She was discouraged from studying computer science, but today she is gaining success in the field of quantum circuit simulation

First place in the 8 z VUT competition, inclusion of the bachelor thesis in the programme of a prestigious international informatics conference. These are just some of the successes celebrated by Sára Jobranová, a student of the Master's programme Information Technology and Artificial Intelligence at the Faculty of Information Technology BUT. Her research focused on quantum circuit simulation and thanks to her innovative tool, she managed to outperform competing simulators in speed. At the same time, her surroundings discouraged her from studying computer science.

A talented young computer scientist Sára Jobranová was discouraged from studying computer science a few years ago. "It was a bit of a coincidence that I ended up at FIT BUT. I was studying general high school, I was good at maths, so I knew I wanted to study something more technical. But I applied for computer science just for the exam. There were quite a lot of people around me who discouraged me," recalls Sára Jobranová, adding: "So I entered the faculty with the idea that I would be happy to do the first semester and then we would see."

Not only did Sára Jobranová complete her first semester without any problems. She also successfully completed all the others and computer science took her by heart. "I found that even though it wasn't a very well thought out decision in the beginning, it was a good one in the end," she notes.

In her second year, she got into quantum circuits thanks to the Project Practice course. So when she had the opportunity to pursue it further in her bachelor's thesis a year later, Sára Jobranová didn't think too much of it. Specifically, she focused on quantum circuit simulation as a key tool for further advances in quantum computing. "From this point of view, the field of quantum computing has not been much addressed at FIT. So my supervisor, who introduced me to the whole subject, and I are kind of pioneers," she adds with a laugh.

According to Sára Jobranová, quantum computing holds enormous potential. "The thing is that they represent a 'new way' of thinking about computers that is based on the properties of quantum physics. Which seems quite promising for many fields. For example, for research into new drugs or materials," he explains. She then went on to simulate these quantum computers on classical computers. "The development of quantum computer hardware is basically still in its infancy. Some real usable machines are just beginning to emerge. It is therefore crucial that software that can use quantum hardware is developed at the same time. My work explores how to simulate the behaviour of quantum computers on ordinary computers. It is for the purpose of developing software, for example," says the student, adding that the challenge was to deal with the fact that the behaviour of quantum computers is very different from that of ordinary computers. "Thanks to physics and mathematics, we know how quantum computers should behave, but at the moment we are still in the so-called NISQ era, where quantum computers still introduce noise or error into their operation. So we can describe their ideal functioning, but unfortunately we can't achieve it yet," explains Jobranová.

In her work, the young computer scientist presented a method that was able to speed up the simulation for certain types of quantum circuits many times faster than previously available tools. It also gained attention at the elite computer science conference ICCAD 2024 in the United States. The quality of the work and the ability to present its benefits in a comprehensible way was also appreciated by the expert jury of Competition 8 z VUT, where Sára Jobranová won first place.

 Sára Jobranová managed to present a complex topic from the world of quantum computing in a comprehensible way in the university-wide competition 8 z VUT.

To what extent she will continue to work on the topic in the future, she does not know yet. "Now my supervisor and I plan to look at quantum circuits not from the point of view of simulation, but verification. However, I am keeping the door open for now in case I happen to be interested in some other problem during my studies," says the student.

She also leaves the future open. "I am considering whether I would rather stay in academia or go into industry. I like my work to have a practical application, so I am naturally drawn to industry, but I don't know what will happen after my master's," she notes.

And for young girls who are still considering studying computer science, Sara Jobranová advises not to listen to the opinions of others. "In my experience, it's better to think about whether I really enjoy it. And if it is, then don't worry about what other people think about it. Don't succumb to the pressure that computer science is not a field for girls. Count on the fact that a woman will encounter such opinions in the course of her career, but she doesn't have to worry about it," the talented student concludes.

(zeh), photo: Václav Koníček