Quantum Cambridge-Oxford-Warwick Colloquium (QCOW)
QCOW is a new series of meetings dedicated to advancing the understanding of fundamental questions and open problems in quantum complexity theory. The meetings will rotate between universities of Cambridge, Oxford, and Warwick, with each event focusing on a specific theme within the theoretical foundations of quantum computation. The aim is to foster a sustained exchange of ideas among researchers in the field—bringing together leading experts, academics and postdoctoral scholars, and students who share a deep interest in the rigorous study of quantum computational power and its limitations.
By providing a forum for in-depth discussion and collaboration, the QCOW Colloquium seeks to strengthen and expand the community of researchers working on quantum computing theory, stimulate new research directions, and inspire the next generation of scientists in this rapidly evolving discipline.
QCOW is organized by Tom Gur (Cambridge), Sergii Strelchuk (Oxford) and Matthias Caro (Warwick).
The inaugural QCOW Colloquium will take place on December 11-12, 2025 at the Department of Computer Science, University of Oxford.Click here to access the content of the First QCOW Colloquium
First QCOW Colloquium: Quantum Low-Depth Complexity
Quantum Low-Depth Complexity is one of the most rapidly developing sub-fields in quantum complexity theory, characterizing the limits of computational power under strict depth constraints. Low-depth, or shallow, quantum circuits form a natural testbed for understanding how limited quantum resources can nonetheless yield tasks believed to be hard for classical computation. Studying these models further illuminates the structure of quantum advantage, connecting circuit complexity, entanglement and magic generation, and barriers for their efficient classical simulation. It provides a fertile ground for developing new techniques in circuit analysis and for studying the landscape of quantum versus classical computational separations. As such, it represents one of the most vibrant interfaces between quantum information theory and computational complexity today.
The two-day meeting will include a blend of tutorial-style lectures and accessible, in-depth expositions of recent major advances in the area. The number of places is limited. Please fill in the registration form and wait for a notification of the outcome.
We gratefully acknowledge Hon Hai Quantum Computing Research Center as the exclusive sponsor of this colloquium.
Confirmed speakers
- Anurag Anshu (Harvard University)
- João Doriguello (Alfréd Rényi Institute of Mathematics)
- Mina Doosti (University of Edinburgh)
- Daniel Grier (University of California, San Diego)
- Jonas Haferkamp (Saarland University)
- Greg Rosenthal (University of Toronto)
- Sathya Subramanian (University of Oxford)
- Francisca Vasconcelos (University of California, Berkeley)
All talks will take place on December 11-12, 2025 in the Bill Roscoe Lecture Theatre (LTB) at the Department of Computer Science,
Wolfson Building, Parks Road, Oxford, OX1 3QD .
QCOW Schedule
| Thursday — December 11 | |
| 08:30 – 09:25 | Registration / Arrival |
| 09:25 – 09:30 | Opening remarks |
| 09:30 – 11:00 | Complexity theoretic and physics view on shallow quantum circuits (Anurag Anshu) |
| 11:00 – 11:30 | Coffee break |
| 11:30 – 12:30 | Quantum Advantage from Sampling Shallow Circuits (Daniel Grier) |
| 12:30 – 14:00 | Lunch break |
| 14:00 – 15:00 | General techniques in constructing constant-depth circuits for Boolean functions and beyond (João Doriguello) |
| 15:00 – 16:00 | Constant-depth quantum circuits with large gates (Greg Rosenthal) |
| 16:00 – 16:30 | Coffee break |
| 16:30 – 18:00 | Thematic lightning talks |
| Friday — December 12 | |
| 09:00 – 09:30 | Registration / Arrival |
| 09:30 – 10:30 | QAC^0 and the Quest to Compute Parity (Francisca Vasconcelos) |
| 10:30 – 11:00 | Coffee break |
| 11:00 – 12:00 | Pauli spectrum analysis toolkit for quantum learning and quantum pseudorandomness (Mina Doosti) |
| 12:00 – 13:00 | Unconditional pseudorandomness against shallow quantum circuits (Sathya Subramanian) |
| 13:00 – 14:00 | Lunch / informal discussions |
| 14:00 – 15:00 | Random unitaries from random quantum circuits (Jonas Haferkamp) |
| 15:00 – 17:00 | Discussion / Open problem session |
| 17:00 – … | Informal follow-up in the Atrium |
You are also welcome to attend 7th in-person Complexity Network meeting at Oxford. (register here!) This event is co-organised by classical complexity theorists at Warwick, Oxford and Imperial College, with the intention of sharing some of our recent research findings and starting new collaborations. The event is free and open to all who are interested. If you are interested in participating and/or giving a talk, please register using the link above.
What's On in OxfordExplore the city while you're here — Oxford lights up for the season with a great mix of markets, music and merriment. The city's festive market, Christmas in Oxford on Broad Street, runs through late December and features wooden stalls, mulled wine, live music and artisan gifts. If you have time for a day-trip, nearby Blenheim Palace stages a winter light-trail and artisan market - perfect for a pre/ and post-colloquium wander.
Second QCOW Colloquium: Quantum Learning Theory
Learning theory has been a transformative force in modern computer science; its conceptual and mathematical tools - from the foundations of PAC learning and VC dimension to boosting, compression, generalization bounds - have reshaped algorithms, complexity theory, and statistics. By clarifying what can be learned, with how many samples, and at what computational cost, learning theory has provided a rigorous language for understanding data-driven computation.
Quantum Learning Theory is a rapidly developing area at the frontier of quantum computing and theoretical machine learning. It investigates the learnability of classical and quantum concepts under quantum access models, the sample and query complexity of quantum learners, and fundamental separations between classical and quantum learning paradigms. At the same time, it addresses questions motivated by physics: how efficiently can we predict properties of complex quantum systems, and how does quantum information alter the principles of inference and generalization? This way, beyond improved algorithms, Quantum Learning Theory searches for a structural understanding of learnability in the presence of quantum resources: Which foundations of classical learning theory admit robust quantum analogues, and where do these exhibit fundamentally new behaviour? What are the boundaries between classical and quantum learnability? Where do provable separations arise, and what structural features drive them? By studying these questions, the field builds strong bridges between theoretical computer science, computational learning theory, quantum algorithms, complexity theory, information theory, and quantum physics.
The two-day meeting will include a blend of tutorial-style lectures and accessible, in-depth expositions of recent major advances in the area. The number of places is limited. Please fill in the registration form and wait for a notification of the outcome. Limited travel support may be available to a limited number of young researchers (MSc students, PhD students, early-career postdocs) based on need. To apply for travel support, please complete the corresponding parts of the registration form. We gratefully acknowledge support from the University of Warwick UKRI HEIF funding