the algorithmic, logical, and physical layers to embedding calibration and noise models directly into compilation pipelines. Additionally, the development of language features and abstractions that make quantum programming accessible to a broader community, increasing the adoption and exploration of the technology. Topics include compiler support for error detection, mitigation, and correction, cross-layer integration between algorithms and hardware, intermediate representations, optimized mapping, gate synthesis, scheduling, routing, noise suppression, standardization, software engineering principles, benchmarking and debugging methods tailored to quantum information’s probabilistic nature. By bringing together experts from academia, industry, and national labs, this workshop aims to define key research challenges, foster collaboration across the software-hardware stack, and accelerate progress toward robust, scalable, and performance-optimized quantum computing systems. 

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The annual Chicago Quantum Summit engages scientific and government leaders, the industries that will scale and drive the applications of emerging quantum research, and the trainees that will lead this future. Focusing on fostering a domestic and international community, experts discuss the future of quantum information science and technology research, the companies in the quantum ecosystem, and strategies to educate and build tomorrow’s quantum workforce.

Learn about the 2025 Summit

Purchase tickets for the 2025 Summit

ANL Event in partnership with NAISE & INQUIRE

Location / Time: Hyde Park Labs, 5207 S Harper Avenue, Chicago IL 60615 / 9:00AM - 12:00PM

Scope: The Quantum Prairie Economic Symposium is an opportunity for Chicago-area small businesses, nonprofit organizations and municipalities to connect with experts in quantum information science and to learn how they can join the vibrant Chicago-area quantum community. 

The half-day symposium will feature a keynote address, a panel on the economic and research impacts of quantum information science, and a panel on the importance of growing a quantum workforce.

As a member of a small business or nonprofit or as a representative of a Chicagoland town or county, you will have the chance to network with the quantum information science community, become familiar with the quantum activity happening in your backyard, and learn what all the quantum buzz is about.

Registration (and additional information): Coming soon.

Organizers:  Argonne National Laboratory, Northwestern (NAISE & INQUIRE), Chicago Quantum Exchange, University of Chicago (Polsky Center & Pritzker School of Molecular Engineering), University of Wisconsin-Madison 

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Date: November 6 and 7, 2025
Location: The Guild Lounge | Scott Hall
601 University Place, Evanston, IL 60208

More details to be shared soon! Click here to learn more. 

Check the Chicago Quantum Exchange (CQE) events calendar for regularly rescheduled in-person and online events.

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The Institute for Quantum Information Research and Engineering (INQUIRE) is pleased to welcome Professor Dirk M. Guldi from Friedrich Alexander University Erlangen-Nürnberg, hosted by Professor Michael Wasielewski.

INQUIRE Seminar
Date: Monday, September 29
Time: 11:00am (CT)
Location: Ryan 4003 (map | directions)

Title: Adaptive Photon Management – From Light Capture to Conversion and Storage
Abstract: Efficient photovoltaics (PV) require capturing and converting solar energy across a broad range of energy. Losses due to thermalization and sub-bandgap place, however, significant boundaries on the performance of solar cells. For conventional single-junction cells, the theoretical maximum power conversion efficiency is capped at 33%, a constraint known as the detailed balance limit. Realizing the full potential of PVs requires developing novel strategies to overcome this fundamental obstacle. 

For high-energy photons that exceed the semiconductor’s bandgap energy, singlet fission (SF) is a down-conversion pathway to mitigate thermalization losses. SF is a process in organic materials, in which a singlet excited state is split into two independent triplet states, effectively doubling the number of charge carriers. Pentacenes stand out among acenes due to their exergonic nature of SF. Numerous molecular pentacene dimers have been synthesized to elucidate the relationship between structure and enhancing SF efficiency. A broader light-harvesting range of SF materials is realized by covalently attaching complementary absorbing energy donors to set up energy donor-acceptor conjugates. Förster resonance energy transfer (FRET) is operative in these energy-donor chromophores and extends the effective absorption of SF materials as they efficiently transfer their absorbed excitation energy. Our studies on various binding motifs show that FRET efficiency depends not only on parameters like the energy donor-acceptor distance and spectral overlap but also on subtle factors such as the alignment of transition dipoles, which significantly affect the energy transfer dynamics and efficiency.

