$37.5M NSF award aims to define new quantum frontiers, take technology from lab to field A scientific quest to build more accurate clocks, faster computers and new sensors to detect the faintest signs of disease and disaster is getting a $37.5 million financial boost. The U.S. National Science Foundation, through its Quantum Leap Challenge Institutes, is investing in the next phase of CU Boulder and its partners’ work to advance quantum science research and engineering. “We’re really world leaders in terms of building the best quantum technology tools and applying them to meaningful, impactful scientific problems,” said physicist Jun Ye, a JILA fellow leading the quantum research center based at CU Boulder. “There are still a lot of unknowns in the universe, and only by building some of the most sensitive instruments can we get some clue of what is behind them.” Those instruments include the next generation of atomic clocks, the world’s most stable laser and sensitive biomedical sensors that can detect disease more quickly in human breath. Ye leads the NSF Quantum Systems through Entangled Science and Engineering (NSF Q-SEnSE) center. It launched at CU Boulder in 2020 with a $25 million award from NSF and has grown to include 39 researchers from 16 institutions. “This is another example of the innovative, impactful research happening at CU Boulder, building on more than 60 years of JILA, NIST and quantum science breakthroughs,” said CU Boulder Chancellor Justin Schwartz. "This funding will accelerate the development of transformative technologies, support the growth of Colorado’s thriving quantum ecosystem and further strengthen Boulder’s position as a global hub for quantum innovation in which CU Boulder continues to play a key role.” Quantum research led by CU Boulder is already helping develop tools that can measure molecules, atoms and other tiny things much more