The first institute created at Rice more than a quarter century ago, the Rice Quantum Institute(“RQI”) conducts basic and applied research involving quantum phenomena—the behavior of matter at the most fundamental level. Some of the endeavors historically fostered by RQI have launched highly successful programs, including Rice’s world-renowned nanotechnology enterprise.
The Rice Quantum Institute, the University’s first interdisciplinary institute, was formed in 1979 by renowned researchers Bob Curl and Rick Smalley, the latter serving as director through the 1980’s and into the 1990’s. It is no surprise that RQI continues to have an emphasis on nanoscale research, similar to its successor institute, the Smalley Institute, on the Rice campus. In true Rice spirit, RQI strives to promote growth of collaborative interactions among research groups and open new areas of discovery. Its already successful offshoots include the Laboratory for Nanophotonics, which has already garnered an NSF graduate training program, the Rice Laboratory for Ultracold Physics, and the Laboratory for Quantum Magnetism. RQI proudly offers collaboration, support, and educational opportunities for post-doctoral researchers, graduate students, and undergraduates and manages Rice’s well-known Applied Physics Ph.D. program. Proof of its success and heritage at Rice is its annual Summer Research Colloquium, celebrating its 22nd year in 2008.
Currently, more than 60 RQI faculty fellows are found across eight departments in science and engineering as well as approximately 270 students and postdocs. Its research areas encompass Metal Nanoshells, Ultracold Atoms and Atom Optics, Quantum Chemistry, Condensed Matter, Mesoscopic Physics, Atomic and Molecular Physics, and Inorganic and Materials Chemistry, to name a few. Its mission is “to promote interdisciplinary education and research in quantum phenomena at Rice.”
Dr. Bruce Johnson | Executive Director | 713.348.5103 | johnson@rice.edu