Turning to low-energy photons, triplet-triplet annihilation up-conversion (TTA-UC) provides a means of light up-conversion and, thereby, the reduction of sub-bandgap losses. In TTA-UC, a singlet excited state that is potent enough to generate charge carriers is formed by combining two triplet excitons. It is effectively the reverse process of SF. The higher triplet energy of tetracene and an endergonic SF, renders them highly effective for TTA-UC. We focus on various tetracene-based systems that maximize TTA-UC efficiency.

The strategies outlined in this presentation illustrate that acenes are valuable for addressing mechanistic losses in conventional solar cells. In the final part, light storage following SF by means of interfacial electron transfer are examined. 

About Prof. Guldi: Dirk M. Guldi completed both his undergraduate studies (1988) and PhD (1990) at the University of Cologne (Germany). Following postdoctoral appointments at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (USA), the Hahn-Meitner Institute Berlin (1992), and Syracuse University, he joined the faculty of the Notre Dame Radiation Laboratory in 1995.  He was promoted a year later from assistant to associate professional specialist and remained affiliated to Notre Dame until 2004.  Since 2004, he is Full Professor in the Department of Chemistry and Pharmacy at the Friedrich-Alexander University in Erlangen.  Since 2018, Dirk M. Guldi is Co-Editor in Chief of Nanoscale and Nanoscale Horizons and he has been named among the world’s Highly Cited Researchers by Thomson Reuters next to the World’s Top 2% Scientists.

The Guldi group and its network belong to the cutting edge of worldwide research in solar-energy conversion with expertise not only in advanced photon- and charge-management without losing sight of the ultimate objective of developing integrated solar energy-to-chemical fuel conversion systems, which in the future can be utilized in real devices.  Impressive documentations of their accomplishments are more than 800 peer-reviewed publications, close to 55,000 citations, and an h-index of 112.  At the heart is always a multifaceted and interdisciplinary research program, where his group designs, conceptually devises, synthesizes, tests, and characterizes novel nanometer scale materials with the objective of using them in solar energy conversion schemes.  

A broad range of spectroscopic (i.e. time-resolved and steady-state measurements with spectrophotometric detection covering a time range from femtoseconds to minutes) and microscopic techniques (i.e. scanning probe microscopy, electron microscopy) are routinely employed to address aspects that correspond to the optimization and fine-tuning of dynamics and/or efficiencies of charge separation, charge transport, charge shift, and charge recombination processes.

Hosted by Michael Wasielewski.

N'Tangled is back! N’Tangled is INQUIRE’s networking initiative connecting Quantum Information Science and Engineering (QISE) students and postdocs for collaboration and professional growth.

Join us for an afternoon of networking, collaboration, and discovery!

Event Details:
Date: Friday, September 19
Time: 1:00 – 3:00pm
Location: Tech J Wing Atrium (J205)
RSVP: N’Tangled - Sept. 19

This event is designed for QISE students and postdocs looking to connect, collaborate, and grow professionally. Don’t miss out on this exciting chance to engage with the QISE community!

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Join the fourth cohort of Open Quantum Initiative fellows as they present summaries of their summer quantum information science and engineering research. CQE members and partners are invited to attend, meet the fellows, and share opportunities for the following summer. 

OQI Fellow Research Presentations
Date: Friday, August 29
Time: 10:00am – 11:45am
Location: Tech F160

Agenda:

Join us for the N’Tangled Kickoff Event as we celebrate International Quantum Day with an afternoon of networking, collaboration, and discovery!

N’tangled is INQUIRE’s networking initiative connecting Quantum Information Science and Engineering (QISE) students and postdocs for collaboration and professional growth.

