NIST PREP Research Associate Analysis of Quantum Network Protocols

Position: NIST PREP Research Associate for Analysis of Quantum Network Protocols

This position is part of the National Institute of Standards (NIST) Professional Research Experience (PREP) program. NIST recognizes that its research staff may wish to collaborate with researchers at academic institutions on specific projects of mutual interest, thus requires that such institutions must be the recipient of a PREP award. The PREP program requires staff from a wide range of backgrounds to work on scientific research in many areas.

Employees in this position will perform technical work that underpins the scientific research of the collaboration.

Research Title: Development of a control plane for quantum networking and a quantum network routing simulator for analysis of quantum network protocols

U.S. Citizen Preferred

The work will entail: This position is part of the National Institute of Standards (NIST) Professional Research Experience (PREP) program. NIST recognizes that its research staff may wish to collaborate with researchers at academic institutions on specific projects of mutual interest, thus requires that such institutions must be the recipient of a PREP award. The PREP program requires staff from a wide range of backgrounds to work on scientific research in many areas.

Employees in this position will perform technical work that underpins the scientific research of the collaboration.

Key responsibilities will include but are not limited to:

• Develop a scalable quantum network routing simulator with abstractions to different technologies of quantum repeaters and quantum memory.

• Develop a scalable control plane for quantum networking that will interface with the simulator.

• Design and conduct simulations for different entanglement distribution protocols, comparing the results with theoretical models.

• Provide high-quality simulation measurements to the project modeling team for analysis.

• Maintain a detailed log of all simulation activities.

• Share research findings through peer-reviewed journals, conferences, and presentations.

Qualifications:

• An advanced degree (Master's or PhD) in computer science or a related field is required.

• Candidates should have research experience in one or more of the following areas: networking protocols design and evaluation, distributed systems design, systems programming, IP protocol stack, next generation network technologies (e.g. Named Data Networking), wide-area network measurements.

• A solid understanding of entanglement concepts and their distribution, quantum memory decoherence models, mathematics, instrumentation, and advanced timing systems is essential.

• Advanced Programming skills for equipment control are required, with proficiency in languages such as Rust or C/C++. Low-level programming skills for FPGAs and high-performance Ethernet adapters (e.g. eBPF or Data Plane Development Kit) used for low latency communications for synchronization in the entanglement layer are also necessary.

• U.S. Citizen is preferred.

Privacy Act StatementAuthority: 15 U.S.C. § 278g-1(e)(1) and (e)(3) and 15 U.S.C. § 272(b) and (c)

Purpose: The National Institute for Standards and Technology (NIST) hosts the Professional Research Experience Program (PREP) which is designed to provide valuable laboratory experience and financial assistance to undergraduates, post-bachelor's degree holders, graduate students, master's degree holders, postdocs, and faculty.

PREP is a 5-year cooperative agreement between NIST laboratories and participating PREP Universities to establish a collaborative research relationship between NIST and U.S. institutions of higher education in the following disciplines including (but may not be limited to) biochemistry, biological sciences, chemistry, computer science, engineering, electronics, materials science, mathematics, nanoscale science, neutron science, physical science, physics, and statistics. This collection of information is needed to facilitate administrative functions of the PREP Program.

Routine Uses: NIST will use the information collected to perform the requisite reviews of the applications to determine eligibility, and to meet programmatic requirements. Disclosure of this information is also subject to all the published routine uses as…