Energy Department Announces $625 Million to Advance the Next Phase of National Quantum Information Science Research Centers

WASHINGTON— The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) today announced $625 million in funding to renew its five National Quantum Information Science (QIS) Research Centers, originally established under the National Quantum Initiative Act signed into law by President Trump in December 2018.

The renewal of DOE’s National Quantum Information Science Research Centers advances President Trump’s directive to restore American leadership in quantum science and technology. The DOE is aligning its quantum research enterprise with national priorities, focusing resources on advancing critical R&D across the American QIS, strengthening the quantum innovation ecosystem, accelerating discoveries that power next-generation technologies, and securing American leadership in quantum computing, hardware, and applications.

“President Trump positioned America to lead the world in quantum science and technology and today, a new frontier of scientific discovery lies before us. Breakthroughs in QIS have the potential to revolutionize the ways we sense, communicate, and compute, sparking entirely new technologies and industries,” said U.S. Department of Energy Under Secretary for Science Darío Gil. “The renewal of DOE’s National Quantum Information Science Research Centers will empower America to secure our advantage in pioneering the next generation of scientific and engineering advancements needed for this technology.”

Each NQISRC:

• Supports fundamental science with disruptive potential across quantum computing, simulation, networking, and sensing.
• Develops unique tools, equipment, and instrumentation that unlock transformative new QIS capabilities.
• Advances quantum technology through application to DOE’s most pressing scientific and national security challenge areas.
• Establishes community resources, workforce opportunities, and industry partnerships to strengthen the entire QIS ecosystem.

Center renewals include:

• Co-design Center for Quantum Advantage (C2QA) – Brookhaven National Laboratory will advance quantum computing and sensing by improving materials used in superconducting and plasma-grown, diamond-based quantum devices and developing modular approaches for superconducting and neutral-atom systems.
• Superconducting Quantum Materials and Systems Center (SQMS) – Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory will scale quantum devices based on superconducting microwave cavities, developing new methods of refrigeration and technologies for connecting many quantum processors to lay the groundwork for quantum data centers.
• Q-NEXT– Argonne National Laboratory will advance algorithms and chip components to scale quantum operations on the same chip and across different labs and cities, preserving entanglement and prototyping next-generation quantum sensors.
• Quantum Systems Accelerator (QSA) – Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory will enable large-scale quantum computers through improved error correction using neutral atom, ion, and superconducting circuits to tackle DOE grand challenges in fundamental physics, chemistry, and emergent quantum phenomena.
• Quantum Science Center (QSC) – Oak Ridge National Laboratory will pioneer quantum-accelerated high-performance computing, developing open-source software for quantum-classical workflows that accelerate scientific advancements across multiple disciplines.

The awards were selected by competitive peer review under the DOE National Laboratory Program Announcement for the National Quantum Information Science Research Centers.

Total funding is $625 million for awards lasting up to 5 years in duration, with $125 million in Fiscal Year 2025 dollars and outyear funding contingent on congressional appropriations. The list of awards and more information can be found on the QIS initiative homepage. More information about the centers can be found on NQISRC.org.

Selection for award negotiations is not a commitment by DOE to issue an award or provide funding. Before funding is issued, DOE and the applicants will undergo a negotiation process, and DOE may cancel negotiations and rescind the selection for any reason during that time.