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Prof. David Poulin and Louis Taillefer

Two IQ members among CIFAR’s program co-directors

David Poulin and Louis Taillefer

Photo : UdeS Karine Couillard

CIFAR announced its new research portfolio. CIFAR, a Canadian-based non-profit organization that brings together researchers from around the world to address important issues in all areas of science, has two members of the Institut quantique as co-directors of two of its programs : Professor David Poulin for the Quantum Information Science program and Professor Louis Taillefer for the Quantum Materials program. CIFAR selected these programs after a methodical and rigorous selection process spanning more than 16 months of work, including an international call for proposals that attracted some 200 proposals.

David Poulin shares the direction of the Quantum Information Science program with Professor Aephraim Steinberg of the University of Toronto. This program has the mandate to explore how to harness the power of quantum mechanics to improve information processing.

“Canada was the first country to develop a quantum computing network, largely due to the coordination and overall vision of CIFAR, which united the research community. In recent years, major industries have developed quantum computing programs with the objective of making research efforts profitable. In this context, a CIFAR programme focusing on fundamental research in quantum computing in partnership with industrial research centres will play a central role at the international level. »

Professor Louis Taillefer will be co-director of the Quantum Materials Program with Professor Leon Balents of the University of California at Santa Barbara. Their team of researchers is mandated to explore the remarkable properties of quantum materials that could lead to new technologies.  “Although I have been Director of CIFAR’s Quantum Materials Program for 20 years, I am more excited than ever to co-lead, with my colleague Leon Balents, the new international team that will be formed to explore the boundaries of this fast-growing field. In 2018, two discoveries caused great fascination: the observation of superconductivity in graphene and the detection of topological particles in a spin liquid. These are two directions – among many others – that will be at the heart of our research. »

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