How NYU’s Quantum Institute Bridges Science and Application

This sponsored article is brought to you by the NYU Tandon School of Engineering.

Within a 10 km radius of the New York University (NYU) campus, there are more than 500 tech industry giants, banks and hospitals. This is not just a real estate fact, it is the foundation for the advancement of quantum discovery and applications.

As the world races to harness quantum technology, NYU is betting that the ultimate advantage lies not just in a laboratory, but also in the dense, demanding, hyper-connected urban ecosystem that surrounds it. With the launch of its NYU Quantum Institute (NYUQI), NYU positions itself as the central node of this network; a full-stack powerhouse built on the belief that it has found the right place and time to transform quantum science into tangible reality.

The proximity advantage is essential because quantum science demands it. Globally, the search for practical quantum solutions – whether computing, sensing or secure communications – has been stymied, in part, by fragmentation. Physicists and chemical engineers invent new materials, computer scientists develop new algorithms, and electrical engineers build new devices, but all three often work in isolated academic silos.

Gregory Gabadadze, NYU dean of science, Javad Shabani, physicist and director of the NYU Quantum Institute, and Juan de Pablo, Anne and Joel Ehrenkranz, executive vice president for global science and technology and executive dean of the Tandon School of Engineering.Veselin Cuparic/NYU

The principle of NYUQI is that advances occur “at the interfaces between different fields”, according to Juan de Pabloexecutive vice president for global science and technology at NYU and executive dean of the NYU Tandon School of Engineering. The Institute is designed to actively force these necessary collisions – to integrate the physicists, engineers, materials scientists, computer scientists, biologists and chemists essential to quantum research into a single holistic operation. This institutional design ensures that hardware built by one team can be immediately tested by software developed by another, thereby accelerating progress in a way that isolated departments never could.

The principle of NYUQI is that advances occur at the interfaces between different fields. —Juan de Pablo, NYU Tandon School of Engineering

NYUQI’s integrated vision is underpinned by a massive physical commitment to the city. The NYUQI is not just a theoretical concept; its employees will be housed in a renovated building, million square foot facility in the heart of Manhattan’s West Village, supported by a state-of-the-art nanofabrication cleanroom in Brooklyn serving as a high-tech foundry. This is where theory meets physical devices, allowing the Institute to test and refine the process from materials science to deployment.

NYUQI will be housed in a renovated one million square foot facility in the heart of Manhattan’s West Village.Tracey Friedman/NYU

The director of NYUQI is leading this effort. Javad Shabaniwho, together with the other members, makes the Institute a center for collaboration with private and public sector partners facing quantum challenges to solve. As de Pablo explains: “Anyone who wants to work on quantum with NYU should come in through this door and we will send you to the right place. » For New York’s vast ecosystem of tech giants and financial institutions, NYUQI offers a resource they cannot build alone: ​​a cohesive team of experts in quantum phenomena, quantum information theory, communications, computer science, materials and optics, and a structured pathway to apply theoretical discoveries to advanced quantum technologies.

Meeting the challenge of quantum research

NYUQI’s integrated structure is less focused on organizational management and more on scientific requirements. The challenge with quantum is that hardware, software, and programming are intrinsically interconnected: each must be designed to work with the other. To address this problem, the Institute focuses on three applications of quantum science: quantum computing, quantum sensing, and quantum communications.

For Shabani, this means creating an integrated environment that connects discovery to experimentation, starting with physical components and ending with quantum algorithm centers. This will include a manufacturing facility in the new Manhattan building, as well as the NYU Nanofab in Brooklyn directed by Davood Shahjerdi. New York Senators Charles Schumer and Kirsten Gillibrand recently secured $1 million in congressionally directed spending to bring thermal laser epitaxy (TLE) technology—which enables atomic-level purity, minimal defects, and streamlined application of a diverse range of quantum materials—to NYU, marking the first time the equipment will be used in the United States.

