Survey of physics faculty insights on the US quantum curriculum and research need

Quantum mechanics forms the conceptual core of graduate physics training, yet little empirical work has examined how well coursework prepares students to conduct dissertation-level research. Using a national survey of 551 physics faculty across 194 US doctoral-granting institutions, we investigate faculty perspectives on which quantum topics are essential for research and whether coursework adequately prepared students for research. Participants rated the importance of 14 quantum concepts identified in prior curriculum studies and reported how frequently they apply these concepts in their own research. $\chi^2$ analyzes reveal faculty who have taught graduate quantum mechanics rate the majority of topics as essential compared with undergraduate-only instructors, indicating that research practice and conceptual instruction intersect primarily in graduate courses. 72\% of faculty report that students are not prepared for dissertation-level work after coursework alone. Qualitative analysis shows that faculty most often provide supplemental instruction in computation, mathematics, and authentic research practices--skills central to contemporary quantum research but rarely integrated systematically into the curriculum. These findings suggest that preparedness depends heavily on advisor-mediated apprenticeship, creating a hidden curriculum in which access to essential practices varies by research group. We argue that aligning coursework with research practice will require earlier integration of authentic computational and methodological reasoning, greater coherence between undergraduate and graduate instruction, and the identification of shared competencies that transcend subfield specialization.