TQC Charter

Goal of the conference

The Conference on the Theory of Quantum Computation, Communication and Cryptography (TQC) is a conference for students and researchers working on theoretical aspects of quantum computation and quantum information. This includes, but is not limited to, quantum algorithms, models of quantum computation, quantum complexity theory, simulation of quantum systems, quantum cryptography, quantum communication, quantum information theory, quantum estimation and measurement, the intersection of quantum information and condensed-matter theory, quantum coding theory, fault-tolerant quantum computing, and entanglement theory.

It is the goal of the conference to present recent major results on the theory of quantum computing and to support the building of a research community. 

Format of the conference

In order to achieve this goal, the conference features both invited and contributed talks, selected by the steering committee and program committee, respectively. 

The conference will include one (or more, as decided by the local organizers) poster sessions. While the main goal of the conference is to support academic research, the local organizers are encouraged to include an industry session, with a format of their choosing. 

Local organizers are encouraged to choose a venue that includes suitable spaces for small informal meetings throughout the conference. 

The conference has a published proceedings, fulfilling a unique niche in doing so. However, in order to encourage submissions from various subfields, these proceedings are to be kept optional. The SC may re-evaluate the existence of conference proceedings as the landscape of academic publishing changes. The proceedings should be open access. The selection criteria for proceedings track and conference track submissions may differ, at the discretion of the PC Chair, but possibly satisfying constraints decided by the SC, such as a minimum number of submissions for each track. However, submissions to both tracks must meet a minimum quality level, and this takes precedence over other constraints. 

Steering committee

The steering committee (SC) is responsible for shaping the medium- and long-term course of the conference series and for making sure that the conference maintains a high scientific and organizational standard. In particular, the SC has the responsibility to select the main organizer, venue and program chair for the next conference. The SC has 8 members who serve for four to five years with up to two members being replaced each year, normally after that year’s TQC. The selection of new members is made by the SC during the previous year, normally inviting the previous year’s PC Chair and local organizing chair. 

The SC chair is selected among the SC members, with preference given to members in their third year of service. The SC chair is responsible for ensuring that the SC carries out its responsibilities in a timely manner, and for external communication; for example, inviting speakers. 

To ease communication with both the local organizing committee and the program chair, two SC members will be appointed as points of contact for these respectively. The local organizing point of contact should ideally be a former local organizer who has served at least one year on the SC, and the PC point of contact should ideally be a former PC Chair who has served at least one year on the SC.

The conference usually takes place over three days (Monday to Wednesday is standard, but other choices are acceptable) around July. The location is decided by the steering committee who tries to ensure a suitable rotation of continents wherever possible. The SC will solicit applications to host the conference approximately 2 years in advance. Solicitation of applications will be announced at the TQC 2 years prior. Applications to host TQC should include, at a minimum, proposed dates and proposed venue. The SC should make a decision at least one year in advance – in time to announce the location and dates at the previous year’s TQC. 

The SC selects the invited speakers, consulting with the local organizing committee on the number of speakers to invite. SC members cannot be invited speakers, but are allowed to submit and present contributed papers.

Program committee

The role of the program committee (PC) is to select the contributed talks. The PC chair is selected by the SC at least six months in advance of the conference. The PC chair selects and invites the PC members at their discretion, taking care to include members representing the range of topics represented by TQC.  The PC chair may select a co-chair or otherwise structure the PC as suitable. SC members should not simultaneously serve on the PC.

The PC chair is expected to decide the details of the reviewing process, such as internal and external deadlines, policy on subreviews, etc.  The PC chair should consult the SC on any major policy decisions or departures from previous years, and on issues that require coordination with the local organizers.

Conflict of Interest (COI): PC members are allowed to submit papers and to present contributed papers, except the PC chair, who may not submit contributed papers (but may submit posters).  The reviewing system should permit PC members to declare COI on papers, which will ensure that they are not involved in the PC discussions of these papers. COI should be declared whenever a paper author is either a PC member, a current advisor or student of a PC member, a close collaborator or personal friend of a PC member, or any other situation in which a PC member would have either a professional or personal interest in the status of a paper.  In case of doubt, PC members should consult the PC chair. The PC chair can further refine these guidelines and is responsible for ensuring that the COI rules are followed in a uniform way.

Talks are reviewed and selected based on scientific excellence. With the help of input from the PC, the PC chair selects the most scientifically excellent talks to create a balanced and interesting program.  Prizes for best papers and best student papers (potentially limited to one conference track, or to subgroups of participants such as students), if any, are decided upon by the SC in discussion with the LOC prior to the call for submissions. The final selection is done by the PC taking into account the referee reports received.