Contents:
Multi-vendor program gives 1,200+ students access to 25+ quantum devices, paired with the first IRB-approved study of quantum computing pedagogy.
CHICAGO, June 29, 2026 — qBraid today announced the launch of QUEST (Quantum University Education and Support Track), a coordinated workforce-development program designed to put real quantum computing hardware into the hands of students at 40 universities across the United States. The program pools quantum processing unit (QPU) credits from multiple hardware partners and distributes them through the qBraid platform, giving more than 1,200 undergraduate and graduate students hands-on access to 25+ quantum devices over the 2026 to 2027 academic year.
QUEST addresses a structural gap in quantum education. Most undergraduate and graduate quantum computing courses stop at simulation, because QPU access is expensive and hardware partnerships are fragmented across vendors. Individual universities rarely have the budget or coordination capacity to provide students with real hardware experience across multiple modalities. QUEST removes that barrier by pooling resources across the ecosystem and routing them through a single platform.
The program offers participating professors up to $5,000 in qBraid computational credits per course, drawn from a $200,000 program fund contributed by qBraid and its hardware partners. Selected courses gain access to qBraid's full platform, which connects to more than 25 quantum devices through a single notebook environment. Onboarding, instructor support, and student access are administered centrally by qBraid.
"Quantum computing is moving from research labs into classrooms, and the next generation of quantum scientists and engineers needs more than textbooks and simulators," said Dr. Kanav Setia, CEO of qBraid. "QUEST is our commitment to making sure that hardware access is not the barrier between curiosity and capability. No single hardware vendor can deliver this alone, and that is precisely why qBraid is in a position to coordinate it."
QUEST is supported by hardware partners Rigetti Computing, IonQ Inc, Alpine Quantum Technologies (AQT), and Oxford Quantum Circuits (OQC), with North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University (NC A&T) serving as the anchor academic partner. The program wouldn’t have been possible without the support and backing of Dr. Raymond Samuel, Professor at NC A&T. The program is open to professors at any accredited institution, with a particular emphasis on broadening participation across demographics.
QUEST builds on a pilot phase in which qBraid refined the platform, materials, and onboarding flow before opening the program at scale. "I've been teaching Intro to Quantum Computing for 8 years now. One of the most exciting updates and changes I made to the class in the last couple of years was to incorporate quantum programming assignments, which students find helpful and also fun. The qBraid platform and materials made it ridiculously easy for me to roll out quantum programming assignments," said Dr. Henry Yuen, Associate Professor of Computer Science at Columbia University.
Alongside the educational program, QUEST runs the first IRB-approved multi-university empirical study on quantum computing pedagogy. Participating professors receive co-authorship opportunities on the resulting peer-reviewed publication. The study, designed with anonymous student surveys and aggregate platform analytics, examines how cloud-based hardware access affects learning outcomes compared to simulator-only approaches, which teaching methods are most effective across student populations, and how different institutional contexts shape adoption and student success.
"What makes QUEST different is that we are not just distributing credits and hoping for the best," said Dr. Tarini Hardikar, Head of Scientific Applications and Product at qBraid and the program's lead. "Every course in the program contributes to a research-grade dataset on what actually works in quantum education. Five years from now, the field will know more about how to teach quantum because of what QUEST measured this year."
Applications for the 2026 to 2027 cohort are open through August 2026 at quest.qbraid.com. Participation is free for professors and their students.
qBraid is a quantum computing platform company providing cloud-based access to QPUs, HPC, and a full scientific software stack. With active partnerships across superconducting, trapped-ion, and neutral-atom hardware vendors, qBraid is uniquely positioned to coordinate multi-vendor educational programs at scale. Headquartered in Chicago.
contact@qbraid.com
Collaborations
3
Min read
Kvantify Qrunch is now live on qBraid Lab, giving our 27,000+ developers access to production-grade quantum chemistry workflows and five ready-to-run tutorials spanning batteries, carbon capture, drug discovery, and enzyme catalysis.
