Everything here is free, and every link is the official one.
Four groups: courses to learn from, tools to build in, labs and centres doing the research, and the offices that run student programmes. Filter by group or search by name — we do not list deadlines or eligibility, because those change and belong on the source page.
22 resources
Codecademy
Codecademy
Practice Python and computer-science fundamentals before any quantum SDK. Quantum courses assume comfortable code, and this is a low-cost way to get there.
Google Quantum AI — Education
Google Quantum AI
Google's own learning material on qubits, circuits and error correction, alongside Cirq tutorials. Free, and written by the team that built the hardware.
IBM Quantum Learning
IBM
Free courses that start at zero and end with real circuits: basics of quantum information, then Qiskit foundations and running jobs on IBM hardware.
Quantum Country
Andy Matuschak & Michael Nielsen
A free, essay-length introduction to quantum computing and quantum mechanics with built-in memory exercises.
Qubit by Qubit
The Coding School
Quantum computing courses and camps designed for high-school students, with a free track for schools and scholarships. Check the current schedule on their site.
Quantum Computing since Democritus
Scott Aaronson
Lecture notes from a working theorist, written for people who like big ideas more than equations.
Chicago Public Library
City of Chicago
A library card gets you quantum computing titles and free online course access from any branch — useful if you have no laptop of your own yet.
qBraid
qBraid
One browser environment for Qiskit, Cirq and other SDKs, with the option to run circuits on real hardware from several providers. Free tier available.
Qiskit
IBM
The most widely used open-source quantum programming toolkit: Python, free, and the same language most beginner courses teach.
Cirq
Google Quantum AI
Google's open-source Python framework for writing, simulating and running quantum circuits.
Quirk
Craig Gidney
A drag-and-drop circuit simulator that runs entirely in your browser — the fastest way to watch a gate change a qubit's state.
Quantum Katas
Microsoft
Short programming exercises that teach the logic of quantum gates one small step at a time. Free and browser-based.
Amazon Braket
Amazon Web Services
A managed service for running circuits on simulators and on hardware from multiple vendors. Has a free tier for small experiments.
Chicago Quantum Exchange
CQE
The region's quantum hub, linking the University of Chicago, Fermilab, Argonne, Illinois Tech and industry labs. Public talks, open houses and student events are posted here.
Quantum Science at Fermilab
Fermilab
Superconducting qubits built on the same campus that studies particles. Look for tours, open days and student research programmes.
Argonne Quantum Institute
Argonne National Laboratory
Quantum computing, sensing and networking research just outside the city, including networked testbeds that connect labs across the region.
IQUIST
University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign
Illinois' quantum information science centre — the next stop in-state for camps, competitions and undergraduate research.
Google Quantum AI
Research updates from a group running superconducting processors, including papers on error correction and beyond-classical experiments.
Argonne Educational Programs
Argonne National Laboratory
The lab's student programmes, internships and teacher opportunities in one place. Eligibility and deadlines are set per programme — confirm them on the official pages.
Fermilab Education Office
Fermilab
Student programmes and research placements at a national laboratory in Batavia, plus resources teachers can bring into a classroom.
Pritzker School of Molecular Engineering
University of Chicago
Quantum engineering labs at the university that created the country's first school of molecular engineering. Start with their outreach and undergraduate research pages.
Illinois Institute of Technology
Illinois Tech
An engineering-focused campus in Bronzeville — the closest thing Chicago has to a direct hardware-engineering route, with undergraduate research to ask about.
Know something we should list?
A club at your school, a free workshop, a mentor who will answer questions — tell us and we will add it for the next student who looks.