IQM Award Goes To Researcher Studying Qubit Performance

Sign-ups for the IQM Research Award 2026 exceeded expectations, signaling strong momentum within superconducting quantum computing research, the company says. Eight proposals advanced to a second round of judging, encompassing diverse areas from ground-state preparation to protein structure prediction with qubit-efficient encodings. IQM judges noted the high quality and diverse range of applications, ultimately selecting VTQuantum of Virginia Tech and the Virginia Tech Center for Quantum Information Science and Engineering as the first-place winner for their work designing pulses to suppress leakage and dephasing, which promises faster and more stable quantum gates.

Space Curve Control & Pulse Design for Qubit Performance

The winning team in the IQM Research Award 2026 designed short pulses utilizing the Space Curve Quantum Control framework, a technique that promises faster quantum gate operations with reduced need for recalibration. This innovative pulse design is particularly well-suited to IQM’s superconducting hardware, as the team extensively benchmarked their work against existing IQM gate implementations, creating what they describe as an “evidence-backed vision for improving superconducting hardware.” This focus on practical application distinguished the Virginia Tech team’s proposal, aligning with IQM’s emphasis on building quantum computers capable of handling real-world workloads.