International Exchange Award: Towards quantum advantage in quantum chemistry
Posted on 2nd April 2026 in News
Beren Dempsey and Antun Habajec, 1st year PhD students at The University of Manchester were awarded an M4QN international exchange award to visit Dr Ivano Tavernelli (IBM Quantum) at IBM Research Europe in Zurich. The visit took place from 18-27 March 2026.
Towards quantum advantage in quantum chemistry
Beren and Antun carried out a research visit to Ivano Tavernelli’s group at IBM Research Europe in Zurich, where they received training in running quantum electronic structure calculations on real quantum hardware. Tavernelli’s group are the developers of SQDrift, a state of the art quantum Monte Carlo-based algorithm for strongly correlated molecular systems, making this an ideal environment for Antun and Beren to gain expertise in quantum chemistry. (S. Piccinelli and A. Baiardi, et al., arXiv preprint, 2025, arXiv:2508.02578)
During the visit, they learned how to implement the full SQDrift workflow, including Hamiltonian preparation, circuit transpilation, execution on IBM’s quantum processors, and post processing of the resulting data. Direct supervision by the SQDrift developers greatly accelerated their progress, enabling them to troubleshoot challenges efficiently and understand the practical nuances of running algorithms on current-generation quantum hardware.
After becoming familiar with the SQDrift and Qiskit codebases, they were also able to run production-level calculations on large cyclocarbons, and compute observables (ionisation potential, electron affinity, and automerisation barrier) which our collaborators have already obtained experimentally.
In addition to their work with Tavernelli’s group, they engaged with Leo Gross’s group at IBM, strengthening ongoing collaborations and establishing broader scientific connections. As first year PhD researchers, the visit provided them with invaluable training and networking opportunities that will shape their future work in quantum molecular science.
Benefits to the UK materials and quantum community
This visit directly strengthens the UK’s capacity in quantum-enabled materials research. By learning to independently implement and run SQDrift calculations, Beren and Antun have brought back expertise that previously did not exist within our group or, more broadly, within most UK theoretical chemistry environments. This increases Manchester’s independence in running quantum hardware-based calculations and increases UK engagement with cutting-edge quantum algorithms.
Their training has immediate impact: they can now apply SQDrift to identify ?-conjugated molecules with tuneable topology and compute properties, such as magnetic couplings, that are classically challenging to access. These capabilities are highly relevant to the UK materials community, particularly researchers working on molecular qubits, quantum magnetism, and topological molecular design.
The knowledge gained will be shared through a seminar within the University of Manchester, thereby broadening skills base in quantum computation for materials discovery.
The visit directly supports M4QN’s mission by (1) fostering academia–industry links through collaboration with IBM Quantum, (2) developing early career talent in quantum technologies, and (3) strengthening the UK’s preparedness to exploit emerging quantum platforms for next generation materials research. The experience has positioned the students, and by extension, the UK community, to be active contributors as quantum computing becomes increasingly central to materials innovation.
Visit Outcomes
The results obtained during the visit will be incorporated in two papers in top international journals, such as Nature or Nature Chemistry. One of these manuscripts is already available as a pre-print (arXiv:2603.02040). This is a continuation of our successful collaboration with IBM Research Europe (2 papers in Science, 1 Nature, 1 JACS).