In celebration of the International Year of Quantum Science and Technology, the Open Quantum Institute (OQI) at CERN and the University of Geneva are co-organising the first Quantum Materials Hackathon, which will be hosted at CERN IdeaSquare on 11-13 July 2025.

This hackathon will explore how quantum computing could be utilised to design novel quantum materials and how these materials can contribute towards the UN-SDGs, aligning with OQI’s overall mission. To achieve this, hackathon participants will be tasked with creating a practical application document, detailing how they would approach developing a quantum algorithm to design such a material. They will then begin to develop an algorithm with the potential to be refined further beyond the hackathon.