Gender imbalance in Physics remains a persistent global challenge, and Brazil is no exception. While women account for only 24% of Physics faculty in the country, their representation in Quantum Physics is even smaller. In this work, we provide the first comprehensive overview of women working in Theoretical Quantum Physics in Brazil, here referred to as the SheQ (She + Quantum) community. Using data from the CNPq Lattes platform, we identify 93 researchers and analyze their geographic distribution, academic trajectories, scientific productivity, international experience, recognition through awards and fellowships, and engagement with initiatives promoting gender equity. Our results reveal both progress and persistent disparities: SheQ researchers have a strong scientific output, leadership roles, and international training; yet, their recognition through productivity fellowships remains modest, and their involvement in gender-related initiatives, although increasing among younger generations, remains limited. By combining quantitative indicators with institutional perspectives, we highlight structural barriers as well as opportunities for fostering a more inclusive environment in Quantum Physics. his study thus contributes to a broader reflection on how diversity not only promotes fairness but also strengthens creativity, innovation, and scientific progress.
Gender imbalance in Physics remains a persistent global challenge, and Brazil is no exception. While women account for only 24% of Physics faculty in the country, their representation in Quantum Physics is even smaller. In this work, we provide the first comprehensive overview of women working in Theoretical Quantum Physics in Brazil, here referred to as the SheQ (She + Quantum) community. Using data from the CNPq Lattes platform, we identify 93 researchers and analyze their geographic distribution, academic trajectories, scientific productivity, international experience, recognition through awards and fellowships, and engagement with initiatives promoting gender equity. Our results reveal both progress and persistent disparities: SheQ researchers have a strong scientific output, leadership roles, and international training; yet, their recognition through productivity fellowships remains modest, and their involvement in gender-related initiatives, although increasing among younger generations, remains limited. By combining quantitative indicators with institutional perspectives, we highlight structural barriers as well as opportunities for fostering a more inclusive environment in Quantum Physics. his study thus contributes to a broader reflection on how diversity not only promotes fairness but also strengthens creativity, innovation, and scientific progress.
Context: Quantum Software Engineering (QSE) has emerged as a promising discipline to support the development of quantum applications by integrating quantum computing principles with established software engineering practices. Problem: Despite recent growth, QSE still lacks standardized methodologies, tools, and guidelines. Moreover, countries like Brazil have had minimal representation in the development of this emerging field. Objective: This study aims to map the current state of QSE by identifying research trends, contributions, and gaps that can inform future investigations and strategic initiatives. Methodology: A systematic mapping study was conducted across major scientific databases, retrieving 3,219 studies. After applying inclusion and exclusion criteria, 3,052 studies were excluded, resulting in 167 selected for analysis. The publications were classified by study type, research type, and alignment with SWEBOK knowledge areas. Results: Most studies focused on Software Engineering Models and Methods, Software Architecture, and Software Testing. Conceptual and technical proposals were predominant, while empirical validations remained limited. Conclusions: QSE is still a maturing field. Advancing it requires standardization, more empirical research, and greater participation from developing countries. As its main contribution, this study proposes a Brazilian Research Agenda in QSE to guide national efforts and foster the development of a strong local scientific community.
The accelerating global development of quantum technologies strengthens the case for introducing quantum computing concepts before university. Yet in Latin America, there is no consolidated, region wide integration of quantum computing into secondary education, and the feasibility conditions for doing so remain largely unexamined. This paper proposes a qualitative, comparative framework to assess academic readiness for quantum education across six countries - Peru, Bolivia, Chile, Argentina, Brazil, and Colombia - grounded in the relationship between curriculum compatibility and enabling conditions spanning institutional capacity, teacher preparation, infrastructure, and equity. Using official curricula, policy documents, national statistics, and educational reports, we apply structured qualitative coding and a 1-5 ordinal scoring system to generate a cross country diagnosis. The findings reveal substantial regional asymmetries: among the six countries studied, Chile emerges as the most institutionally prepared for progressive quantum education integration, while the remaining countries exhibit varying combinations of curricular gaps and fragmented but promising enabling conditions. Building on this diagnosis, we propose a country sensitive, regionally coordinated roadmap for staged implementation, beginning with teacher development and pilot centers, leveraging open source platforms and local language resources, and scaling toward gradual curricular integration. This work establishes a baseline for future quantitative and mixed method studies evaluating learning outcomes, motivation, and scalable models for quantum education in Latin America.
