Following the success of last year’s workshop, we are delighted to announce the second edition of “Quantum Computing for Natural Sciences: Technology and Applications,” a follow-up event aimed at further exploring the transformative potential of quantum computing in the natural sciences. The quest for novel and more powerful information processing methods – capable of tackling some of the hardest computational problems in the natural sciences – lies at the heart of the quantum computing revolution. As the technology progresses, what was originally only conceived in theory comes closer to becoming reality. The potential applications of quantum computing in the natural sciences are vast and varied, ranging from simulating complex chemical reactions and materials to modelling biological systems and developing new drug treatments. This full-day workshop on quantum computing for natural sciences is aimed at providing participants with a comprehensive overview of the latest advancements in quantum information processing methods and their potential applications in fundamental physics, chemistry, materials and life sciences. Upon feedback from attendees of the first edition, we retained the workshop structure by dividing it into three sections, each devoted to a specific area, where experts in the respective fields will share their knowledge and provide talks on the current state-of-the-art and ongoing research efforts. The workshop aims to equip participants with a deeper understanding of the potential of quantum computing to revolutionize the natural sciences, highlighting the implications of this technology for future research and development efforts.
Read the full agenda
Keynote talks:
Prof. Sabrina Maniscalco — CEO of Algorithmiq
Sabrina Maniscalco is the Professor of Quantum Information and Logic at the University of Helsinki, and an Adjunct Professor at Aalto University, Finland. She is the Vice Director of the Finnish Centre of Excellence for Quantum Technologies and serves in the scientific advisory board of several international institutions, such as the Institute for Quantum Optics and Quantum Information (Austria) and the Quantum Technology initiative at CERN. She is CEO and co-founder of Algorithmiq Ltd, a startup focusing on quantum algorithms and software.
Sabrina obtained her PhD at the University of Palermo (Italy) in 2004. She has held academic research positions around the world, in Sofia (Bulgaria), Durban (South Africa), Turku (Finland) and Edinburgh (UK). She returned to Finland in 2014 to lead the Theoretical Physics Laboratory in Turku. She then moved to the University of Helsinki in November 2020.
Dr. Elica Kyoseva — Director of Quantum Algorithm Engineering at NVIDIA
Dr Elica Kyoseva is Director of Quantum Algorithm Engineering at NVIDIA, where she leads a team developing cutting-edge hybrid quantum-classical algorithms leveraging NVIDIA’s HPC architecture. Additionally, she oversees NVIDIA Quantum’s strategic partnerships with leading research groups in both industry and academia. Elica has expertise in quantum computing and its applications to drug discovery and human health. Prior to her role at NVIDIA, she led the Quantum for Bio program at Wellcome Leap, a $50 million effort aimed at showcasing quantum computing’s potential in solving critical health challenges. Elica earned her PhD in Quantum Optics from Sofia University in her native Bulgaria.
Prof. Kenneth Merz — Cleveland Clinic
Kenneth M. Merz, Jr. is currently a member of the Staff of the Center for Computational Life Sciences at the Lerner Research Institute of the Cleveland Clinic. He is also a University Distinguished Professor, the Joseph Zichis Chair in Chemistry and a Professor of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology at Michigan State University (on leave). Since the start of 2014, he has been the Editor-in-Chief of the Journal of Chemical Information and Modeling, which is part of the American Chemical Society suite of chemistry journals. His research interest lies in the development of theoretical and computational tools and their application to biological problems including structure and ligand based drug design, mechanistic enzymology and quantum and high-performance computing. In his research he makes extensive use of quantum and molecular mechanical potential functions coupled with a variety of numerical methods including molecular dynamics and Monte Carlo approaches. He also makes extensive use of structure-based drug design tools (e.g., machine learning/AI) along with chemi and bioinformatics resources in his research program. Through-out his career he has been involved in software development (e.g., parallel computing, GPU programming, Quantum computing, etc.) aimed at taking advantage of high-performance computing (HPC) resources to solve chemical and biological problems. As a result of his research efforts, he has published over 350 papers and given over 350 lectures worldwide describing his research.
Further information
Should you require any assistance or more information, please email Dr. Stefano Mensa: stefano.mensa@stfc.ac.uk