SHORTPROP.tex

by Horsman/Grenoble, which will also handle project administration. The project will be managed by a senior scientist from each site: 
Coecke (Oxford), Duncan (CQC), Horsman (Grenoble), Sainz (Gdansk),
Perdrix (LORIA), and Kissinger (Nijmegen).  They will track
global progress to ensure milestones are reached.
Each work package will be lead by a responsible PI  
%who will coordinate
%research activity between sites to 
who ensures that deliverables are met:
%achieve WP-specific objectives, and organise collaboration meetings as needed.  
{\bf WP 1}: Perdrix (LORIA), 
{\bf WP 2}: Sainz (Gdansk),
{\bf WP 3}: Coecke (Oxford),
{\bf WP 4}: Horsman (Grenoble),
%\textbf{\ref{wp:admin}}: D. Horsman (Grenoble).
%
%\paragraph{Experimental and integration advisory board}
%\label{sec:monit-advis-board}
%
Every six months there will be a meeting of both the work package leaders
and the site leaders, either electronically (\eg via Skype) or at a 
project event.  
%At these meetings progress towards research objectives
%will be evaluated, and any new opportunities will also be discussed.  These
%meetings will be organised by the coordinator.  
To assist in monitoring and evaluating progress, as well as to collaborate on WP4,
we have recruited Prof. ~Auffeves, Lead of the
Grenoble Quantum Engineering project, and Prof.~Vinet, head of the silicon spin qubit experimental team,  as external advisors. 
%Prof. Auffeves is the , and Prof. Vinet is the head of the silicon spin qubit experimental team.
%The entire project and advisory board (see \S\ref{sec:impact-2-pages})
%will meet once a year to evaluate progress, set priorities, and plan
%next steps.

%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%
%\paragraph{List of milestones}
%\label{sec:list-milestones}

The milestones are as follows:
\begin{description} 
\item[{\bf M1}] Minimal QASM $\to$ QASM circuit optimiser (month 12)
\item[{\bf M2}] Support for one HLL using parametric \zx, with 1WQC and idealized circuit output (month 18)
\item[{\bf M3}] Architecture sensitive, fidelity aware optimiser Error correction support (month 24)
\item[{\bf M4}] Back-end support for Oxford Ion Traps, initial back end API (month 30)
\item[{\bf M5}] Complete deep-\zx compiler stack with open
APIs, and a target compiled protocol demonstrating explicit quantum speed-up. (month 36)
\end{description}
Hence, at each milestone we will deliver a functioning piece of software.  With each
milestone, we add more, and more advanced, functionality.  By delivering the software incrementally, we follow best practice in the industry:  by regularly integrating parts from all work packages, we
reduce risk and improve communication across the consortium.  

%\begin{center}
%\makebox[\textwidth][c]{
%  \begin{tabular}{|c|c|c|l|}
%   \hline
%    \textbf{Milestone} &
%    \textbf{Delivery Month} &
%    \textbf{WP involved} &
%    \textbf{Title} \\\hline
%%
%\ms \label{ms:qasmqasm}&
%12 &
%\ref{wp:frontend}  &
%Minimal QASM $\to$ QASM circuit optimiser \\\hline
%%
%\ms \label{ms:quippermbqc}&
%18&
%\ref{wp:frontend},\ref{wp:representation},\ref{wp:theory}&
%Support for one HLL using parametric \zx,\\
%&&& with 1WQC and idealized circuit output \\\hline
%%
%\ms \label{ms:optimise-ecc}&
%24&
%\ref{wp:representation},\ref{wp:theory},\ref{wp:usefulstuff}&
%Architecture sensitive, fidelity aware optimiser\\
%&&& Error correction support
% \\\hline
%%
%\ms \label{ms:nqitbackend}&
%30&
%\ref{wp:frontend},\ref{wp:theory},\ref{wp:usefulstuff}& 
% Back-end support for Oxford Ion Traps,\\
% &&& initial back end API\\\hline
%%
%\ms \label{ms:delftbackend} &
%36&
%All&
%Complete deep-\zx compiler stack with open\\
%&&& APIs, and a target compiled protocol\\
%&&& demonstrating explicit quantum speed-up. \\\hline
%  \end{tabular}}
%\end{center}
%
%\e