Abstract There are many scientific conferences around the world, but some of them play special roles. Paraty Quantum Information is one of these. In this article we present the story of how it was dreamt up and how it became a reality. We emphasize the conference's key role in fostering a community in this field, by creating and reinforcing bouds between different research groups inside Brazil, within South America and around the globe. A high-quality and low-stress international school, at an attractive place, with the costs of a national event proved to be a very efficient mechanism for this.
2025 marks one hundred years since the discovery of quantum mechanics. In the century since then, quantum science has blossomed into a global community composed of academics, engineers, developers, and entrepreneurs. The world is currently in the middle of the so-called second quantum revolution, with increased public awareness of quantum science and technology, and growing investment in both quantum hardware and software applications. However, representation remains low among historically marginalized groups: women, LGBTQ+, BIPOC, and people from the global south make up disproportionately few physicists. There are numerous efforts to improve diversity within quantum science, including through workforce development. But many of the changes enacted at the highest levels have failed to result in real change, as highlighted and discussed in the recent Women For Quantum Manifesto of Values. Here, we seek to echo and amplify the need for real change in the quantum ecosystem, emphasizing intersectionality and a feminist approach that centers the most vulnerable members of the quantum community: young students and researchers, especially those communities historically marginalized from quantum science.
This report is our attempt to help quantum communities meet this need; we have conducted a survey of quantum scientists all over the world, and here we include both a preliminary report of our findings and policy suggestions we have built to address them. The primary results of our survey are that, 1) marginalized quantum scientists are experiencing hardships and challenges more than their more privileged peers across all metrics, 2) that this fact is hurting retention of diverse, talented quantum scientists in our field, and 3) quantum EDI is an investment in talent retention and resilience building, which are essential for a thriving, globally competitive quantum ecosystem.
This study investigates the landscape of quantum computing education through the lens of higher education faculty at Minority Serving Institutions. By examining data from participants in a specialized quantum computing workshop, we identify key factors influencing both educator proficiency and pedagogical effectiveness. The study uses principal component analysis, exploratory factor analysis, and correlation analysis to reveal latent patterns and interconnections in quantum education practices. The findings of the principal component analysis highlight dimensions such as technical knowledge, instructional support, and hands-on experiential learning, while the exploratory factor analysis uncovers latent constructs related to mentorship, inclusive pedagogy, and technical mastery. Correlation analysis shows strong relationships between faculty confidence and their grasp of core quantum concepts, such as quantum gates, multi-qubit states, and quantum algorithms, emphasizing the cascading effect of mastering foundational topics. The workshop significantly enhanced participants’ understanding of quantum frameworks and practical applications. Gender-based analysis revealed that male participants reported higher confidence boosts, suggesting the need for targeted support. This research also underscored the importance of industry collaborations and research integration in quantum curricula. These findings provide actionable insights for curriculum design and professional development, emphasizing the need to balance technical competencies, hands-on engagement, and sustained mentorship to foster a diverse quantum workforce.
This paper presents a comprehensive systematic and bibliometric review of the rapidly expanding literature on quantum computing. The study addresses six research questions concerning prominent themes, temporal evolution, types of key findings, frequently reported research gaps, higher-order gap typologies, and future research directions. Utilizing a researcher-curated database, the final corpus comprises 153 studies compiled from non-Scopus, Scopus and Web of Science. The results demonstrate that quantum hardware and architecture, algorithms, and theoretical foundations dominate the current literature. Furthermore, publication output has risen significantly between 2018 and 2025. Among the reported findings, algorithmic innovations, performance claims, and hardware advancements are the most common. Despite this progress, the field faces substantial barriers; technical, scalability, fault-tolerance, and methodological-standardization gaps are the most frequently reported. Based on these identified gaps, eight actionable future research directions emerge to guide the scientific community. Ultimately, this review concludes that quantum computing is actively transitioning from a purely physics-driven domain into a multidisciplinary, engineering- and application-oriented science. However, its continued advancement is presently constrained by a hardware-methodology-application triad, wherein reporting practices often outpace empirical verification and standardized benchmarking.