According to the 2023 Queensland Quantum and Advanced Technologies Strategy, there will be 8700 jobs in quantum computing in Australia by 2030 in the fields of energy, decarbonisation, health and biotechnology, defence and aerospace.
The five universities are the University of Queensland, Griffith University, Queensland University of Technology, University of Southern Queensland and the University of the Sunshine Coast.
PsiQuantum, based in Palo Alto, California, was founded in 2016 by two UQ graduates, Jeremy O’Brien and Terry Rudolph, while they worked at the University of Bristol.
A quantum computer is designed to solve complex problems in chemistry, maths and physics beyond the scope of conventional computers.
Quantum computers could revolutionise the development of drugs, materials and sustainable energy solutions, unlocking innovations that would otherwise remain unreachable.
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UQ vice-chancellor Professor Deborah Terry said quantum physics’ impact on education would stretch from high schools into research.
“Students starting high school this year will graduate into a world with utility-scale quantum computers,” Terry said.
“We will work with PsiQuantum across the education spectrum – from schools, through TAFE, to universities – to prepare our students for future jobs in quantum and advanced technologies.”
Griffith University’s vice-chancellor, Professor Carolyn Evans, said the consortium would be a new frontier for students.