Event Details:
Date: Monday, April 14th
Time: 1:00 – 3:00 PM
Location: Tech J Wing Atrium (J205)
RSVP: N'Tangled Kickoff

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WHAT: 2024 Quantum Information Research and Engineering Meeting
WHEN: October 1, 2024
WHERE: James Allen Center, 2169 Campus Dr.
The INQUIRE Fall Meeting serves as a catalyst for cross-university discussion on the latest advancements in quantum information science. This meeting will serve as a platform for fostering collaboration, sharing research insights, and exploring strategic initiatives to elevate INQUIRE’s impact within the quantum community.

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WHAT: Town Talks | "Beam Me Up, Scotty" Demystifying the Quantum World
WHEN: June 11, 2024
WHERE: Telluride Science & Innovation Center
Michael R. Wasielewski, Northwestern University Clare Hamilton Hall Professor of Chemistry and Director of the Center for Molecular Quantum Transduction (CMQT), will take part in a Town Talk with the Telluride Science & Innovation Center. The event was recorded for the "Science Straight Up" podcast. Listen to episode.

WHAT: Town Talks | "Beam Me Up, Scotty" Demystifying the Quantum World
WHEN: June 11, 2024
WHERE: Telluride Science & Innovation Center
Michael R. Wasielewski, Northwestern University Clare Hamilton Hall Professor of Chemistry and Director of the Center for Molecular Quantum Transduction (CMQT), will take part in a Town Talk with the Telluride Science & Innovation Center. The event was recorded for the "Science Straight Up" podcast. Listen to episode.

WHAT: US Quantum Information Science Summer School
WHEN: August 6 -15, 2023
WHERE: Fermilab in Batavia, Illinois
A hands-on, lecture-integrated summer school program for undergraduates, grad students, postdocs, scientists, engineers and technicians.  Learn from QIS experts across national labs, academia and industry. Learn More.

Who: Ania Jayich, Professor of Physics from University of California, Santa Barbara (website)

**Postponed due to COVID-19**

WHO: John Martinis – Google & University of California, Santa Barbara

WHEN: Fri., Jan. 31, 4:00-5:00 pm ** Refreshments will be served at 3:45 PM **

WHERE: Technological Institute, 2145 Sheridan Road, Room LR3

ABSTRACT: The promise of quantum computers is that certain computational tasks might be executed exponentially faster on a quantum processor than on a classical processor. A fundamental challenge is to build a high-fidelity processor capable of running quantum algorithms in an exponentially large computational space. Here we report the use of a processor with programmable superconducting qubits to create quantum states on 53 qubits, corresponding to a computational state-space of dimension 2^53 (about 10^16). Measurements from repeated experiments sample the resulting probability distribution, which we verify using classical simulations. Our Sycamore processor takes about 200 seconds to sample one instance of a quantum circuit a million times—our benchmarks currently indicate that the equivalent task for a state-of-the-art classical supercomputer would take approximately 10,000 years. This dramatic increase in speed compared to all known classical algorithms is an experimental realization of quantum supremacy for this specific computational task, heralding a much-anticipated computing paradigm.

Part of the Chicago Quantum Exchange Seminar Series

WHO: Ezekiel Johnston-Halperin – Professor, Department of Physics, Ohio State University

WHEN: Wed., Jan. 22, 11 am – 12 pm

WHERE: Ryan Hall, 2190 Campus Drive, Room 4003

ABSTRACT: The study of quantum coherent magnonic interactions relies implicitly on the ability to excite and exploit long lived spin wave excitations in a magnetic material. That requirement has led to the nearly universal reliance on yittrium iron garnet (YIG), which for half a century has reigned as the unchallenged leader in high-Q, low loss magnetic resonance, and more recently in the exploration of coherent quantum coupling between magnonic and spin or superconducting degrees of freedom. Surprisingly, the organic-based ferrimagnet vanadium tetracyanoethylene (V[TCNE]2) has recently emerged as a compelling alternative to YIG. Here, we will present evidence of coherent magnonic excitations in V[TCNE]2 thin films and nanostructures, pointing to magnon-magnon coupling that can be tuned into the strong coupling regime and spin-magnon coupling that allows for the transduction of quantum information from 0D to extended quantum states. These results demonstrate the remarkable potential for these structures to play a major role in the emerging field of quantum magnonics, with applications ranging from the creation of highly coherent magnon crystals to quantum sensing and information.

