MSCA-backed QuBriC brings Alice & Bob into Europe’s quantum error correction push

QuBriC, Europe's inaugural Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions (MSCA) Doctoral Network focused on quantum error correction (QEC), has welcomed the quantum computing scaleup Alice & Bob into its ranks. The network comprises 16 universities and seven quantum companies across Europe, including ETH Zürich, TU Delft, UCL, INRIA, Riverlane, and IQM, all dedicated to recruiting and training 15 doctoral researchers.

Backed by a €4.6 million investment from Horizon Europe's MSCA programme over 48 months, the network aims to cultivate a new generation of researchers capable of addressing quantum computing's most significant technical challenge: quantum error correction.

Quantum error correction is widely regarded as the key to constructing scalable, fault-tolerant quantum computers. However, expertise in this field remains fragmented, with researchers often specializing in either classical coding theory or quantum physics. QuBriC seeks to bridge this divide by training researchers across the complete quantum error correction spectrum, from theoretical foundations and algorithms to hardware implementation.

As an industry partner, Alice & Bob will contribute expertise in cat-qubit-based error correction, providing the network with access to a pipeline of highly specialized talent and a closely aligned academic network focused on fault-tolerant quantum computing. For the company, participation in QuBriC offers opportunities to shape research agendas and collaborate with a future-oriented academic community.

Christophe Vuillot, Principal Research Scientist at Alice & Bob, emphasized the network's significance, stating that QuBriC brings together leading universities, research institutes, and quantum companies to train researchers and close the gaps between seemingly separate disciplines like quantum information, coding theory, and hardware engineering. The next generation of researchers emerging from this network will be crucial in accelerating the development of useful, fault-tolerant quantum computers.

Guided by Nobel Prize-winning researchers, Alice & Bob specializes in cat qubits, a technology developed by the company's founders. The company aims to create the first universal, fault-tolerant quantum computer, demonstrating the potential of its cat architecture by showing that it could reduce hardware requirements for building large-scale quantum computers up to 200 times compared to competing approaches. Founded in 2020, Alice & Bob has secured €180 million in funding and employs over 250 people.