IIT Bombay and the University of Chicago Collaborate to Establish a New Science and Technology Partnership

The Chicago Quantum Exchange (CQE), with its headquarters at the University of Chicago, has embraced the Indian Institute of Technology Bombay (IIT Bombay) as an international partner for an initiative that will foster collaboration in areas including quantum information science, climate and energy, advanced microelectronics, artificial intelligence, and data science. This partnership will be a new scientific and technology relationship between the University of Chicago and IIT Bombay.

The quantum announcement was made during a meeting between U.S. President Joe Biden and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi at the G20 summit in New Delhi, India. This development underscores the objectives of the U.S.-India initiative on Critical and Emerging Technology (iCET), which aims "to elevate and expand our strategic technology partnership and defense industrial cooperation between the governments, businesses, and academic institutions of our two countries.”

CQE headquartered at the University of Chicago, serves as a prominent center for advancing in the field of quantum information science and engineering. It is supported by the U.S. Department of Energy's Argonne National laboratory, Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory, the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, the University of Wisconsin-Madison, and Northwestern University.

“Strong global partnerships provide the expertise and resources to advance breakthrough innovation and are an essential part of developing a robust quantum ecosystem. We are very excited to be engaged with IIT Bombay in such a significant way,” said David Awschalom, Director of the Chicago Quantum Exchange, the Liew Family Professor in Molecular Engineering at the University of Chicago, and senior scientist at Argonne.

“With a strong bond being built between India and US academia, as evident from the joint declaration by the top leaderships in both countries, it is a great opportunity for IIT Bombay to work with the University of Chicago on some of the most critical and evolving technologies our nations are facing today. Our collective strength will help bring forth impactful breakthrough innovations benefiting the society,” said IIT Bombay Director, Prof. Subhasis Chaudhuri.

Beyond quantum, UChicago and IIT Bombay will work together and conduct joint research in fields like climate, energy, advanced microelectronics, artificial intelligence, and data science. A number of collaborative research initiatives, conferences, information exchanges, and faculty and scholar visits will take place in these areas. The University of Chicago's Delhi Centre, which will mark its tenth anniversary in 2024, will be a resource for these and other comparable collaborations for joint conferences and researchers visiting India.