In 2018, two specialized centers for quantum technology were created under Russia’s National Technology Initiative (NTI), a government-backed program for developing priority technology sectors. The Quantum Technology Center was established at Lomonosov Moscow State University (MSU), and the NTI Center for Quantum Communications was established at the National University of Science and Technology MISIS in Moscow.
Each center received approximately 2 billion rubles (~€30 million) in five-year funding from the Ministry of Science and Higher Education and the Russian Venture Company, directed toward building quantum devices and educational programs. According to a 2019 review published in Quantum Science and Technology, these centers of excellence were part of the Russian government’s program to support quantum technologies, with activities spanning research, device development, commercialization, and new educational programs.
MISIS won a competition under the government’s NTI state support program and, together with the Russian Quantum Center and Gazprombank, created the NTI Competence Center for the end-to-end technology “Quantum Communications.” The MSU center focused on quantum hardware and theory research, including fiber-optic and atmospheric quantum cryptography and cold atom physics.