\paragraph{Critical risks for implementation}
\label{sec:crit-risks-impl}


\REM{Describe any critical risks, relating to project implementation, that
the stated project's objectives may not be achieved. Detail any risk
mitigation measures.\textbf{Please provide a table with critical risks
  identified and mitigating actions (template provided).}
}


The project is overall quite high-risk, in the sense that what we
propose is in the most part entirely novel, and might fail.  The
rewards for success would be correspondingly great.  However, we have
designed the project to survive the failure of many (or even most) of
its tasks and still deliver value.

We mix low and high risk activities.  Success in low
risk activities (\ref{task:trans1}, \ref{task:basic-opt}, \ref{task:ECC},
%\ref{task:axioms}, THIS IS NOT REAALY LOW RISK
\ref{task:circuit-model}, \ref{task:mbqc-model})
will still deliver significant progress towards our overall objective.
\oldt{\ref{wp:theory} is the most critical; here we mitigate the risk by
(i) developing experience on easier objectives before addressing more
demanding ones and (ii) consulting our board of advisors to foresee
problems.  Due to its high dependence on other tasks, we consider
\ref{wp:usefulstuff} to be highest risk.}\TODOb{This doesn't seem quite up-to-date, also see below}



\begin{center}
  \begin{tabular}{|p{0.25\textwidth}|c|c|p{0.4\textwidth}|}
    \textbf{Description of risk} 
    & \textbf{Likelihood}
    & \textbf{WPs involved}
    & \textbf{Proposed mitigation measures}\\\hline
%    
Can't hire suitable post-docs&
Medium&
All&
While we have already identified several suitable candidates for each
role, the investigators also collectively supervise a large body of PhD
students and post-docs who could be channelled to the project.
\\\hline
%    
NQIT or Grenoble machine info unavailable or not detailed enough&
Low&
\ref{wp:usefulstuff}&
\oldt{(i) We have members of the consortium from NQIT, and letters of
support from DiCarlo who agrees to help.  (ii) We can approach other
members of our board of advisors, or other friendly
experimentalists. (iii) We can target an more abstract model of the
machine} \\\hline
%    
Some desired technique or algorithm isn't found&   
High&
All&
All tasks where this is a risk have been structured as a collection of
related goals; if some part doesn't succeed then the finished system
will be will have fewer features, or worse performance.  However it's
very unlikely that an entire task will fail in a way that jeopardises
the project. \\\hline
%    
Software integration issues&
Medium&
All&
(i) We will establish a common API in \ref{del:earlyapi} to allow
loose coupling of the software components (ii) We appoint the most
experienced software developer in the  consortium (Valiron) to act as ``integration tzar'' and ensure
the global design is good. (iii) As noted above, we will integrate
often and deliver new features more than once a year.  
\\\hline
  \end{tabular}
\end{center}


%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%

\newpage
\subsection{Consortium as a whole} %\REM{(1 page)}
\label{sec:consortium-as-whole}

%%\REM{The individual members are described in section 3.5, there is no
%  need to repeat that information there.  
%Describe the consortium. How will it match the project's objectives
%and bring together the necessary expertise? How do the members
%complement one another? 
%In what way does each of them contribute to the project? Show that
%each has a valid role and adequate resources in the project to fulfil
%that role. 
%If applicable, describe the industrial/commercial involvement in the
%project and explain why this is consistent with and will help to
%achieve the specific measures which are proposed for exploitation of
%the results of the project.  
%}

\newt{The members  of the consortium are chosen to provide the best 
combination of skills to deliver this project, including the fathers of  \zxcalculus, those who established it as a universal and complete calculus, those who have developed applications of \zxcalculus to quantum technologies, and those who have outperformed all other methods using \zxcalculus.      
%They also contributed greatly to community building. 
 
