Supporting Minority Serving Institutions in the Creation of a Diverse, Quantum-Ready Workforce

2018年国家量子计划法案认识到联邦政府协调支持量子信息科学和工程（QISE）研究的重要性，以保持经济竞争力，维护国家安全，并推动变革性的科学进步。这立即加快了已经快速发展的领域的步伐，因此，对训练有素的量子工程师的需求激增。为了满足这些劳动力需求并保持全球竞争力，美国必须培养越来越多的量子工程师和科学家。这需要超越现有管道，向更广泛的社区提供平等的资源。 成功取决于认识到少数民族服务机构（MSIs）所面临的关键作用和理解的障碍，这些机构培养了不成比例的大量代表性不足的学生，这些学生在STEM领域获得学士学位。为此，设计了一系列题为"支持少数民族服务机构创建多样化、量子就绪的工作队伍“的讲习班，以制定一项战略，帮助扩大对QISE的参与。 主题包括确定量子劳动力的需求，协议，以获得全国性的设施，提供专门的量子研究设备，专门的量子课程和学术课程的开发，以及与行业发展战略伙伴关系的机会。TechnicalThis研讨会系列旨在促进量子信息科学和工程（QISE）的研究和少数民族服务机构（MSIs）的教育计划。该系列包括两个为期两天的研讨会，计划于2021年10月（虚拟，由科罗拉多矿业学院主办）和2022年2月（在圣胡安，由波多黎各马亚圭斯大学主办）。这些活动吸引了来自全国各地的大学，工业和国家实验室的约80名QISE研究人员，其目标是通过邀请演讲和指导分组讨论会的结合，培养创新思想，以支持MSI参与QISE并取得成功。 这是通过首先确定MSIs面临的阻碍他们参与QISE的优势和障碍以及通过提高MSIs的研究竞争力来增加代表性不足群体的量子科学家数量的机制来实现的。为此，活动还包括广告专业资源：提案写作培训机会，量子计算设施，以及用于量子设备增长，制造和测量的全国用户设施。 第一次讲习班向提出有竞争力的创新计划以实现这些目标的选定小组提供种子资金;这些小组随后在第二次会议上报告其进展情况。成果包括实施了几项新举措和一份白皮书，总结了挖掘出的障碍，并规定了新的活动，以推动代表性不足的少数民族参与QISE的持续增长。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的知识价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

Non-technicalThe 2018 National Quantum Initiative Act recognized the importance of strategic, federally coordinated support for quantum information sciences and engineering (QISE) research to maintain economic competitiveness, sustain national security, and fuel transformative scientific advancement. This immediately accelerated the pace of an already rapidly advancing field and, consequently, surged the demands for trained quantum engineers. To satisfy these workforce needs and remain globally competitive, the U.S. must train an increasing number of quantum engineers and scientists. This requires reaching beyond the existing pipelines and providing equal resources to a broader range of communities. Success relies on recognizing the critical role and understanding the barriers faced by Minority Serving Institutions (MSIs), which train a disproportionately large number of underrepresented students who earn bachelor's degrees in STEM fields. To this end, a series of workshops entitled Supporting Minority Serving Institutions in the Creation of a Diverse, Quantum-Ready Workforce have been designed to prescribe a strategy to help broaden participation in QISE. Topics include identifying quantum workforce needs, protocols to gain access to nationwide facilities offering specialized equipment for quantum research, development of specialized quantum courses and academic programs, and opportunities to develop strategic partnerships with industry.TechnicalThis workshop series is designed to facilitate quantum information science and engineering (QISE) research and educational programs at Minority Serving Institutions (MSIs). The series consists of two two-day workshops, which are scheduled for October 2021 (virtual, hosted by the Colorado School of Mines) and February 2022 (hosted in San Juan, PR by the University of Puerto Rico Mayaguez). Engaging ~80 QISE researchers from universities, industry, and national labs nationwide, the goal of these events is to cultivate innovative ideas for bolstering MSI participation and success in QISE through a combination of invited talks and guided breakout group discussion sessions. This is achieved by first identifying strengths and obstacles faced by MSIs that hinder their participation in QISE as well as mechanisms to boost the number of quantum scientists from underrepresented groups by means of raising the research competitiveness of MSIs. To this end, activities also include advertising specialized resources: proposal-writing training opportunities, quantum computing facilities, and nationwide user facilities for growth, fabrication, and measurement of quantum devices. The first workshop provides seed funding to select groups who present competitive, innovative plans to achieve these goals; these groups subsequently report on their progress during the second meeting. Outcomes include implementation of several new initiatives and a whitepaper summarizing the unearthed barriers and prescribing novel activities to fuel sustained increases in the participation of underrepresented minorities in QISE.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.