Quantum Hardware and its Applications with Quantum Inspire

Get hands-on with QuTech’s Quantum Inspire (QI) platform - one of the few publicly accessible quantum computing systems in Europe. This course covers quantum hardware fundamentals and teaches you to program and run quantum algorithms using cQASM (QuTech’s quantum assembly language) and the QI SDK.

Part of the Quantum Computer and Quantum Internet Applications professional certificate program from Delft University of Technology.

What you’ll learn

• Quantum hardware overview: the components of a quantum computer and the hardware and simulator platforms available through Quantum Inspire
• Qubits and gates as they appear on a real platform, and the role of quantum compilers in turning circuits into executable programs
• The quantum advantage question: an introduction to where quantum computers can outperform classical machines, with examples of applications and algorithms
• cQASM: QuTech’s quantum programming language - register declarations, gate syntax, and measurement commands
• Writing applications in cQASM: hands-on sessions that build intuition for what quantum processors actually execute
• The Quantum Inspire SDK: introduction, installation, and the Python interface for running your own quantum algorithms
• Using Qiskit to build quantum algorithms and run them through Quantum Inspire

Course structure

The course runs over four weeks at four to five hours per week.

Week one introduces the Quantum Inspire platform and stack: the components of a quantum computer, the hardware and simulator platforms available through QI, qubits and gates, and quantum compilers. This gives you the practical context before any programming begins.

Week two covers applications of a quantum computer: an introduction to quantum advantage and examples of quantum computing applications and algorithms.

Week three introduces cQASM, QuTech’s quantum programming language, with two hands-on sessions spent writing applications in cQASM.

Week four covers the QI Software Development Kit: introduction and installation, running your own quantum algorithms, and using Qiskit to build quantum algorithms.

EU participants (audit and verified) are eligible for a QTIndu certificate upon completion, funded under the European Union’s Digital Europe Programme (grant no. 101100757).

Who is this for?

• Software developers and engineers who want hands-on experience programming real quantum hardware rather than just academic simulators
• Quantum computing students who have done theory courses and want practical execution on actual hardware
• Network engineers and security professionals who want to experiment with quantum algorithms hands-on
• EU quantum technology professionals seeking QTIndu certification

Prerequisites

Python programming experience is required for the SDK exercises. Basic quantum computing knowledge - qubits, gates, circuits, superposition, entanglement, circuit notation - is needed from the outset. This is a practical programming course, not an introduction to quantum computing theory. The Quantum 101 courses from Delft or equivalent background is the right preparation.

Hands-on practice

This is a programming course built around the Quantum Inspire platform:

• Write your own applications in cQASM across two dedicated hands-on sessions
• Install and use the QI SDK to run quantum algorithms from Python
• Use Qiskit to build quantum algorithms and execute them through Quantum Inspire
• Work with both the hardware and simulator platforms that Quantum Inspire provides

All work goes through the Quantum Inspire platform - no local quantum simulator required. EU participants qualify for QTIndu certification.

Why take this course?

Most quantum computing courses keep you in the realm of perfect, noiseless simulation. Quantum Inspire puts you on real quantum hardware (or high-fidelity hardware simulators) where you see the effects of noise, gate errors, and connectivity constraints firsthand.

Understanding these practical limitations is essential for anyone who wants to work in quantum computing rather than just study it. The difference between what a quantum circuit does in an ideal simulator versus on real hardware is not a minor technical detail - it is one of the central engineering challenges of the entire field.

QuTech’s Quantum Inspire is one of the few publicly accessible quantum computing platforms in Europe. Experience with the QI SDK is a practical skill that employers in the European quantum technology sector recognise.