Two of the United Kingdom’s leading university’s University College London (UCL) and the University of Bristol have partnered with cloud giant
Google. Located in Bloomsbury, central London, UCL is the UK’s third largest university in terms of enrolment and has a very strong focus on research. It is the country’s largest postgraduate university. Located in the west of England, the University of Bristol is a ‘red brick’ established in 1909. Google will work with the universities on growing the UK’s quantum software industry.
The ‘Prosperity Partnership’ is purportedly costing £5.5 million ($7.24 million) and will investigate using quantum computers in the modelling and simulation of applications. The initiative has been funded by the UK’s Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) and brings together Google Quantum AI Lab and the UCL Quantum Science and Technology Institute alongside the University of Bristol Quantum Information Institute. British startups PhaseCraft and GTN are also involved.
Quantum simulation is used to understand how chemical reactions and materials interact and behave. Together the organizations involved aim to discover of new chemicals, drugs and other materials. "Quantum computers are poised to surpass the capabilities of today's supercomputers,” explained Professor John Morton of UCL Quantum Science and Technology Institute on the organization’s website. “This partnership will develop quantum software to exploit this computational power, leading to the discovery of new materials, chemicals and drugs, impacting sectors including energy, transport and healthcare."
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