A Florida State University researcher has been awarded an international fellowship to develop new materials that include quantum bits — the elementary models of quantum applied sciences — with eventual functions starting from well being care to cybersecurity.
Professor of Chemistry and Biochemistry Michael Shatruk has earned a 2025 Novo Nordisk Fellowship. Through 752,000 Danish kroner in funding, or about $117,000, the fellowship will enable Shatruk to examine quantum molecule-based materials utilizing superior tools housed on the Technical University of Denmark in Copenhagen by means of early May.
“Quantum technologies are poised to revolutionize many areas, including computing, drug development and medical sensing,” Shatruk mentioned. “This fellowship will allow me to carry out research on quantum materials with extensive use of electron-diffraction crystallography, a rare and cutting-edge method for determining the crystal structures of sub-micron particles, which are less than one-thousandth of a millimeter in size.”
Based in Denmark, Novo Nordisk is a world pharmaceutical firm specializing in medical therapies for severe power illnesses. As the producer of half of the world’s insulin, Novo Nordisk is a world chief in diabetes care and notable for creating insulin pens in addition to GLP-1 weight reduction medicines similar to Ozempic and Wegovy. Novo Nordisk can also be Denmark’s largest non-public sponsor of basic analysis and helps a big selection of labor throughout scientific disciplines, together with Shatruk’s discovery of recent quantum materials.
“Dr. Shatruk’s research is highly innovative and rich with transformative insights and effective realizations,” mentioned Wei Yang, chair of the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry. “In the past decade, scholar development has been a major departmental focus, and Dr. Shatruk’s fellowship, which centers on improving quantum science and technology, is a testimony to FSU’s synergistic efforts.”
“Quantum” refers to the smallest attainable unit of a fabric and is commonly related to quantum computing, which may carry out massive duties sooner and extra effectively than classical computing by means of cutting-edge processing chips. The common laptop computer or telephone has loads of computing energy for on a regular basis use like web browsing and constructing spreadsheets, for instance.
However, industries involving synthetic intelligence, well being care, and scientific analysis usually want to course of massive portions of information to discover a number of prospects directly — quantum computing’s specialty. Quantum chips can “think” extra complexly than typical computer systems on account of qubits, or atomic-sized particles engineered for his or her distinctive means to symbolize a number of values concurrently.
“While in Denmark, I plan to work on the systems that create two-dimensional arrays of qubits, which are the building blocks of chips used in quantum devices,” Shatruk mentioned. “The focus of my project is to study molecular spin qubits placed in the nodes of metal-organic frameworks, or MOFs, to increase computing stability and power. The discovery of MOFs was recognized with the 2025 Nobel Prize in Chemistry, so it is fun to work in this field immediately after it received such great recognition.”
MOFs are crystalline buildings which can be constructed from metallic ions related by natural molecules to type a porous materials that’s readily customizable for particular duties, together with the sluggish, managed launch of medicine within the physique. By integrating MOFs in quantum chips, Shatruk goals to goal stability points in present quantum know-how. Most MOFs are smaller than one micron, whereas a single strand of human hair is about 70 microns in diameter. “Large” MOF crystals are nonetheless below one millimeter in dimension.
“Unfortunately, it is difficult to grow large MOF crystals, so many of them cannot be studied using traditional single-crystal X-ray crystallography methods,” Shatruk mentioned. “The electron-diffraction crystallography machinery in Denmark will help determine the atomic structures of MOFs, even if large crystals cannot be grown, because it enables crystal structure determination on sub-micron particles.”
In 2023, Shatruk grew to become the founding director of the FSU Initiative in Quantum Science and Engineering. With an preliminary funding of greater than $20 million from FSU over three years, the initiative goals to speed up the invention of novel quantum phenomena that may impression the design of quantum-related methods.
Visit the FSU Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry website to study extra about Shatruk’s work and analysis. Visit quantum.fsu.edu to study extra in regards to the FSU Initiative in Quantum Science.