Two UC Riverside computer scientists are joining projects selected for federal funding under the U.S. Department of Energy's Genesis Mission, an initiative that seeks to harness artificial intelligence to accelerate scientific discovery. Associate Professor Daniel Wong will lead a research team seeking to improve the speed and accuracy of quantum computing, while Distinguished Professor Kadangode “K.K.” Ramakrishnan will join a team led by Oak Ridge National Laboratory to improve how scientific data and specialized equipment are shared among laboratories and researchers collaborating across the country. The DOE recently selected 278 Genesis research projects nationwide to share $293 million in funding. Both projects involving UCR faculty and students were selected for Phase I awards, which range from $500,000 to $750,000, according to the DOE. The Genesis Mission brings together artificial intelligence, high-performance computing, and scientists from universities, national laboratories, and industry. The DOE says the initiative aims to double U.S. scientific productivity while tackling challenges in advanced manufacturing, biotechnology, critical materials, nuclear energy, and quantum information science. Making quantum computers more reliable Wong is leading a project that would use AI to overcome one of the biggest obstacles to large-scale quantum computing: correcting errors fast enough to keep calculations on track. Quantum computers are highly susceptible to noise and other disturbances that introduce errors. Correcting them requires conventional computers to continuously interpret measurements from quantum processors and determine what went wrong. In superconducting quantum computers, that decoding may eventually need to occur within about 1 microsecond — one-millionth of a second. Wong's team plans to develop AI-based error decoders that combine realistic models of quantum computer noise with high-fidelity simulations. The resulting data would train powerful AI models to recognize error patterns and predict the corrections needed. "Reliable and fast error correction is one of the key capabilities needed to make