Manucharyan Research Group

JQI Fellow Vladimir Manucharyan has received a 2019 Google Faculty Research Award. It is the second consecutive year that Manucharyan, who is also an Associate Professor of Physics at UMD, has earned the honor. This year’s award will continue to support research by Manucharyan and his team into quantum computing hardware based on superconducting circuits. They are pursuing the development of special quantum bits—called fluxonium qubits—for use in a new generation of computers.

Google AI recently announced that JQI Fellow Vlad Manucharyan is among the recipients for this year's Google Faculty Research Awards. The program supports technical research in areas such as machine learning and quantum computing, the latter of which is Manucharyan's area of specialty. In the 2018 awards cycle the program funded 158 of the 910 proposed projects. Manucharyan, who is also the Alford Ward Professor of Physics at UMD, is a leading condensed matter experimentalist who uses superconducting circuits to make quantum bits, which underlie of one type of quantum computer. This type of research is also an active area of development for Google AI. Beyond qubits, Manucharyan’s team is also exploring ways in which superconducting circuits can probe physics phenomena that remain out of reach for other quantum platforms.

JQI Fellow Vladimir Manucharyan has recently received the 2017 Young Faculty Award (YFA) from the Defence Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) to support his research on topological superconductivity. According to DARPA, the YFA program seeks to “identify and engage rising research stars in junior faculty positions at U.S. academic institutions”. During the 2-year support period, DARPA grants awardees with mentoring and financial support.