With the Quantum Future competition for emerging talent, the BMBF is helping to improve the framework conditions, particularly for scientists in an early career phase, and to increase Germany’s attractiveness as a research location. Credit: BMBF

Dr. Werner Dobrautz, a junior research group leader at the Center for Advanced Systems Understanding (CASUS), has been awarded €1.8 million ($1.9M USD) by the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) under its “Quantum Future” program. The funding will support his project, “qHPC-GREEN”, which aims to develop quantum-enhanced high-performance computing (HPC) methods to model strongly correlated quantum systems, with applications in sustainable catalysis and energy transition.

Dobrautz’s research focuses on understanding biocatalysts, such as the enzyme nitrogenase, which facilitates biological nitrogen fixation—a process with potential to revolutionize sustainable fertilizer production. By combining classical HPC with quantum computing (QC), the project employs a divide-and-conquer strategy: weakly correlated regions of the system are modeled using HPC, while strongly correlated regions are tackled with QC. This hybrid approach is designed to overcome the limitations of current quantum hardware, making it viable for near-term quantum devices.

The project leverages collaborations with IBM Research Zurich, the Wallenberg Centre for Quantum Technology, Algorithmiq, and Jülich Supercomputing Centre’s JUNIQ. CASUS Director Prof. Thomas D. Kühne highlighted the significance of Dobrautz’s work in advancing Saxony’s AI and quantum research strategy.

Additional information is available in a news release here.

February 14, 2025

Print Friendly, PDF & Email