Smiti Bhattacharya, director of NYU Nanofab, and Davood Shahjerdi, director of Nanofab, at the nanofab’s grand opening in 2023. The nanofab is Brooklyn’s first academic cleanroom and serves as a prototyping facility for the NORDTECH Microelectronics Commons consortium.WIRELESS AT NYU

Tight control over manufacturing can allow researchers to adapt quickly when a breakthrough in one area (e.g., finding a cheaper and more reliable material like silicon carbide) can be explored for use in all three applications, and provides unique access to academia and the private sector to sophisticated specialized equipment whose knowledge and maintenance costs make them virtually impossible to maintain without the proper personnel and environment.

NYU Nanofab is Brooklyn’s premier academic cleanroom, with a strategic focus on superconducting quantum technologies, advanced semiconductor electronics, and devices built from quantum heterostructures and other next-generation materials.NYU Nanofab

This speed and adaptability is NYUQI’s competitive advantage. It transforms fragmented challenges into holistic solutions, enabling the Institute to solve real-world problems for its New York neighbors, from highly secure data transmission to next-generation drug discovery.

The integrated approach also makes NYUQI a testbed for the most critical applications in the near term. Take Quantum Communications, which is key to creating an “unhackable” quantum internet. In an industry first, NYU worked with quantum startup Qunnect to send quantum information over a standard telecommunications fiber in New York between Manhattan and Brooklyn via a 10-mile quantum network link. Instead of simulating communication issues in a lab, the NYUQI team is already leveraging NYU’s city-wide campus using existing infrastructure to test secure quantum transmission between Manhattan and Brooklyn.

The NYUQI team is already leveraging NYU’s citywide campus using existing infrastructure to test secure quantum transmission between Manhattan and Brooklyn.

It’s not just theory; he is building a working prototype in the most demanding and dense urban environment in the world. Real-time, real-world deployment is a critical component that other isolated institutions lack. When NYUQI gets results, the technology will be that much more easily accessible to large financial, technology and communications organizations operating right outside its door.

NYUQI features a state-of-the-art nanofabrication cleanroom in Brooklyn serving as a high-tech foundry.NYU Tandon

Although the Institute has built the physical infrastructure and designed the necessary scientific architecture, its lasting contribution will be the specialized workforce it will create for the new quantum economy. This fills the biggest gap in the market: the lack of individuals trained not only in physics, but also in the integrated and comprehensive approach that quantum requires.

By creating a pipeline of 100 to 200 graduate and doctoral students encouraged to collaborate in the fields of computing, sensing and communications, NYUQI is reducing the skills gap. They will be future leaders capable of speaking the language of the physicist, the materials scientist and the engineer simultaneously. This commitment to interdisciplinary talent is also fueled by the launch of the new Master of Science in Quantum Science & Technology program at NYU Tandon, positioning the university among a select group globally offering such a specialized degree.

Interdisciplinary education creates a shared language and understanding poised to make graduates from collaborations within NYUQI extremely valuable in today’s landscape. Quantum challenges are not just technical; they are also managerial and philosophical. An engineer working with NYUQI will understand the requirements of the nanofabrication clean room and the foundations of superconducting qubits for quantum computing, just as a physicist will understand the application needs of an industrial partner like a large financial institution. In a field where the entire team must be able to communicate transparently, these professionals are truly equipped to quickly translate discoveries into deployable technologies. Creating a large-scale talent pipeline will provide a missing link that converts New York’s vast commercial energy into a truly quantum advantage.

NYUQI: Developing Talent, Technology and Structure

The NYUQI vision is an act of strategic geography that plays directly into the sheer volume of opportunities and demands just outside their new facilities. By developing the talent, technology and structure needed to take advantage of this dense environment, NYU is not only participating in the quantum race, it is actively leading it.

Attendees at the NYU Quantum Summit 2025.Tracey Friedman/NYU

NYUQI’s initial hypothesis was simple: ultimate benefit lies in the pursuit of science in the right place and at the right time. Now, the institute will ensure that the next wave of scientific discoveries, capable of solving previously intractable problems in finance, medicine and security, are designed, built and tested in the heart of New York City.