July 24, 2024 -- NTU is setting up a new research programme to strengthen cybersecurity in a post-quantum world, where advancements in quantum computing pose a looming threat to conventional encryption algorithms.

The Quantum Sovereignty and Resilience (QUASAR) programme is enabled by a gift from the Dieter Schwarz Foundation, a German non-profit charitable foundation. NTU will collaborate with the Technical University of Munich (TUM) on this programme and is also strengthening its existing collaboration with TUM with the signing of a Flagship Partnership.

Led by NTU’s School of Electrical and Electronic Engineering, QUASAR aims to address quantum-based cyberthreats by examining how quantum technologies can be used in encryption, building quantum-safe systems, and ensuring the safety of future Internet of Things and 5G devices.

NTU Vice President (Industry) Professor Lam Khin Yong and Dieter Schwarz Foundation Managing Director for Science Professor Reinhold Geilsdörfer formally inked the gift donation at a signing ceremony held on the NTU campus today. It was witnessed by NTU Board Chair Ms Goh Swee Chen, NTU President Professor Ho Teck Hua and Chairman of the Shareholders’ Meeting of the Dieter Schwarz Foundation Professor Dr Peter Frankenberg.

Professor Ho and TUM President Professor Thomas Hofmann also inked a separate agreement establishing the Flagship Partnership between NTU and TUM. Beyond the QUASAR partnership, NTU and TUM will identify new opportunities of collaboration in areas such as sustainability in farming, health and biomedical engineering, space, and artificial intelligence for additive manufacturing and materials science.