Call for Pre-Proposals on Quantum Science and Engineering

Program Description

The UC‐National Laboratories Southern California Hub, SoCalHub, funded by the UC National Laboratory Office, invites pre-proposals for seed-funding of collaborative projects between researchers at SoCalHub campuses (UCI, UCLA, UCR, UCSB, and UCSD) and scientists at LANL and LLNL. This call for pre-proposals is an outcome of the “Quo Vadis Quantum Science” Workshop Hosted by UC Santa Barbara, on January 30-31, 2025.  This workshop led to the identification of the themes ripe for investment by the SoCalHub for seed-funding of collaborative projects. They are described at the end of this document. It is expected that 2-3 projects will be funded at approximately $150K per project.

Application Instructions

Pre-proposals are limited to two pages. They should contain the following information:

1. Project Title
2. PI and participating investigators. Ideally, collaboration should include faculty from two of the five campuses and one of the two national labs.
3. Proposed Work
4. Opportunities for follow-on funding

Detailed budget is not expected but the project scope should be appropriate for the expected funding level.
Pre-proposals should be submitted via the InfoReady Review application portal: https://uci.infoready4.com/#competitionDetail/1985780. (Non-UCI researchers will need to register under “Login for Other Users” before submitting their proposal).  Deadline for submission of the pre-proposal is August 15, 2025.

Pre-proposals will be reviewed by a panel of experts from LANL and LLNL. A subset of the pre-proposals will be selected for development of full proposals and possible seed-funding.

Research Themes for Seed-Funding:

1. Integrated photonics for quantum applications
   Chip-scale entangled-photon sources have become an indispensable tool for entanglement distribution and sensing. Photonic microcavities based on highly nonlinear materials, such as III-V semiconductors and ferroelectrics, can produce quantum frequency combs whereby squeezing or entanglement are generated pair-wise across the comb spectrum. We seek proposals that significantly advance the performance and capabilities of quantum frequency combs, particularly in the areas of bandwidth, brightness, and dynamic control. Innovative solutions that address absolute frequency referencing and arbitrary wave shaping of quantum combs, such as through on-chip pulse shaping and coupling to neutral atoms, as well as quantum sensing and imaging with undetected frequency comb pulses, are especially encouraged. We also encourage proposals exploring single-photon emitters in amorphous II-VI materials as a platform for quantum-based photonic computation. These materials offer unique opportunities for scalable quantum photonics through their potential for precise control of single-photon generation, integration with chip-scale devices, and compatibility with advanced quantum technologies. Metasurfaces have recently entered the realm of quantum photonics, enabling manipulation of quantum light using a compact nanophotonic platform. We encourage proposals addressing the challenge of creating dynamic quantum metasurfaces that can enable novel photonic functionalities relevant to quantum information science as well as proposals that focus on the integration of chip-scale devices with quantum metasurfaces. Proposals should demonstrate technical feasibility, potential for significant advancements in the field, and clear paths toward integration with current or future quantum technologies. We encourage interdisciplinary collaboration and are particularly interested in solutions that have the potential to strongly impact applications in remote quantum sensing, metrology, computing, communications, or imaging.
2. New quantum materials for new sensing modalities
   The fields of quantum sensing and quantum materials have compelling complementarities and emerging synergies. New modes of quantum sensing can potentially be realized via novel, many-body electronic states found in quantum materials such as topological superconductors, quantum critical materials, and frustrated magnets.  Similarly, fundamentally new insights can be gained into the enigmatic, often highly entangled, ground states of quantum materials via the study of their electronic properties with local quantum sensors such as color centers in diamond and other resonance techniques.  The cooperative exploration of new quantum materials as candidates for new modes of quantum sensing in tandem with studies of their anomalous ground states using techniques pioneered in the field of quantum sensing stands to catalyze progress, and the integration of advanced materials with quantum sensing research is a promising future avenue in the field of quantum information science. We seek proposals that integrate quantum materials discovery and development, utilizing high performance computing resources and expertise when available, and which seek to elucidate quantum many-body states and simulate new materials. We are also interested in proposals that address linear inertial measurement demonstrations with ultra high precision.
3. Algorithms for the exploitation of quantum sensors in a ‘cluttered’ environment
   The application of atom interferometry to near field gravity tomography, revealing hidden masses (threats, treaty accountable objects, and the clandestine movement of materials), has been shown to be very promising.;However, the simultaneous presence of confounding clutter can render the results of latest advances in high sensitivity measurements ambiguous (e.g. for sensitivities better than1 ng/√Hz, or 1 Eotvos/√Hz). New algorithms and derived sensing concepts of operation are needed to make gravity quantum sensing even more powerful (typically using prior information or complementary measurements such as nuclear radiation spectroscopy). For example, recent success in this area have come from applying the “basis pursuit,” method, and we anticipate further ideas along these lines will lead to significant advances for atom interferometry-based mass tomography.