The ERN Quantum Education Alliance emerged from the ERN Summit 2025 as a collaborative effort among academic institutions, research organizations, and industry partners to facilitate quantum education and broaden career pathways. As a subcommittee of the Broadening the Reach Working group, the Alliance advances the ERN’s mission to strengthen multi-institutional collaborations across scientific domains, with particular emphasis on empowering non-R1 institutions to drive scientific innovation.
We aspire to cultivate a dynamic quantum workforce prepared to lead innovation. By integrating hands-on experiences, shared curricula, and cross-sector collaboration, the alliance will empower learners from all backgrounds with essential quantum knowledge and skills. ERN's convening role ensures cohesion and coordinated access to opportunities throughout the research community.
Uniting academia, industry, national labs, and non-profits in a shared mission to increase availability and participation in quantum education and expand career pathways across the ecosystem. This alliance focuses on building a well-prepared talent pipeline by aligning national strategies with regional strengths and community needs.
The Ecosystem for Research Networking and the Northeast Big Data Innovation Hub (NEBDHub) have partnered to host a series of webinars focusing on Quantum Computing. This dynamic series will convene leading researchers, industry innovators, and educators to explore the evolving frontiers of quantum science and technology. These virtual events are designed for learners, educators, researchers, and professionals. Each interactive session will span topics from foundational principles to cutting-edge real-world application, bridging disciplines and sparking discovery.
These are free webinars, requiring registration.
February 20, 2026 12:00 – 1:00 PM ET
Dr. Hanna Terletska – Professor of Physics at Middle Tennessee State University (MTSU), and Director of the Quantum Research, Interdisciplinary Science, and Education (QRISE) Center
Quantum science and workforce training are often perceived as the domain of large research universities and national laboratories. In reality, smaller and regional institutions, which educate a significant share of U.S. students, including many first-generation, low-income, and underrepresented learners, play a critical role in expanding access, training talent at scale, and connecting quantum research to regional workforce needs. For these institutions, sustained federal investment is essential to enable quantum programs to take root and scale.
In this talk, I will share how Middle Tennessee State University is building a comprehensive quantum initiative at a regional university by integrating research, education, industry engagement, and workforce development, made possible in large part through critical funding from federal agencies such as the NSF and DOE. I will discuss the structural challenges and resource constraints faced by smaller institutions and the strategies used to overcome them, including a growing portfolio in quantum materials, quantum computing, and AI-enabled quantum science; the launch of interdisciplinary and interinstitutional quantum curricula and student training pathways; and a strategic partnership with Oak Ridge National Laboratory that connects students and faculty to national-scale research and industry-relevant problems.
Together, these efforts position MTSU as a regional hub for quantum education and workforce development, while contributing meaningfully to the Tennessee and national quantum ecosystem. Ultimately, building quantum capacity at regional universities is not about catching up, it is about ensuring that the future of U.S. quantum science is built broadly, wherever talent lives and opportunity can be created.
Dr. Hanna Terletska is a Full Professor of Physics at Middle Tennessee State University (MTSU) and the Founding Director of the Quantum Research, Interdisciplinary Science, and Education (QRISE) Center. Her research background is in computational physics, with a focus on disordered and strongly correlated quantum materials, supported by NSF- and DOE-funded projects. She leads the Middle Tennessee Quantum Consortium, a regional partnership among MTSU, Tennessee State University, Fisk University, Meharry Medical College, and Austin Peay State University, working with national laboratory partners to expand quantum research, education, and workforce training across Tennessee. She also develops interdisciplinary quantum curricula and leads Train-the-Trainer programs to strengthen quantum capacity at emerging research institutions.
December 5, 2025 1:00 – 2:00 PM ET
Dr. Torey Battelle – Associate Director, Research Computing and Quantum Collaboration, Arizona State University
October 17, 2025 1:00 – 2:00 PM ET
Dr. Monica VanDieren – Senior Technical Marketing Engineer for Quantum Computing and HPC, NVIDIA