UNIVERSITY OF MARYLAND, COLLEGE PARK

Agency: National Science Foundation
NAICS: 541715 - Research and Development in the Physical, Engineering, and Life Sciences (except Nanotechnology and Biotechnology)
Period start: 2026-09-15
Period end: 2027-08-31
Budget: 150000.0
Place of performance: COLLEGE PARK, MARYLAND 20742, UNITED STATES

Description

CONFERENCE: CONFERENCE ON QUANTUM WORKFORCE DEVELOPMENT: BEST PRACTICES, LESSONS LEARNED, AND MULTILATERAL COOPERATION -NONTECHNICAL: QUANTUM INFORMATION SCIENCE AND ENGINEERING (QISE) IS RAPIDLY MOVING FROM FOUNDATIONAL RESEARCH TO A GROWING QUANTUM INDUSTRY. THIS GROWTH IS CONSTRAINED ACROSS ALL SECTORS BY A PERSISTENT BOTTLENECK: WORKFORCE CAPACITY, AND THIS IS TRUE ACROSS THE FULL TALENT PIPELINE, INCLUDING TECHNICIANS, ENGINEERS, SCIENTISTS, EDUCATORS, PROGRAM MANAGERS, AND EVEN POLICY LEADERS. THE UNIVERSITY OF MARYLAND WILL HOLD A TWO-DAY INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON SEPTEMBER 28-29, 2026, IN COLLEGE PARK, MARYLAND. THE CONFERENCE WILL CONVENE LEADING STAKEHOLDERS TO: (1) SHARE EVIDENCE-BASED WORKFORCE DEVELOPMENT MODELS, (2) OPENLY ANALYZE BOTH SUCCESS STORIES AND ?LESSONS LEARNED,? INCLUDING PROGRAMS THAT DID NOT MEET GOALS, (3) IDENTIFY URGENT WORKFORCE GAPS, AND (4) IDENTIFY OPPORTUNITIES FOR MULTILATERAL COOPERATION TO ENABLE SHARED PROGRESS ON ADDRESSING WORKFORCE NEEDS. THE CONFERENCE AGENDA WILL FOCUS ON INITIATIVES WITH MEASURABLE OUTCOMES (E.G., COMPLETION, PLACEMENT, EMPLOYER UPTAKE, SCALABILITY, AND COST CONSIDERATIONS) AND WILL EXPLICITLY EXAMINE FAILURE MODES AND IMPLEMENTATION BARRIERS THAT ARE OFTEN OMITTED FROM PUBLIC DISCUSSION. OVERALL, THE PROJECT WILL IDENTIFY BEST PRACTICES, LESSONS LEARNED, AND GAP ANALYSIS THAT CAN BE USED TO STRENGTHEN THE U.S. QUANTUM WORKFORCE PIPELINE. TECHNICAL: THE CONFERENCE WILL ADVANCE THE KNOWLEDGE BASE FOR QISE WORKFORCE DEVELOPMENT BY ENABLING THE COMPARISON OF WORKFORCE MODELS ACROSS THE U.S. AND INTERNATIONAL ECOSYSTEMS AND BY EMPHASIZING EVIDENCE AND EVALUATION. ALTHOUGH MANY COUNTRIES AND REGIONAL ECOSYSTEMS HAVE LAUNCHED WORKFORCE INITIATIVES, APPROACHES VARY WIDELY IN STRUCTURE, OUTCOMES, AND SCALABILITY. TOO OFTEN, SUCCESSFUL MODELS ARE NOT BROADLY SHARED, AND UNSUCCESSFUL EFFORTS ARE RARELY DISCUSSED CANDIDLY, SLOWING GLOBAL LEARNING AND LEAVING PERSISTENT GAPS UNADDRESSED. THE CONFERENCE WILL STRENGTHEN THE QISE WORKFORCE ECOSYSTEM BY ACCELERATING THE DISSEMINATION OF EFFECTIVE WORKFORCE DEVELOPMENT STRATEGIES, IMPROVING ALIGNMENT BETWEEN TRAINING PATHWAYS AND EMPLOYER NEEDS, AND CATALYZING CROSS-SECTOR COLLABORATIONS. THIS AWARD REFLECTS NSF'S STATUTORY MISSION AND HAS BEEN DEEMED WORTHY OF SUPPORT THROUGH EVALUATION USING THE FOUNDATION'S INTELLECTUAL MERIT AND BROADER IMPACTS REVIEW CRITERIA.- SUBAWARDS ARE NOT PLANNED FOR THIS AWARD.

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