Elham Kashefi

A fully funded PhD studentship is available at the University of Edinburgh in Quantum Verification and Benchmarking, focusing on scalable benchmarking for digital quantum computers using blind testing. The project is a collaboration between the University of Edinburgh, the National Quantum Computing Centre (NQCC), and the National Physics Laboratory (NPL), and is supervised by Dr Dominik Leichtle, Professor Elham Kashefi, Dr Theodoros Kapourniotis, Dr Ivan Rungger, and Abhishek Agarwal. The research aims to develop and apply scalable quantum verification techniques on real hardware, advancing tools from theory to deployment on the NQCC testbed. Students will join a national cohort of NQCC-linked students, with funded secondments to Harwell and opportunities for cross-disciplinary work on quantum trust, benchmarking, and standardisation. The project supports the QCI3 Hub’s vision and addresses the need for reliable, scalable verification and benchmarking schemes in quantum computing, including error-corrected and distributed quantum computers. Applicants should have a strong background in quantum computing, programming skills in Python, and a relevant degree in physics, mathematics, engineering, or computer science. Proficiency in English is required, and knowledge in cryptography is desirable. The studentship covers full tuition fees for home fee status, a tax-free stipend, and support for equipment and travel. The application deadline is 30 September 2025, and candidates should apply via the University’s admissions portal, submitting all required documents and references. The anticipated start date is 01 October 2025, with flexibility for later starts. The School of Informatics at Edinburgh is a leading research institute, and the Quantum Software Lab collaborates closely with NQCC to develop and validate quantum use cases.

A fully funded PhD position is available at the University of Edinburgh in Quantum Verification and Benchmarking, focusing on scalable benchmarking for digital quantum computers using blind testing. The project is a collaboration between the University of Edinburgh, the UK National Quantum Computing Centre (NQCC), and the National Physics Laboratory (NPL), and is supervised by Dr Dominik Leichtle, Professor Elham Kashefi, Dr Theodoros Kapourniotis, Dr Ivan Rungger, and Abhishek Agarwal. The research aims to develop and apply scalable quantum verification techniques on real hardware, advancing tools from theory to deployment on the NQCC testbed. Students will join a national cohort of NQCC-linked students, with funded secondments to Harwell and cross-disciplinary work on quantum trust, benchmarking, and standardisation. The project supports the QCI3 Hub’s vision by developing benchmarking tools for interconnected quantum systems, hardware-agnostic metrics, and reliable quantum advantage assessment. Candidates should have a strong background in quantum computing, programming skills in Python, and a relevant degree in physics, mathematics, engineering, or computer science. Proficiency in English and knowledge of cryptography are desirable. The studentship covers full tuition fees for home fee status students, a tax-free stipend of £20,780 per year, and support for equipment and travel. Applications should be submitted via the University’s admissions portal, including all required documents and references, by 30 September 2025. The anticipated start date is 01 October 2025, with flexibility for later starts. The School of Informatics at Edinburgh is a leading research institute, and the Quantum Software Lab collaborates closely with NQCC and industry partners to validate quantum use cases and benchmark quantum hardware.