Summer School on Quantum Information and Quantum Technology (QIQT), 2019

Yip Sungkit, Sa de Melo Carlos, Andrea Perali +1 more

Göran Pulkkis, Kaj J. Grahn

John M Donohue, Michael J Grabowecky, George Nichols +6 more

To grow the quantum information science and technology workforce, opportunities for students to gain experiential learning and build a sense of belonging in the broader community are essential. The Undergraduate School on Experimental Quantum Information Processing (USEQIP) is a two-week summer school for undergraduate students that has been held since 2009 with the goal of introducing undergraduate students from around the world to the tools of quantum information research, paired with a summer internship program. Here we report on the structure, impact, and outlook of the program, including hands-on laboratory activities refined over many iterations of the program. We highlight the career trajectories of program alumni, many of whom have made significant contributions to the quantum field.

Massimiliano Malgieri, Claudio Sutrini, Giacomo Zuccarini +1 more

Countering pseudoscientific misinformation is an important goal for outreach initiatives, especially when directed to young students. Quantum physics and quantum technology, due to their perceived mysterious character, are especially prone to being communicated, intentionally or otherwise, in a deformed way which may induce severe misconceptions, make the public vulnerable to scams and deceptions, or even pave the way to anti-scientific beliefs. In this paper we report on the two-year results of a summer school on quantum information science for secondary school students, held with the support of the Italian NQSTI - National Quantum Science and Technology Institute. We concentrate here only on results demonstrating the changes in students' attitudes toward pseudoscientific conceptions of quantum science and technology, as measured by a specially tailored questionnaire - the PSEUDO-QM scale. Our preliminary results show that meaningful conceptual instruction about quantum physics and quantum technology may not only be beneficial for the need for a future quantum workforce, but also significantly reduce the extent of pseudo-scientific conceptions about quantum theory.

Prantosh Paul, D. Chatterjee

Julia Kempe

∗ These lecture notes are based on a book chapter written by the author for ”Lectures in Quantum Information”, edited by D. Bruss and G. Leuchs and to be published by