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A Holistic Internship Program for the Second Quantum Revolution

The field of Quantum Information Science and Engineering (QISE) is experiencing a second revolution as governments, academic institutions, and industry leaders work to harness quantum mechanics for application in controlling quantum systems.  Potential applications of QISE include quantum computing, quantum communications and cryptography, and quantum sensing.  In order to achieve so-called "quantum advantage" in these fields of interest, it will be crucial to support workforce training efforts to meet the quantum industry's growing need for a strongly-skilled and highly-diverse QISE workforce.  Crucially, an increasing number of quantum jobs will not require a specialized QISE degree -- in order to fill these positions, and to address issues of representation and equity in quantum workforce development, it is important to ensure that a diverse, represenative range of students have access to quantum jobs and to the professional development opportunities that will make them compatible for those jobs.

To address this issue and facilitate pathways to industry for interested students, the NSF Quantum Leap Challenge Institute for Enhanced Sensing and Distribution Using Correlated Quantum States (Q-SEnSE) has partnered with Colorado-based academic and industry partners to create the Q-SEnSE Quantum Research Exchange (QRX, formerly QSRX), an internship program specifically geared toward students at two-year colleges, minority-serving institutions, and other academic institutions serving students typically underrepresented in STEM.

In addition to simply connecting students to internship opportunities, as a traditional internship program would, QRX employs a relational cohort model that groups students together for development throughout the entire academic year, leading up to the summer internship season.  Students gain experience with resumé-building, interviewing, networking, and other skills useful in a variety of job applications, not just the pursuit of a quantum internship.  Industry partners participate in student-company mixers, provide wisdom and guidance to students seeking information about the quantum industry, and share internship opportunities with students in the program directly, rather than through a third-party platform such as Handshake.  As students prepare to submit internship applications, they draw on their peers' support as well as the program's guidance, ensuring that their applications are competitive and that students can apply confidently, knowing that they have a place to belong in the quantum science and tech industry.

 

Program Schedule Overview

QSRX beigns a few weeks after the start of the academic year and continues through the following summer when QRX students are placed in internships.  Broadly, activity in the fall semester will orient around professional development events and skills workshops, such as industry meet-and-greets or resume-building workshops, that students can use to sharpen their professional skills regardless of whether they plan to apply for quantum internships through QRX or not.  For those QRX participants that apply for internships in the spring, the program works with industry partners to help provide orientation and preparation leading up to summer internship placement.  And, at any point throughout the academic year or summer, QRX participants can connect with fellow students or reach out to program leaders for support and guidance.  Each year, in addition to our planned programming, we engage in a number of emergent activities, such as quantum hackathons, based on student interest and initiative.

For a more detailed look at this year's schedule, click this link.

Industry Partners

QRX industry partners play a vital role in ensuring the program's success.  In addition to simply providing internship opportunities for QRX students to apply to, industry partners also spend 4-6 hours throughout each semester during the academic year directly connecting with QRX students and providing insight into the nature of QISE work in industry, company culture and community, employee expectations, etc.  Companies that partner with the program gain access each year to the motivated and diverse set of students that make up the program's cohorts.  For more information on how we build with our industry partners, click this link.

Academic Partners

Unlike many traditional internship programs, QRX sees its students as key stakeholders in activity and has worked with academic partners to design a program model that serves students' needs as well as those of industry.  The program's academic partners take a crucial role in ensuring that the program is attractive to students, provides development opportunities in line with their interests, and accommodates their busy and varied lives.  Academic partners also maintain connection with QRX's industry partners.  For more information on how we collaborate with academic partners, click this link.