\TODOb{Do we think it's really good to say we are the Oxford mafia?
  Also i had two other positions between Oxford and CQC -rd}
Many members also have a long history of collaboration, and in fact have been at different consortium sites at some point of their career, for example Wang was a postdoc at Nancy before moving to  Oxford and CQC. Duncan,  Horsman, Kissinger and Perdrix were postdocs at Oxford before moving to CQC, Grenoble, Nijmegen and Nancy respectively. Sainz has a long-standing collaboration with members of the Oxford Group, and organised Quantum Physics and Logic X, the main conference for \zxcalculus alike research, while at Barcelona.  Coecke is a member of the International Scientific Committee of ICTQT-Gdansk, the new institute that hosts Sainz' new group.

Several members have ongoing collaborations with Cambridge Quantum Computing Inc. In particular, co-inventor of \zxcalculus Ross Duncan is now the leading researcher at CQC, which clearly demonstrates CQC's commitment to \zxcalculus.  Quantum compilation  is moreover the key focus of CQC. Several members are  part of the NQIT Quantum Technologies Hub.\footnote{nqit.ox.ac.uk}   

%We now provide details on each of these.

Expertise on the
{\bf theoretical aspects} underpinning the project is provided by Oxford site leader Coecke and CQC research leader Duncan 
 who jointly invented the \zxcalculus\  \cite{Coecke:2009aa}. Backens, Perdrix, Jeandel and  Wang are the key  contributors to establishing universal completeness of \zxcalculus \cite{1367-2630-16-9-093021, Jeandel2017A-Complete-Axio, HFW}. Coecke pioneered general categorical and diagrammatic methods in quantum computing \cite{AbrCoe:CatSemQuant:2004}, and with Kissinger co-authored the textbook of the field \cite{Coecke2017Picturing-Quant}.
 
Expertise on {\bf quantum technology applications} is provided by those who pioneered these applications.  Duncan, Perdrix and Horsman  pioneered zx-based translations  between different computational models \cite{Duncan:2010aa, Horsman:2011lr}, Horsman and Kissinger pioneered zx-based error-correction  \cite{Chancellor2016Coherent-Parity}, and Horsman and de Beaudrap  demonstrated the equivalence of zx-rules and lattice surgery \cite{BH-2017}. 
 
Duncan and Kissinger  pioneered {\bf automation} of diagrammatic reasoning (cf.~{\tt quantomatic} and {\tt PyZX}), which also will play a key role in this project, as they already have in setting the state-of-the-art in circuit optimization \cite{DKPdW-2019}.    

We also  include pioneers in {\bf quantum
programming languages} (Valiron), important contributors to the 
theory of {\bf MBQC} (Perdrix, de Beaudrap, and Duncan) and 
{\bf quantum circuits} (Jeandel).  }  

The consortium has also been instrumental in community building, for example with the QPL conference series which now attracts well over 100 participants every year and approx.~75 paper submissions on foundational and structural research in the area of quantum computing.  It also has organised several schools e.g.~the QiCS School\footnote{www.cs.ox.ac.uk/people/bob.coecke/QICS$\underline{\ }$School.html} and the CAP Spring School,\footnote{www.cs.ox.ac.uk/ss2014/} and a substantial talks archive is maintained.\footnote{www.youtube.com/user/OxfordQuantumVideo} \newt{More recently, the several members are 
involved in the Compositionality community, which has diagrammatic/categorical reasoning as its core focus, with a new journal, a new conference series, and a new workshop series.}

\TODOb{Keeping any of this? Introducing anything else?}
\bR Of utter importance is the alignment with Networked Quantum Information Technologies Hub (NQIT) at the Oxford site, which means that several members of the consortium have already direct expertise with interacting with quantum hardware (de Beaudrap, Horsman).  The NQIT is the largest of the four Hubs in the UK National Quantum Technology Programme, a 270 GBP million investment by the UK government to establish a quantum technology industry in the UK. %We are working towards building a quantum computer demonstrator, the Q20:20 engine, which demonstrates a networked, hybrid light-matter approach to quantum information processing.
Concretely, the most important aspect is the fact that the modular architecture motivated using lattice surgery on surface codes for the logical operations, and that these are in effect \zx-operations \cite{{BH-2017}}. This will certainly make the ambition here much more achievable. \e

