UNM one of three universities awarded $1M grant under the DEPSCoR Capacity Building Competition
May 26, 2023 - Marissa Lucero
The University of New Mexico is in a unique position to continue to strengthen a 25-year track record of excellence in Quantum Information Science and Engineering (QISE) research after receiving a $1 million grant. This week, the Department of Defense (DoD) announced UNM is one of only three universities awarded under its Defense Established Program to Stimulate Competitive Research (DEPSCoR) Capacity Building competition.
DEPSCoR is a capacity-building program designed to strengthen the basic research infrastructure at institutions of higher education in underutilized states. The DoD received 25 competitive Capacity Building proposals, 9 were selected to move forward after initial review, and 3 were eventually awarded.
“DEPSCoR allows us to tap into institutions that have enormous basic research capability – but have been underutilized by DoD – to enhance U.S. science and engineering research capacity both now and in the long term,” said Bindu Nair, DoD Basic Research Office director. “Since the next scientific breakthrough could come from any corner of our nation, growing the department’s ecosystem of creative and insightful researchers is critical to our national security.”
Currently, UNM is home to The Center for Quantum Information and Control (CQuIC) that is focused on theoretical foundations of QISE, and the Center for High Technology Materials (CHTM) that has a long record of conducting research on quantum photonic materials and devices.
The two-year $1 million grant will be used to advance the research ecosystem at UNM by hiring new faculty in photonics-based system-level experimental QISE; this will help provide synergy and critical mass in certain targeted areas of interest to the DoD. Some targeted areas include quantum computing, quantum communications, and workforce development in QISE-relevant areas. The grant will also be used to create and implement a new interdisciplinary graduate degree program in QISE at UNM.
Read more at the UNM Newsroom
