QuantIC, the UK Quantum Technology hub in Quantum Enhanced Imaging based at the University of Glasgow is seeking submissions to the Quantum Shorts flash fiction competition.

You have from now until 1 December 2017 to submit a story of up to 1000 words that takes inspiration from quantum physics and includes the phrase “There are only two possibilities: yes or no”. The competition is free to enter and offers prizes of up to US $1500.

Professor Miles Padgett, Principal Investigator of QuantIC said, “QuantIC is delighted to be UK Scientific Partner again for this international competition and we’re excited to see what new ideas might pop up that could one day become quantum technologies of the future.”

Eminent judges including authors and scientists will select the winners and runner-ups in two categories, Open and Youth. The public will also vote to decide the People's Choice Prize from entries shortlisted across both categories. All shortlisted entries will collect awards including a one-year digital subscription to ScientificAmerican.com. Winners will receive in addition a trophy and cash prizes. The winner of the Open category will also be featured on ScientificAmerican.com.

“It takes colossal imagination to wrap your head around quantum physics and dream up new technologies. Who better to explore these ideas than writers of fiction?” says Artur Ekert, Director of the Centre for Quantum Technologies (CQT) at the National University of Singapore and a co-inventor of quantum cryptography. “I’m excited to judge the entries to Quantum Shorts again this year.”

Follow the link to the Quantum Shorts website to find out more, read previous entries and submit your story.

Partners in media and science

Quantum Shorts is organised by CQT, and has alternated annually between calls for short films and fiction since 2012. Scientific American, the longest continuously published magazine in the U.S., and Nature, the international weekly journal of science, are media partners for the competition.

The 2017 Quantum Shorts competition is also supported by scientific partners in five countries: the Australian Research Council Centre for Engineered Quantum Systems; the Institute for Quantum Computing at the University of Waterloo, Canada; the Institute for Quantum Information and Matter at Caltech in the United States; the UK Quantum Technology Hub in Quantum Enhanced Imaging; and QuTech in the Netherlands, a collaboration between Delft University of Applied Sciences and Dutch innovation centre TNO.

 

First published: 13 October 2017

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