Get ready for the 2024 IBM Quantum Challenge

Earlier this year, we debuted the first stable release of the Qiskit SDK, the IBM software for programming utility-scale quantum computers. Now, we challenge you to put it to work.

We’re excited to introduce the 2024 IBM Quantum Challenge. This annual coding challenge is an educational event focused on teaching the world how quantum computational scientists use Qiskit. This year’s challenge is about Qiskit 1.0 and working toward utility-scale quantum experiments.

It will begin on 5 June and run until 14 June — Sign up here.

As with previous challenges, the 2024 IBM Quantum Challenge is tailored for anyone to join, regardless of their experience — whether you’re a newcomer or a seasoned veteran, there is something here for you. It consists of a series of Jupyter notebooks that contain tutorial material, code examples, and auto-graded coding challenges. We call each of these notebooks a “lab.” While the first lab can be completed by beginners, the final labs will test your Qiskit knowledge. This is, after all, a challenge!

This year’s challenge will showcase the new features of Qiskit 1.0, while demonstrating the differences from previous versions. We hope it will help you better understand what it means to do utility-scale experiments with Qiskit — those with 100 or more qubits — and practice the steps to get there. And, to add a fun twist, the labs follow a mystery story in the world of the birds that inspired the nomenclature of IBM’s quantum hardware.

This challenge is also an opportunity to get a sneak peek at some of the new cutting-edge features and developments in the quantum stack. That includes new integrations with AI — the Qiskit code assistant powered by IBM watsonx^TM.

We’re also making some changes to accommodate our ever-growing quantum community. Events like this typically attract thousands of users running the same circuits multiple times, making queue times much longer than normal. Therefore, we will not be requiring hardware use as part of the Quantum Challenge. The labs in this year’s Challenge will focus on helping people to build intuition and make progress without waiting to run on real hardware.

However, as always, you are encouraged to run any of the code here on any of our devices which you have access to — such as those available through the IBM Quantum Open, Pay-as-you-go, or Premium Plans. That’s the beauty of IBM’s offerings, you can easily transition your code from testing straight to running on actual hardware.

The workflow you’ll learn in this challenge is a shift away from IBM Quantum Lab, which will be sunset on 15 May, to focus on utility-scale workloads. We will offer tutorial content and hands-on support to assist you with this new workflow.

Organize a Challenge party

Finally, we encourage participants to host or attend a Challenge Party. In recent years we’ve seen an exciting increase in the number of local Challenge get-togethers held by Qiskit community members. This year, IBM will host one in New York City, while some of our partners will host events as well. More details will be released closer to the start date.

We’re thrilled to have you join us on this adventure. Until then, get ready by learning all about Qiskit 1.0 and quantum computing on the IBM Quantum Learning Platform. Make sure to check your email as we get closer to 5 June — and note that the official communications will come from [email protected].

Sign up here → https://challenges.quantum.ibm.com/2024