The University of British Columbia expects a $66.5 million grant from the Canada First Research Excellence Fund to create as many as 44 new jobs.
UBC’s Quantum Matter Institute (QMI) will receive the cash over seven years that will help bridge the gap between quantum matter research and industry. UBC officials stated the money will allow them to hire four new professors plus 20 scientists and 20 engineering technologists. The grant will also go towards adding more students and postdoctoral fellows in the area of quantum matter research, as well as developing service contracts with outside companies and international partners.
UBC president Arvind Gupta said the money from the Government of Canada’s research fund has the potential to foster future economic activity as well.
"In the longer term, quantum materials research is expected to translate into practical applications in computing, electronics, medicine and sustainable energy. This has the potential to create spin-off companies, new industries and employment here and abroad.”
Quantum physics studies the behaviour of matter and energy at an atomic level where laws of classic physics do not apply. Discoveries in this field are expected to lead to new technological breakthroughs in multiple sectors including computing, electronics, medicine and sustainable energy technologies.
D-Wave, for example, has been developing the world's first commercially viable quantum computer. And earlier this year, the Burnaby-based company raised $29 million in investment, putting its total funding at $160 million.
"Strategic government support in quantum computing will undoubtedly be highly beneficial for everyone working in this space. This investment validates the hard work of the local quantum research community, and will help maintain Vancouver's reputation as a center for innovation in the field," D-Wave COO Warren Wall said in an email to Business in Vancouver.
UBC’s QMI was launched in 2010 and currently has 13 professors on staff and is expected to add another seven by 2019. QMI became the home of the Max Planck-UBC Centre for Quantum Materials in 2012, the only international Max Planck Centre focused on quantum materials research.
