Educational Resources Descriptions

Quantum Activity Kits

The core concepts of the quantum sciences have an aura of mystery around them. It is hard for many to grasp how tiny the features we are working with actually are. What’s even more confusing is that things don’t move or operate in the same way as everyday objects. It is a whole different rule book!

The IMOD Quantum Activity Kits have been designed to explain some of the core concepts of the quantum sciences to K-14 students, dispelling some of the mystery around the quantum sciences and giving students a chance to think about how they might get involved. These kits are deeply rooted in our interdisciplinary research. IMOD trainees have been guided through a design process to create these kits with the guidance of our education leaders. These Kits form the foundation of our Quantum-LEAP ambassador program, so they have all been taken out to schools and tested and refined. To help calibrate the units to different knowledge levels the Kits have been aligned to the Next Generation Science Standards guidelines.

The Kits contain a presentation slide deck, an instruction sheet on how to run the event, and a list of materials to run the event (where possible we have included online ordering options and kept materials as affordable as possible).

Quantum Activity Kits have been developed that cover a wide range of topics in the quantum sciences. Have a look at what you can download now, and check back soon, since we will be uploading more in the future. The best way to keep up to date with what is being added is to follow our social media channels. Can’t find what you are looking for? We have included a form that you can use to provide feedback on existing units (we want feedback from the community on how we can make things better!), or to suggest new units. We can’t promise that we will cover everything, but we will try!

Quantum Information Science and Engineering (QISE) Videos

IMOD is partnering with the University of Washington Accelerating Quantum-Enabled Technologies (AQET) program to offer access to a recently developed Quantum Information Science and Engineering (QISE) course.

The aim of this course is to support the development of quantum science curriculums across the United States. A defining feature of the QISE course is that it is developed and delivered by chemists and materials scientists at a level to educate graduate student chemists and materials scientists. The goal is to bridge the gap between physics to chemistry, computer science and engineering, electrical and computer engineering, and materials science and engineering. A dense quantum physics course is typically inaccessible to scientists from other disciplines.

The course introduces students to core concepts, including mathematical and quantum mechanical foundation, qubits, coherence, entanglement, applications, and materials systems.

IMOD believes that many of the challenges in quantum science require a collaborative interdisciplinary approach, and the best way for this to approach to be successful is if the scientists and engineers from disciplines other than quantum physics have a strong foundation in the fundamentals of the quantum sciences. Those synthesizing the molecules and engineering the devices are going to be more effective collaborators if they have an understanding and fluency in the quantum sciences.

This course is an advanced course and would be an excellent way for an industrial scientists or engineer seeking to upskill into the quantum sciences to develop a foundational knowledge.

These units are being offered publicly on the IMOD website. We will be adding more content over time, so follow us on our social media channels to get news of when new units are added.

The lessons from this course will help viewers learn the fundamentals of quantum information science and engineering by:

  • Establishing the necessary mathematics and quantum mechanics foundation
  • Examining application in quantum sensing, quantum computation, and quantum computation
  • Understanding the materials and mechanisms that underlie QISE technologies
  • Discussing the basics of quantum circuits and quantum algorithms in preparation for further advanced interdisciplinary training in QISE
  • Being offered supplemental resources for going further for a given quantum material system.

AQET is a United States National Science Foundation Research Traineeship Program at the University of Washington that trains the next generation of scientists to enable this revolution.

A primary text that has informed and guided the development of this course is “Dancing with Qubits: How quantum computing works and how it can change the world” by Robert S. Sutor. Copyright © 2019 Packt Publishing

Professional Development Videos

The typical graduate school experience has a strong focus on the development of strong and specific technical expertise. IMOD seeks to complement this technical training with additional professional development. To be successful in a team, or in a career, skills that help one communicate, work across disciplinary boundaries, and plan and execute projects with many moving parts are essential. To this end IMOD has created a year-round program of training, including both in-person and virtual offering.

Where possible we seek to share broadly these sessions. Though many are discussion-based or interactive, and as such are not suitable for recording and posting, when the training can be posted we add it to our resource offerings.

These will be regularly updated as we offer more course, so check back often or follow us on our social media channels to find out more.

Quantum Science Lab-based Courses –

Coming Soon!

The IMOD community has developed a number of lab-based courses, at both the undergraduate and graduate student levels, that provide a hands-on and interactive mechanism for participants to learn concepts fundamental to the quantum sciences.

These were originally developed to guide IMOD community members through aspects of the different research themes, with the goal of developing a shared technical vocabulary across the Center to act as a foundation for more effective collaboration. Through this process the lab courses have been refined based on feedback from the participants and are being re-packaged such that they can be used by educators across the nation.

Follow us on our social media channels to keep up to date with when these are published in our Quantum Education Portal.

If you have any questions about these courses, please don’t hesitate to contact us.