May 31, 2019
4:00 PM – 5:00 PM  

The proton and neutron, known as nucleons, are the fundamental building blocks of all atomic nuclei and make up essentially all the visible matter in the universe, including the stars, the planets, and us. The nucleon emerges as a strongly interacting, relativistic bound state of quarks and gluons in Quantum Chromodynamics (QCD), and has a complex internal structure only beginning to be revealed in modern experiments and lattice QCD calculations. Both theory and experimental technology have now reached a point where human is capable of exploring the inner structure of nucleons and nuclei at sub-femtometer distance, which is expected to lead to a new emerging science of nuclear femtography. In this talk, I will demonstrate that as exciting as the nano-science and technology has been, there must be a quantum transition when we enter the era of femto-science and technology. The newly upgraded CEBAF facility at Jefferson Lab and proposed Electron-Ion Collider (EIC) to be built in the US will be a pair of complementary and much needed facilities for exploring the nuclear femtography. They are the most powerful tomographic scanners able to precisely image quarks and gluons inside the proton and nuclei with a sub-femtometer resolution. The new CEBAF and EIC will address the most compelling unanswered questions about the elementary building blocks of the visible world, and are capable of taking us to the next frontier of the Standard Model of physics.

Event Information

May 29, 2019
2:00 PM – 3:30 PM

Recent advances in magnetism research are likely to have an important impact on electronics and information processing. These advances use the electron’s magnetic moment (spin) to transmit, write and store information. They enable new devices that operate at high speed with very low energy consumption. The information is stored in the orientation of electron magnetic moments in magnetic materials and can persist without power; energy is only needed to change the information. In this talk,  Prof. Andrew D. Kent will highlight the new physics concepts and materials that have enabled these advances and discuss some of their applications in information processing.

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April 26, 2019
4:00 PM – 5:00 PM  

Quantum mechanics plays a crucial, albeit often overlooked, role in our understanding of the Earth’s climate. In this talk by Dr. Brad Marston, three well known aspects of quantum mechanics are invoked to present a simple physical picture of what will happen as the concentrations of greenhouse gases such as carbon dioxide continue to increase. Historical and paleoclimatic records are interpreted with some basic astronomy, fluid mechanics, and the use of fundamental laws of physics such as the conservation of angular momentum. And, as a consequence of the rotation of the Earth that breaks time reversal symmetry, equatorially trapped Kelvin and Yanai waves emerge as topologically protected edge modes. Thus amazingly the oceans and atmosphere of Earth naturally share basic physics with topological insulators. Dr. Marston discussing some ways that physics might be able to contribute to a deeper understanding of climate change.

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April 17, 2019
12:00 PM – 1:00 PM

Dervis Can Vural is an Assistant Professor specializing in condensed matter and biophysics. Professor Can Vural is interested in systems where (1) disorder and (2) strong interactions plays an important role. He uses analytic and computational approaches to solve many-body problems in statistical mechanics, condensed matter physics, and theoretical biology. Research themes include complex networks, population genetics and evolution, disordered / soft materials, many-body quantum mechanics, inverse problems, reliability theory, swarms and active matter.

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In October 2018, the Northwestern Office for Research hosted a symposium to explore of the state of quantum research at Northwestern University, identify Northwestern’s expertise, and catalyze new connections across the University. Over 35 speakers from 6 departments across McCormick School of Engineering and Weinberg College of Arts and Sciences presented their quantum-related research.

Agenda and information is available (Northwestern NetID required).