Education in Quantum Science at the Master's Degree Level

Quantum science and technology is becoming a significant growth area in our national economy. As the science continues to engender marketable technology, workers will be needed from all educational levels. For this reason, educational innovation from the elementary to the PhD level in quantum science and technology has been identified as a national priority. This talk will focus on this type of education at the Master’s Degree (MS) level. I will survey the development of such efforts in the US from 2019 to the present. Since this type of education is at an early stage of development, it is useful to compare and contrast the various approaches to MS-level education that are currently being tried at different institutions. Particular attention needs to aligning educatonal program goals to the needs of potential employers in the area. I will give a detailed description of our experience with the MS program in Physics-Quantum Computing at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Some things worked and some didn’t, and this has informed the evolution of the program. There should be some useful lessons here for others that wish to start new programs. I will conclude by giving some thoughts about the future of MS education in quantum science.