Context: The theory of quantum computation has been characterised for over thirty years but only recently has quantum computing hardware become available thanks to rapid advancements in industrial and academic research. As utility-scale quantum hardware may soon be in reach, the area of "quantum software" emerges to discuss how to build good software for quantum computers. The current landscape of quantum software is deeply fragmented with many independent components available that are incompatible with each other. Furthermore, many widely-used quantum programming frameworks are developed and governed by private companies, limiting the influence of the research community.

The FullStaQD project addresses this challenge by designing an open reference architecture for full stack quantum computing and developing open-source reference implementations for the various components of this architecture. As software engineering experts, our team at KIT leads the design of the reference architecture in collaboration with FZI and drawing from the expertise of the project consortium.

Tasks: Designing an architecture is a diverse task and as such, various different responsibilities may occur. Here are a few examples for what this position could involve:

- Validating existing quantum computing usage scenarios and developing new ones through literature study

- Researching and developing automated tooling for checking whether software systems comply with a formal architecture specification

- Supporting the design, execution and evaluation of an interview study on the requirements for a quantum software stack

- Documenting the architecture from various viewpoints

Benefits:

- Opportunity to take a deep dive into the emerging field of quantum software

- Impactful contribution to one of today's key engineering problems

- Flexible working hours

Qualifications:

- Current student in a computer science degree

- Successful completion of a software engineering course (SWT I or equivalent)

- Experience with quantum computing useful but not (!) required

Contractual details: Successful applicants will be hired as student research assistants ("Studentische Hilfskraft" / Hiwi) with KIT's standard Hiwi contract for 39-40 hours per month.