JUNIQ/EPIQ Summer School on Quantum Computing - Applications across Digital and Analog Architectures

Europe/Berlin
Forschungszentrum Jülich

Forschungszentrum Jülich

Wilhelm-Johnen-Straße 52428 Jülich
JUNIQ Team
Description

The Jülich Supercomputing Centre will host the JUNIQ/EPIQ Summer School on “Quantum Computing – Applications across Digital and Analog Architectures” from September 1 to 5, 2025.
The school is jointly organized by the Jülich UNified Infrastructure for Quantum computing (JUNIQ) and the NRW-funded project Entwicklungspartnerschaft Ionenfallen-Quantencomputer (EPIQ), a collaboration between Forschungszentrum Jülich and the quantum start-up eleQtron from Siegen.

The program focuses on hands-on experience in developing and implementing algorithms across a variety of quantum computing platforms, including gate-based systems and quantum annealers. Participants will access quantum hardware via the cloud-based JUNIQ platform, which provides access to devices hosted at the Jülich Supercomputing Centre and through project partnerships.

These practical sessions will be complemented by lectures covering foundational concepts of gate-based and annealing systems, the design and implementation of real-world use cases, and broader perspectives on current trends in quantum computing. The lectures will be delivered by leading experts from academia and industry.

A poster session will give attendees the opportunity to introduce themselves, share their interests in quantum computing, and optionally present their own research.

Participation is free of charge, and the event will take place on-site only.

Topics: Introduction to Gate-Based Quantum Computing, Introduction to Quantum Annealing, Introduction to Quantum Simulation, Formulating QUBO Problems and Ising Hamiltonians, Quantum Approximate Optimization Algorithm, Classical vs Quantum Optimization, Error Correction, Error Mitigation, Entangling Gate Mechanism, Cooling Quantum Systems, Introduction to Quantum Computing with Trapped Ions.

Participants are asked to prepare a poster about themselves, including their interest in quantum computing or current/past research. Please submit your CV, and a motivation letter stating why attending this summer school will be beneficial for your current and future research. Submit CV and motivation letter in single pdf file to training-juniq@fz-juelich.de with the header "Motivation Letter Summer School 2025". Your application will only be reviewed if CV, motivation letter, and application (follow the "apply now" button) are submitted.

Your registration will only be complete once we review and approve your application. A successful registration means you have been accepted into the school, and will receive further instructions regarding your arrival and stay in Jülich.

Registrations open.

Registration
Registration for on-site participation
    • 09:00 10:00
      Registration 1h
    • 10:00 10:15
      Welcome and Introduction to the JSC 15m
      Speaker: Gabriel Fazito (JSC)
    • 10:15 11:30
      Introduction to Gate-based Quantum Computing 1h 15m

      Introduction to quantum bits and quantum gates
      Programming and Simulating quantum circuits
      Applications: QFT, Quantum Adder, QAOA

      Speaker: Dr Dennis Willsch (JSC)
    • 11:30 12:30
      Introduction to Quantum Annealing 1h

      This talk is a general introduction to quantum annealing. It covers:
      - how does a quantum annealer work in theory and what can it be used for;
      - what are the theoretical and practical limitations;
      - how to solve problems on quantum annealers, in particular D-Wave quantum annealers as the one hosted by JSC;
      - the basic information about the architecture of D-Wave quantum annealers;
      - how to formulate an optimization problem as a QUBO or Ising problem;
      - different encoding strategies;
      - how to incorporate constraints;
      - how to embed a (logical) problem onto the given hardware graph (considering physical connectivity);
      - how to send a problem to the quantum annealer using D-Wave's Ocean SDK and how to interpret the response;
      Finally, some small examples are presented and the talk ends with a short hands-on exercise.

      Speaker: Dr Madita Willsch (JSC)
    • 12:30 14:00
      Lunch break 1h 30m
    • 14:00 15:00
      Pen&Paper (Quantum Annealing) 1h
      Speaker: Dr Madita Willsch (JSC)
    • 15:00 16:00
      Coffee Break & Tour JUNIQ 1h

      Students will receive a guided tour to JUNIQ and be presented to the D-Wave system.

    • 16:00 17:00
      Quantum Computing with Trapped Ions 1h
      Speaker: Dr Michael Johanning (eQ)
    • 17:00 17:30
      Ask me anything 30m

      An opportunity to ask questions and talk to the lecturers of the day in a more relaxed atmosphere.

