Mentor the
build weekend.
From October 9 to 11, teams around the world build quantum applications in 48 hours on Qollab, running on IonQ's simulators. Qollab and IonQ are recruiting mentors for those teams. You apply from this page.
A mentor gives at least two hours across October 10 and 11, in one-hour windows, as many as they like, and answers questions in the event Slack when they can.
What mentors do
Your area
You choose the area or areas you take questions on: QAOA and variational methods, error mitigation, chemistry, finance, optimization, tooling, or something else, in your own words. Teams pick mentors by area.
Live windows
One-hour slots on October 10 and 11, picked in your own time zone, when teams can reach you with what is stuck: a variational loop that will not converge, a plan too big for 48 hours. Pick at least two; as many as you like.
Async in Slack
Optional. Teams in other time zones post questions in the event Slack and you answer when you get to them.
Who we are looking for
Researchers, engineers and graduate students who work with quantum algorithms or quantum applications and can explain what they know to a team mid-build. The form asks for your organization, your role and academic qualification, your area of expertise, and how many hackathons you have taken part in, from none to five or more.
How it works
Timeline
- Now
- Apply. The form takes a few minutes: name, organization, area, windows.
- Before Oct 9
- Qollab and IonQ read every application and confirm mentors by email, with the Slack invite.
- Oct 9
- Build starts 19:00 ET. Your windows are on the mentor schedule teams use to find you.
- Oct 10 to 11
- Your live windows. Teams bring what is stuck; async questions in Slack if you opted in.
- Oct 11
- Submissions close 19:00 ET.
Why mentor
The community
Qollab is a community of people building quantum software in the open. The hackathon brings students at the node universities and professionals from the eligible countries together for a weekend, and a mentor is who they ask when they are stuck.
Your profile
Every team in the event sees your name, organization and area, and so do the IonQ and Qollab people running it. Mentoring is also a line for your profile: mentor at a global quantum hackathon co-organized with IonQ.
The people
If you hire or look for collaborators, you get to watch them work on a hard problem for a weekend, in the event Slack and in your windows.
The problems
Teams build across three themes, Quantum Impact, Quantum Playground and Quantum Unlocked, so the questions come from finance, chemistry, music and games as much as from circuits. Two hours of that is problem solving outside your own field.
How much time is it?
At least two hours on October 10 or 11, picked as one-hour windows in your own time zone, and as many more as you like. Answering in Slack outside your windows is optional.
Can I mentor and also enter a team?
Yes. Say so in the form's availability notes, and we keep the teams you compete against out of your windows.
Do I have to be near a node?
No. Mentoring happens in the event Slack, from wherever you are.
Do I need hackathon experience?
No. The form asks how many you have done, and none is a fine answer.
Apply to mentor
Team registration opens September 28. Mentor applications are open now.
Your answers go to Qollab and IonQ, the hackathon's co-organizers, to plan mentor coverage, and are handled under the Qollab Privacy Policy. Questions before you apply: hello@qollab.xyz.