The Indian Institute of Science (IISc) and Samsung Semiconductor India Research (SSIR) inaugurated a Quantum Research Lab on the IISc campus in Bengaluru on 15 October 2026. The facility is intended to give students, faculty and researchers access to advanced quantum hardware work, while supporting training and collaboration with institutions in India and abroad.
What the new IISc quantum lab is
The lab is a joint IISc–SSIR research and training facility created under a collaboration first announced publicly by IISc on 19 October 2023. Samsung supports the partnership through its corporate social responsibility framework. Rather than being presented as a standalone commercial quantum-computing centre, the lab is designed as shared institutional infrastructure for research, workforce development and technology innovation.
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IISc says the facility will also help researchers from institutions that do not have access to capital-intensive quantum infrastructure. That access model could allow more teams to perform practical experiments instead of limiting work to simulation or outsourced measurements.
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The inauguration took place at IISc Bengaluru on 15 October 2026. Balajee Sowrirajan, Samsung Semiconductor India Research’s CVP and managing director, said the partnership is intended to advance quantum technologies by building skilled talent, encouraging collaborative innovation and strengthening India’s competitiveness. He also linked technology scale-up with broader industrial and societal impact.
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Prof. Govindan Rangarajan, director of IISc, described the lab as part of the institute’s commitment to emerging and futuristic research. He said the collaboration will expand IISc’s infrastructure and expertise and give students and researchers an opportunity to work on quantum technologies.
What researchers will work on
The announced scope spans the hardware layers needed to make quantum systems usable and reliable:
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- Cryogenic control electronics: integrating control chips that can operate close to extremely cold qubit hardware, reducing the distance between a quantum processor and its control systems.
- Qubit characterisation: measuring qubit behaviour, performance and sources of error so devices can be improved and compared.
- Single-photon sources and detectors: developing and testing components used in photonic quantum technologies and precision optical measurements.
- Quantum-technology reliability: studying how devices and subsystems perform consistently over time and under operating stresses.
- Semiconductor-material integration: combining advanced semiconductor materials with quantum systems, an area that connects conventional chip engineering with quantum-device development.
These themes cover devices, cryogenics, photonics, materials and reliability. They do not mean that every project will build a complete quantum computer; the facility’s value is in developing and integrating the components on which larger systems depend.
How the lab fits India’s National Quantum Mission
IISc is also a hub under India’s National Quantum Mission. That national facility is intended to fabricate quantum-computing chips based on superconducting, photonic and spin-qubit approaches. The newly inaugurated IISc–SSIR lab should therefore be understood as an institutional research and training development within a wider national effort to build domestic quantum hardware and semiconductor capability.
The National Quantum Mission’s fabrication and central-facilities programme is associated with an expected total expenditure of ₹720 crore, according to the Ministry of Science & Technology in 2025. That amount covers the broader national programme, including the IISc facility; it is not a disclosed budget for the new IISc–SSIR lab itself.
How this facility differs from a national fabrication centre
| Aspect | IISc–SSIR Quantum Research Lab | National Quantum Mission facilities at IISc |
|---|---|---|
| Primary role | Research, training and collaborative technology development | National-scale quantum-chip fabrication and central infrastructure |
| Technical emphasis | Cryogenic electronics, qubit characterisation, photonics, reliability and semiconductor-material integration | Superconducting, photonic and spin-qubit chip platforms |
| Access model | IISc students, faculty and researchers, plus eligible users from institutions lacking comparable infrastructure | National mission infrastructure serving a wider programme of users and projects |
| Development stage | Experimental research, component integration and manpower training | Fabrication capability and shared national facilities |
| Supporting framework | IISc–SSIR collaboration supported through Samsung CSR | Government-backed National Quantum Mission |
What students and outside researchers can gain
Quantum engineering requires skills that cross physics, electrical engineering, materials science, semiconductor processing, photonics and software. A lab with hands-on equipment can let trainees learn how measurements are made, how cryogenic systems are controlled and how device failures are diagnosed. For researchers from institutions without equivalent capital equipment, collaborative access can shorten the path from a theoretical design to a measured prototype.
The announcement does not specify a public application schedule, user fees, equipment list or guaranteed access hours. Prospective users should therefore seek operating details directly from IISc or the relevant research groups rather than assume that the facility is an open walk-in laboratory.
What the inauguration does—and does not—establish
- It establishes a new IISc–SSIR facility inaugurated in Bengaluru on 15 October 2026.
- It establishes a focus on quantum research infrastructure, training and collaboration rather than a consumer quantum-computing product.
- It identifies work areas including cryogenic control chips, qubits, single-photon devices, reliability and semiconductor materials.
- It places the project alongside IISc’s National Quantum Mission role in domestic chip fabrication.
- It does not establish that the lab alone received the full ₹720 crore national allocation.
- It does not, from the inauguration announcement, provide performance results for a quantum processor or promise a specific commercial launch date.
Why the development is significant
India’s quantum ambitions depend on more than algorithms. Researchers need specialised materials, low-temperature electronics, optical components, measurement systems and people who can connect those disciplines. By combining IISc’s academic research base with SSIR’s semiconductor expertise, the lab targets that supporting layer of the ecosystem. Its immediate contribution is likely to be better access to experiments and training; its longer-term importance will depend on the devices, talent and collaborations that emerge from the facility.
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