Scalable Quantum Network Technologies: Collaborative R&D

Fund details

Your proposal must:

• outline one or more technological barriers and their implications for businesses
• describe how this impedes widespread customer adoption
• deliver an innovative, competitive technical solution
• plan to demonstrate the technical solution and its commercial viability
• provide a roadmap for future commercial exploitation

Your proposal must be able to demonstrate how the project will enhance the scalability of quantum network technologies and build UK leadership in the emerging global market.

Your project must exploit the capabilities of second-generation quantum technologies which are defined as those involving the generation and coherent control of quantum states, resulting in phenomena such as superposition or entanglement.

Innovate UK consider technologies involving single photon generation and detection to be in scope.

Innovate UK encourage projects that:

• enable quantum networks to operate at scale
• develop security assurance frameworks for real-world implementations of quantum-enabled solutions
• advance critical enabling technologies towards scale manufacture
• unlock and amplify the capabilities of quantum processors by connecting them to networked architectures
• work with network architects, operators and service providers to introduce quantum technologies to enhance or transform current solutions and services

Specific themes

• techniques for securing data in storage and in-flight
• networking of quantum computers to advance information processing

Innovate UK will not fund:

• do not exploit the capabilities of, or mitigate the risks created by second-generation quantum technologies
• duplicate existing innovation

Eligibility

Your project must:

• have total costs between £1.5 million and £3 million
• start on 1 April 2024
• end by 30 September 2025
• last between 12 and 18 months
• carry out all of its project work in the UK
• intend to exploit the results from or in the UK

Funding

Up to £10 million has been allocated to fund innovation projects in this competition. Funding will be in the form of a grant.

If your organisation’s work on the project is commercial or economic, your funding request must not exceed the limits below. These limits apply even if your organisation normally acts non-economically but for the purpose of this project will be undertaking commercial or economic activity.

For feasibility studies and industrial research projects, you could get funding for your eligible project costs of:

• up to 70% if you are a micro or small organisation
• up to 60% if you are a medium-sized organisation
• up to 50% if you are a large organisation

The research organisations undertaking non-economic activity as part of the project can share up to 30% of the total eligible project costs. If your consortium contains more than one research organisation undertaking non-economic activity, this maximum is shared between them. Of that 30% you could get funding for your eligible project costs of up to:

• 80% of full economic costs (FEC) if you are a Je-S registered institution such as an academic
• 100% of your project costs if you are an RTO, charity, not-for-profit organisation, public sector organisation or research organisation