- June 30, 2026
- By UMIACS Communications Staff
Three University of Maryland faculty members are part of two new National Science Foundation (NSF) projects that aim to overcome one of quantum computing’s biggest challenges: correcting errors well enough to make large-scale, practical quantum computers possible.
Adjunct Professor Alexey Gorshkov and Assistant Adjunct Professor Victor Albert, both in the Department of Physics, are contributing to a project developing fault-tolerant quantum computing systems, while computer science Associate Professor Xiaodi Wu joined a separate effort exploring new approaches to quantum error correction.
The two projects involving UMD researchers are among five NSF design efforts announced last week, with each receiving $4 million over two years. Together, the projects will help shape the National Science Foundation's National Quantum Virtual Laboratory (NQVL), a national initiative to accelerate the development of quantum technologies.
The NQVL is intended to provide researchers across the country with access to specialized facilities, tools and expertise needed to develop next-generation quantum technologies. The initiative is part of NSF’s broader effort to strengthen U.S. leadership in quantum science and technology and advance the goals of the National Quantum Initiative Act.
Gorshkov and Albert are also physicists at the National Institute of Standards and Technology and fellows in the Joint Center for Quantum Information and Computer Science (QuICS) and both hold adjunct appointments in the University of Maryland Institute for Advanced Computer Studies (UMIACS). They are contributing to Accelerating Fault-Tolerant Quantum Logic, a UCLA-led project to speed the development by simultaneously designing quantum error-correcting codes, hardware systems and algorithms rather than developing each component independently.
Wu, who has a joint appointment in UMIACS and is also a QuICS fellow, is part of Erasure Qubits and Dynamic Circuits for Quantum Advantage. The Yale-led project is developing new approaches to error detection and correction using superconducting quantum hardware that can identify when and where certain errors occur.
NSF expects to select the first projects to advance from the design phase to implementation later this year, subject to congressional appropriations.