    • 17:30 18:00
      JUDOOR & Leap 30m
    • 18:00 22:00
      Finger Food Dinner & Socializing 4h
    • 22:00 22:20
      Last Bus from FZJ to Jülich 20m
    • 09:00 10:00
      QUBO Formulation and QAOA: A Tutorial on Encoding and Solving Combinatorial Optimization Problems - Part I 1h

      In this tutorial, we will dive into combinatorial optimization problems and explore how effectively encode these problems using the Quadratic Unconstrained Binary Optimization (QUBO) formulation and how to tackle them using the Quantum Approximate Optimization Algorithm (QAOA).

      Speaker: Dr Jhon Alejandro Montanez-Barrera (JSC)
    • 10:00 10:20
      Introduction of Hands-on Topics 20m

      In this session, the topics for the hands-on sessions will be introduced.

    • 10:20 11:00
      Hardware & Software Setup 40m
    • 11:00 12:00
      Hands-on Session 1h
    • 12:00 13:00
      Lunch break 1h Seecasino

      Seecasino

    • 13:00 14:15
      QUBO Formulation and QAOA: A Tutorial on Encoding and Solving Combinatorial Optimization Problems - Part II 1h 15m

      In this tutorial, we will dive into combinatorial optimization problems and explore how effectively encode these problems using the Quadratic Unconstrained Binary Optimization (QUBO) formulation and how to tackle them using the Quantum Approximate Optimization Algorithm (QAOA).

      Speaker: Dr Jhon Alejandro Montanez-Barrera (JSC)
    • 14:15 15:30
      Hands-on Session 1h 15m
    • 15:30 16:45
      Quantum Simulation 1h 15m

      I will talk about the first experimental signatures of two-dimensional many-body false vacuum decay in a quantum material emerging from microscopic interactions. We used a programmable noisy superconducting quantum simulator with 2008 qubits in order to perform simulations corresponding to our specific experiment on quantum domain reconfiguration in a topical electronic crystal. We carefully chose a simulator with the same measured noise spectrum to ensure the fidelity of the model correspondence between the two systems, thereby presenting a realization of simulating real-world open quantum systems according to the original vision of Feynman.

      Speaker: Dr Jaka Vodeb
    • 16:45 18:00
      Poster session 1h 15m

      The first two groups of six will present their posters following a brief pitch.

    • 09:00 09:45
      Cryogenics for Quantum Computing 45m
      Speaker: Dr David Rabanus (JSC)
    • 09:45 10:30
      Cooling Trapped Ions 45m
      Speaker: Dr Junichi Okamoto (eQ)
    • 10:30 12:00
      Tour JSC/HPC & Cryolab 1h 30m
    • 12:00 13:00
      Lunch break 1h
    • 13:00 14:15
      Introduction to Quantum Error Correction 1h 15m
      Speaker: Friederike Butt (RWTH)
    • 14:15 15:30
      Dynamical Decoupling / Error Mitigation 1h 15m
    • 15:30 20:00
      Aachen City Tour 4h 30m
    • 09:00 10:00
      Entangling Gates across Quantum Computing Platforms 1h
      Speaker: Dr Daniel Cohen (eQ)
    • 10:00 12:00
      Hands-on Session 2h
    • 12:00 13:00
      Lunch break 1h
    • 13:00 15:00
      Hands-on Session 2h
    • 15:00 16:00
      The Future of Quantum Computing 1h
      Speaker: Prof. Hendrik Bluhm (RWTH/FZ Jülich)
    • 16:00 18:00
      Poster Session 2h
    • 18:00 22:00
      Finger Food Dinner & Socializing 4h
    • 22:00 22:20
      Last Bus from FZJ to Jülich 20m
    • 09:00 11:00
      Hands-on Session 2h
    • 11:00 12:00
      Quantum Annealing Applications 1h

      Optimization Problems: Airline Scheduling, TSP, Garden Optimization
      Constraint Problem: 2-SAT
      Machine Learning Problem: Quantum Support Vector Machine
      Sampling Problem: Quantum Boltzmann Machine

      Speaker: Dr Dennis Willsch (JSC)
    • 12:00 13:00
      Lunch break 1h
    • 13:00 14:00
      Feedback Session 1h
    • 14:00 15:00
      Group Work Presentation 1h
    • 15:00 15:30
      Wrap-up and Goodbye 30m