Collaborations
4
Min read
qBraid is proud to announce we are part of a DARPA-selected team led by memQ to develop a hardware and network-aware quantum compiler under the HARQ program, alongside researchers from MIT, Yale, and the University of Chicago.
Research
4
Min read
qBraid researchers Tarini Hardikar and James Brown presented four talks at the APS Global Physics Summit 2026 in Denver, spanning molecular simulation, quantum education, and aerospace applications.
.png)
Collaborations
4 min read
Min read
qBraid is now a cloud target in NVIDIA CUDA-Q enabling direct access to backends available on qBraid via CUDA-Q's programming interface
Collaborations
4
Min read
qBraid is selected for the National Quantum Algorithm Center Grand Challenges Award alongside Professor Bryan Clark at UIUC and BP to benchmark quantum chemistry algorithms on industrially relevant molecules.
Collaborations
3
Min read
Kvantify Qrunch is now live on qBraid Lab, giving our 27,000+ developers access to production-grade quantum chemistry workflows and five ready-to-run tutorials spanning batteries, carbon capture, drug discovery, and enzyme catalysis.
Collaborations
4
Min read
qBraid is proud to announce we are part of a DARPA-selected team led by memQ to develop a hardware and network-aware quantum compiler under the HARQ program, alongside researchers from MIT, Yale, and the University of Chicago.
.png)
Collaborations
2
Min read
Loom, the quantum error correction library from Entropica Labs, is now available on the updated qBraid Lab Explore page.
Collaborations
3
Min read
qBraid Pilots is now available on AWS Marketplace, giving enterprises a familiar procurement path to access expert-guided quantum algorithm development powered by Amazon Braket.
Collaborations
2
Min read
Access AQT’s IBEX Q1 on qBraid Lab, enabling researchers and developers to run experiments on fully connected trapped ion quantum hardware
Collaborations
3
Min read
qBraid is proud to return as the official compute platform for the 2026 Connected DMV Global Industry Challenge, announced at CES 2026 in Las Vegas.
Collaborations
3 minutes
Min read
qBraid has been selected by IBM to host their annual Qiskit Global Summer School for the second year in a row.
Collaborations
5
Min read
As an early adopter of the NVIDIA GH200 Grace Hopper Superchip systems, qBraid provides unparalleled access to today’s most advanced computing technologies.
Collaborations
1
Min read
Explore the advantages of cloud-based quantum computing and how it is revolutionizing research and development across various industries
Collaborations
1
Min read
Discover how quantum computing is revolutionizing enterprises, from enhancing cybersecurity with quantum encryption to optimizing complex logistics and supply chain operations.
Collaborations
5
Min read
qBraid’s quantum computing platform adds access to 256 qubit neutral atom quantum computer, Aquila by QuEra.
Collaborations
5
Min read
qBraid and Quantum Algorithms Institute partner to accelerate the pace of quantum computing in British Columbia and beyond.
Collaborations
4
Min read
The qBraid platform will allow users to play with Pulser in a matter of a few minutes.
Hackathons
3
Min read
qBraid served as the official platform for iQuHACK 2026, MIT's 7th annual quantum hackathon, powering 1,400+ participants across 76 countries for the 5th consecutive year.
Hackathons
5
Min read
As part of QHack, qBraid is providing the best quantum developer notebook environment experience for challengers.
Hackathons
10
Min read
From October 21st to November 5th of 2022, qBraid hosted HAQS, one of the most popular quantum computing events of the year, where participants from around the world worked on solving a total of five quantum computing challenges during the two weeks of the event.
Hackathons
5
Min read
At this year's QCHack, participants attended a week filled with amazing talks, 1:1 sessions with academic and industry mentors, and a 24 hour hackathon hosted by Stanford, Yale and Berkeley.
-min.jpeg)
Hackathons
4
Min read
The potential of the field of quantum computing is so huge that everyone in the field cannot wait for all the promises that the field holds to become a reality.
