Fermilab and Northern Illinois University (NIU) have signed a Cooperative Research and Development Agreement (CRADA) to launch a specialized Master of Science in Physics program focused on quantum science and technology. The inaugural class is scheduled to begin in the fall of 2026, with students transitioning to hands-on research at Fermilab in the summer of 2027. This collaborative curriculum is designed to provide formal instruction in the manipulation and fabrication of tools leveraging superposition, entanglement, and interference, bridging the gap between theoretical physics and industrial application.
The graduate program centers on the resources of the Superconducting Quantum Materials and Systems (SQMS) Center, one of five DOE National Quantum Information Science Research Centers led by Fermilab. Students will have direct access to the SQMS Center’s facilities, where researchers engineer multi-qubit processor platforms and new quantum sensors using superconducting radio-frequency (SRF) cavity expertise. NIU, an existing SQMS research partner, contributes specialized knowledge in materials science and nanofabrication to the curriculum, ensuring that graduates are equipped with the technical skills required to advance the Department of Energy’s national initiative for quantum computing and sensing.
Parallel to these graduate efforts, Fermilab’s Saturday Morning Quantum (SMQ)* program recently celebrated the graduation of its 2026 cohort, consisting of 37 high school students from the Chicago area. The 10-week outreach program, hosted at the Olive-Harvey College Learning Center, provides students with exposure to cryogenic systems, superconducting technologies, and the fundamentals of quantum mechanics. In this latest session, 28 participants earned college credit, reflecting the program’s focus on establishing accessible pathways into STEM for high schoolers before they enter higher education.
By aligning high school outreach with university-level specialization, Fermilab is executing a multi-tiered workforce development strategy. The SMQ* program utilizes industry partners to share career trajectories with younger students, while the NIU master’s specialization focuses on creating subject matter experts ready for immediate entry into the quantum hardware sector. These initiatives are designed to ensure a steady pipeline of domestic talent capable of supporting the long-term science goals of the SQMS Center and maintaining the United States’ competitive position in quantum information science.
You can find the official announcement regarding the Fermilab SMQ* graduation here and additional details on the new NIU Master of Science specialization here.
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