Internship Opportunities
Lonnie Edelheit Award in Quantum
IQUIST is accepting applications for the Lonnie Edelheit Award in Quantum from graduate students who are supervised by an IQUIST Member and will have an internship in the private sector in Summer 2026. This $5,000 award will defray the costs associated with the summer internship. Recipients must be a US citizen, US national, or permanent resident and a current UIUC graduate student at the time of application.
Applications are due on March 31, 2026, and require a 250-word statement to apply. Please describe your planned activities this summer. including where are you working, what will you be doing, and how this internship experience relates to you overall graduate studies and/or career plan.
The funding for this award is made possible by Dr. Lewis S. Edelheit (Lonnie) who is an alumnus of the Department of Physics who has been an innovation leader for nearly three decades. He served at GE producing several of the world’s most important products. More can be found about Lonnie by clicking here.
To apply, visit https://forms.illinois.edu/sec/490171970
Open Quantum Initiative (OQI) Undergraduate Fellowship
Through this fellowship, students will expand their understanding of Quantum Information Science and Engineering (QISE), connect with leaders in academia and industry, and increase their awareness of quantum career opportunities.
Students participating in this program will spend the summer working in person with research groups on challenging, meaningful QISE projects. The summer experience will be aimed at developing students' "research literacy" skills and their exposure to the wide diversity of physics sub-fields (including experimental, computational, and theoretical approaches) in:
- Quantum Optics/Information Science
- Quantum Computing
- Quantum Communication
- Quantum Sensing
To apply, visit https://chicagoquantum.org/oqi-undergraduate-fellowship
IBM/Illinois Quantum Undergraduate Research Scholars program (IIQURS)
As a result of this public–private-sector partnership between IQUIST, HQAN, and the IIDAI, we have piloted the IBM/Illinois Quantum Undergraduate Research Scholars program (IIQURS). This 10-week Summer 2022 pilot program (May 31, 2022- August 5, 2022) is a co-op experience that provides students the opportunity to learn about research careers in both academic and industry research environments. We launched with four students: two teams of two undergraduates, each led by an HQAN faculty and an IBM researcher.
Applications will be accepted through the Illinois Physics REU Program application portal. Please mention you're interested in quantum in your personal statement and faculty selections. For more information, please visit: https://physics.illinois.edu/research/reu