The Design and Implementation of a Quantum Information Science Undergraduate Program

TL;DR

This paper describes the development of an innovative undergraduate program in quantum information science at Université de Sherbrooke, designed to quickly train students as quantum software developers to fill industry talent gaps.

Contribution

It presents a novel interdisciplinary curriculum and implementation process for a comprehensive quantum information science undergraduate degree.

Findings

Successful creation of a 3.5-year quantum software training program

Guidelines and lessons learned for developing quantum education programs

Alignment with local ecosystem needs to ensure workforce readiness

Abstract

Quantum information science is a burgeoning research field attracting vast public and private investment in the last decade. This quick rise has led to a talent gap, where there are more open positions than new graduates who can fill these roles. To meet this critical need, higher education has been challenged to react accordingly by assuring a flow of highly skilled individuals who must be trained quickly. We thus present how Universit\'e de Sherbrooke, in Quebec, Canada, responded by creating and launching an innovative undergraduate degree in quantum information science, aiming to address this gap by training quantum software developers in three and a half years. At the end of this program, they will be ready to join the quantum workforce. We detail the creative process leading to a coherent curriculum, as well as why the local ecosystem led to these choices. The guiding principles and lessons learned during the development of this interdepartmental and interfaculty degree are shared to inspire other quantum education institutions.