Contents:
Chicago, IL – April 27, 2026
The National Quantum Algorithm Center (NQAC) at the Illinois Quantum and Microelectronics Park (IQMP) has announced its 2026 Grand Challenges awardees, and qBraid is on the list.
We are proud to be selected alongside Professor Bryan Clark at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign and BP for a project titled Benchmarking Quantum Computing Algorithms for Quantum Chemistry on Industrially Relevant Molecules. The award was covered by The Quantum Insider and Quantum Computing Report on April 24, 2026.
Quantum algorithms have strong potential to simulate chemical reactions for clean fuels development, but practical performance, accuracy, and resource requirements vary widely across approaches. There is no shared yardstick for comparing them on the molecules that actually matter to industry.
Our team will build the technology, workflow, and stack to document and benchmark a range of quantum chemistry simulation methods, focused on molecules central to the fuels sector: methane, ethanol, ethylene, acetaldehyde, and methanol. The output will be an open knowledge graph and a public dataset designed to accelerate community learning and industrial translation.
In short: a reproducible foundation for the field to build on, anchored by a real industry use case.
Three things make this collaboration powerful.
First, it pairs deep algorithmic expertise (Professor Clark's group at UIUC has a long track record in quantum simulation, error mitigation, and the classical-quantum boundary) with a real industrial partner in BP, and an infrastructure layer (qBraid Lab and qBook) that makes results runnable, comparable, and shareable.
Second, the structure of the Grand Challenges program is exactly the kind of three-way collaboration the quantum industry needs more of. Each awardee team brings together academic researchers, a quantum company, and a non-quantum industry end user. That triangle is how research turns into deployed value.
Third, the deliverable is open. An open knowledge graph and a public benchmarking dataset is the right artifact to leave behind. The whole community benefits, not just the partners.
First announced in October 2025 by P33 and the NQAC, the Grand Challenges program funds postdoctoral researchers developing industry relevant quantum applications in Illinois. The program is funded through the generosity of P33, Northwestern University, and the Discovery Partners Institute (DPI) at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign.
The five 2026 awardees span clean energy, power grid optimization, quantum chemistry, drug discovery, and materials design, with academic leads from the University of Chicago, UIUC, and Northwestern, and quantum partners including PsiQuantum, IBM, qBraid, and Infleqtion.
Launched in July 2025 during TechChicago Week, the NQAC is a membership organization at IQMP that brings together industry end users, quantum companies, academia, national labs, and partners to advance quantum algorithms and applications that generate value for companies and society. The 128-acre IQMP development broke ground in Fall 2025 on Chicago's South Side and is on track to host PsiQuantum's first utility scale, fault tolerant, million qubit quantum computer.
This is part of a broader Illinois quantum buildout you can track through the Chicago Quantum Exchange, the Illinois Quantum & Microelectronics Park, and Year of Quantum Illinois 2026.
The team is kicking off project planning now. Expect updates on benchmarking methodology, the early molecule list, and the open knowledge graph as it takes shape. We will share results, code, and data publicly as the work progresses.
A big thank you to the NQAC, IQMP, P33, Northwestern, and DPI for backing this program, to Professor Bryan Clark and his group at UIUC, and to our colleagues at BP. We are excited to get started.
Want to explore the open source SDK powering qBraid's quantum chemistry workflows? 👉 github.com/qBraid/qBraid
About qBraid
qBraid is a hardware agnostic quantum computing platform with over 27,000 developers. With partnerships across IBM, IonQ, Rigetti, QuEra, Atom Computing, AQT, and Microsoft, qBraid brings the full quantum hardware ecosystem together through a single, unified cloud interface. Learn more at qbraid.com.
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.
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.
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
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
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 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.
