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EEUM student wins Gulbenkian research grant Back

Tuesday, 12/19/2017   
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Afonso Rodrigues, one of the eight winners of this grant, was the only student from the University of Minho, amongst students from the University of Porto, Instituto Superior Técnico and the University of Aveiro.
Afonso Rodrigues, a student from the Integrated Master in Physics Engineering of the School of Engineering of the University of Minho (EEUM) and a collaborator of the High Assurance Software Laboratory (HASLab/INESC Tec), was one of the eight winners of the Gulbenkian scientific and technological research grant in the Quantum Technologies’ field.

The grant was awarded under the “New Talents in Quantum Technologies” programme, created this year by the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation, which aims at supporting young people's interest in research in Quantum Technologies, eventually enabling the development of national competences in the area.

“The research grant is associated to my master’s dissertation. The project is related to research in quantum simulations, i. e., using quantum computing to simulate quantum systems (instead of using classical computing, which is more common)”, the student refers. “If we use a simulator, how can we confirm that the simulation is close to reality? How do we measure the simulator’s performance and error? It is expected that, in the near future, we may reach ‘quantum supremacy’. This means quantum computers will be more powerful than any existing classic computer, at least for certain applications. The problem of simulation validation is thus more obvious, as we are not able to simply compare results of a quantum simulation with those of a classic computer”, the awardee explains.
For Afonso Rodrigues, the support of the Gulbenkian Foundation and the EEUM is highly motivating to take on a project considered ambitious. “I am very grateful for this support, as well as the opportunity to meet other national professors and scholars who are conducting their research in the same area through the Foundation’s programme. I hope not only to acquire skills in the programme to support a good research, but also to represent the research work carried out at the EEUM in this area as good as possible”, he adds.

The scientific committee of this programme was composed of Yasser Omar, from the Instituto Superior Técnico, Armando Pinto, from the University of Aveiro, and José Nuno Oliveira, Full Professor of the Department of Informatics of the EEUM.

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