Research
5
Min read
qBraid partnered with Google Cloud's AlphaEvolve to tackle one of the most difficult optimization problems in quantum chemistry: finding more efficient fermion-to-qubit encodings that enable fault-tolerant quantum simulations of molecules.
Research
4
Min read
qBraid researchers Tarini Hardikar and James Brown presented four talks at the APS Global Physics Summit 2026 in Denver, spanning molecular simulation, quantum education, and aerospace applications.
Research
5
Min read
IEEE has awarded qBraid and its collaborators 1st place for the Best Paper Award in the Quantum Algorithm Track.
Research
1
Min read
qBraid's team used hybrid classical-quantum algorithms to determine the best flight path
Research
1
Min read
Learn how classical sampling methods, such as Markov Chain Monte Carlo, can estimate truncation errors in simulating bosons on quantum computers, aiding resource assessment and result validation for quantum simulations, including applications in two-dimensional lattice scalar field theory.
Press Releases
3 minutes
Min read
qBraid Launches QUEST to Bring Real Quantum Hardware Into Classrooms at 40 Universities
Press Releases
3
Min read
MIT News featured qBraid as a startup providing a nontechnical gateway to coding on quantum computers, highlighting the platform's mission to democratize access to quantum hardware and software worldwide.
Press Releases
2
Min read
qBraid wins NSF POSE grant to build open source ecosystem
Press Releases
10
Min read
qBraid and NVIDIA CUDA-Q are removing the two biggest blockers to AI4Quantum research
Press Releases
8
Min read
Our first cohort of the qBraid Alliance, a partnership with student organizations at leading universities around the country.
Press Releases
5
Min read
Coming from IBM Quantum Lab? Learn how to start using qBraid Lab
Press Releases
10
Min read
The Bloch develops quantum technology solutions for society’s most pressing problems by accelerating industry adoption to drive research commercialization, catapulting US leadership in quantum information science and technology.
Press Releases
5
Min read
Our newest podcast series
Press Releases
5
Min read
qBraid will lead a team of researchers from MIT, UChicago, Argonne National Laboratory, and QuEra to develop quantum computing solutions for studying the interaction of metals and intrinsically disordered proteins.
Press Releases
Min read
OSU uses qBraid for accessing Intel Quantum SDK
Press Releases
5
Min read
qBraid provides agnostic connections to quantum computers and simulators thanks to Amazon Braket
Press Releases
10
Min read
Duality Quantum Accelerator Accepts Six Startups into Inaugural Cohort
Press Releases
1
Min read
Take the QuBes (Quantum Beginners) course to learn quantum computing.
Press Releases
5
Min read
qBraid aims to increase accessibility to, and interoperability amongst, quantum computing resources.
Product
3 min read
Min read
qBraid Lab now offers on-demand access to 20+ GPU instance types across NVIDIA's Blackwell, Hopper, Ampere, and Ada Lovelace architectures, with pay-as-you-go pricing and zero infrastructure to manage.
Product
3 min read
Min read
Rigetti's Cepheus-1-108Q, the largest modular quantum system in the industry, is now available to qBraid Lab users via direct integration.
Product
3 minutes
Min read
Supercharge your quantum workflows with GPUs on qBraid
.png)
Product
5
Min read
We are pleased to have presented qBraid’s Platform-Agnostic Open-Source Tools at the Quantum Computing Devroom in FOSDEM 2025.
Product
5
Min read
Accelerating hybrid workflows using Pennylane's embedded simulators with NVIDIA GPUs on qBraid Lab.
Product
5
Min read
Here are 3 ways to install python packages on qBraid
Product
2
Min read
How to install Cirq v1.2.0 environment on qBraid Lab
Product
1
Min read
Let qBraid help you take your first step into the quantum world!
Product
1
Min read
Intel® Quantum SDK is generally available on qBraid Lab for Free with no installation necessary
Product
1
Min read
Dive into the intricate interplay of the Bernoulli line and the Bloch sphere, revealing profound geometric insights into quantum state dynamics.
