Good Afternoon,

 

DARPA is soliciting innovative approaches to address challenges related to quantum computing and will hold old virtual office hours for this opportunity on March 4, 2022 from 11am-2pm. Additional information can be found in the synopsis below:

DARPA Underexplored Systems for Utility-Scale Quantum Computing (US2QC)
Sponsor Deadline for Abstracts (required): March 23, 2022
FAS/SEAS/OSP Deadline: 5 business days prior to submission
Sponsor Deadline for Oral Proposal Packages (if invited): May 19, 2022
Award Amount: The resources made available under this BAA will depend on the quality of the proposals received and the availability of funds.

DARPA’s Defense Sciences Office (DSO) is soliciting innovative approaches to address challenges related to quantum computing. The program Underexplored Systems for Utility-Scale Quantum Computing (US2QC) will explore innovative approaches to constructing a utility-scale fault-tolerant quantum computer. The US2QC program has a flexible acquisition strategy designed to fund efforts that are mutually beneficial for both the U.S. Government and for potential proposers who may already be expending significant resources to realize rapid progress in quantum computing systems. In particular, the US2QC program will add value to existing efforts by:

1. providing sufficient funding to ensure that interaction with the U.S. Government either accelerates or does not reduce an organization’s current rate of progress towards a utility-scale quantum computer;
2. providing unbiased verification and validation of an organization’s path to a utility-scale quantum computer; and
3. effectively communicating the results of this verification and validation effort to other U.S. Government stakeholders.

The US2QC program is not a competition between performers; DARPA is interested in pursuing all viable approaches for which there is available funding.

Please note that DARPA will hold optional virtual office hours for this opportunity on March 4, 2022 from 11am-2pm EST. Interested parties must register for office hours by 5:00pm EST on March 2, 2022 or when capacity is reached, whichever comes first. There will also be an opportunity to meet individually with the program manager (PM), Dr. Joe Altepeter. Twelve-minute individual virtual meetings will be held on March 7, 2022 and March 8, 2022 between 9:00am and 5:00pm EST. Please request an individual/team (limited to four people per team) session via the registration website. Requests should be received no later than the registration cutoff date. Individual meetings will be scheduled on a first-come, first-served, and PM-availability basis and limited to two per institution.

Questions from FAS and SEAS investigators regarding this opportunity may be directed to Erin Hale (erin_hale@fas.harvard.edu) or Susan Gomes (sgomes@fas.harvard.edu).