Federal Grant Award Summary

The National Science Foundation (NSF) awarded a $468,145 Project Grant to the University of California, San Diego under the Computer and Information Science and Engineering (CISE) program (CFDA 47.070) for a five-year period beginning April 1, 2026 and concluding March 31, 2031. The project, titled "CAREER: Frontiers of Low-Depth Quantum Advantage," advances theoretical research demonstrating quantum computational superiority over classical computing methods. The award supports development of new mathematical techniques and lower bound methods to provide evidence that certain computational tasks can be performed more efficiently through parallel quantum algorithms than through classical computer approaches, with particular focus on low-depth quantum circuits that may maintain asymptotic quantum advantage while mitigating noise challenges inherent in scaling quantum experiments.

In addition to core research deliverables, the project includes educational initiatives designed to broaden access to quantum computing theory at both the university level and for external researchers seeking to understand the theoretical foundations of quantum advantage. These initiatives address fundamental barriers in complexity theory that have historically prevented proofs of unconditional quantum advantage, while exploring approaches to achieve quantum advantage in constant-depth circuit models despite noise constraints that have limited asymptotic advantages in popular experimental methods such as random circuit sampling.