%\REM{From cyril to address industrial/commericial}
%Bull brings expertise in high performance simulation as well as
%industrial guidances in software. \REM{more}



\newpage%\TODOb{This needs to be done urgently}
 \subsection{Financial plan}
\label{sec:financial-plan} 

\REM{The resources to be committed for each project partner have to be
  described in the Electronic Submission System by the
  coordinator. These resources include: Personnel, Consumables,
  Equipment, Travel, Subcontracting, Provisions, Licensing fees,
  other. Justify them here. Both the justification and the information
  in the system will be communicated to the Evaluation Panel.}

\paragraph{Personnel} 
\label{sec:personnel}

This is a large and multifaceted project, which will require
significant work to deliver.  A full-time post doc at each contributing academic
site is needed, under supervision of the site lead.  In addition, At
all the academic sites there is a large amount of time donated to the
project by senior scientists with relevant expertise.  At CQC, our
industrial partner, a Senior Scientist and a Research Software Developer will contribute to the project.

\begin{itemize}
\item \emph{Post-doctoral researchers}: We request 30 months of salary
  for post-docs at Oxford, 36+18 months at Gdansk, and 18 months at each of Grenoble and LORIA. The Oxford post-doc will also engage in co-operation with industrial partners at CQC.  The post-docs
  will be hired as soon as possible by the site leads at each site.
%\item \emph{Coordinator}: We request 10\% contribution the
%  Duncan's salary at Strathclyde to cover the time spent managing
%  the project. This is reduced from 20\% upon negotiation with
%  Stratclyde.  (Duncan will contribute an additional 8.4 months of
%  time as a researcher, see below.)
\item \emph{Principle investigators and other named staff}: Spread
  across the sites, more than 110 person-months of time
  will be contributed by the named staff on the project, all of which
  is supported by other sources.  This means that almost 40\% of the
  research effort of the project is funded from elsewhere.
\item \emph{PhD Students}: at LORIA, Titouan Carette will contribute
  approx 9 months to the project; this is funded from other sources.
  At Grenoble, Richard East will contribute
  approx 9 months to the project; this is funded from other sources.
  At Gdansk, a PhD student will contribute
  approx 12 months to the project; this is funded from other sources. \newt{At Oxford, at least two PhD students will contribute to the project, as well as several MSc students}.
\item \emph{Engineers}: At CQC, a Senior Scientist and a Research Software Developer will contribute, funded from other sources.
\end{itemize}

\paragraph{Workshops}
\label{sec:workshops}

Project workshops serve a key role in intra-project communication,
dissemination, and outreach.  We plan one workshop each year, in
Oxford, Nijmegen, and Grenoble.  We plan to invite significant figures from the experimental and software industrial communities to supplement the project reach and expertise, which increases the cost beyond
the usual expenses of venue hire and speakers' expenses.  We have
budgeted
\euro 15k for each, through the co-ordinating site budget.

\paragraph{Travel and subsistence} 
\label{sec:travel-subsistence}

Since many of the personnel have expertise relevant to more than one
work package, we request substantial budget for travel, for quantERA
reporting meetings, for formal project meetings, smaller more frequent
WP meetings, and also to present our work at conferences.

\paragraph{Equipment}
\label{sec:equipment}

\begin{itemize}
\item We  request laptop computers for each of the postdocs, and
  replacement laptops for some staff.  These are necessary
  because of the frequent need to travel and work at another site
  and/or present work at conferences or workshops.
\end{itemize}

\section{ETHICAL ISSUES \REM{1/2 page}}
\label{sec:ethical-issues}

\REM{Describe any foreseeable ethical issue that may arise during the
  course of the research project. Describe all mitigation strategies
  employed to reduce ethical risk, and justify the research
  methodology with respect to ethical issues.}

No ethical issues foreseeable.

\REM{max 30 references - OK AT THE MOMENT SINCE KEVIN-ROSS ONLY IN COMMENTS}
\bibliographystyle{plain}
\bibliography{quantera} 

\end{document} %%% -- uncomment to throw away notes

%%% Local Variables:
%%% mode: latex
%%% TeX-master: t
%%% End: