QuantERA II ERA Cofund - Applied Research

Funded projects are expected to address one or more of the following areas:

1. Quantum communication
Methods/tools/materials/strategies to deal with the issues of distance, reliability, efficiency, robustness and security in quantum communication; novel protocols for multipartite quantum communication; quantum memory and quantum repeater concepts.

Novel photonic sources for quantum information and quantum communication, coherent transduction of quantum states between different physical systems; integrated quantum photonics; quantum communication embedded in optical telecommunications systems; other communication protocols with functionality enhanced by quantum effects.

Methods for quantum communications in space, between satellites and Earth.

2. Quantum simulation
Platforms and materials for quantum simulation; development of new measurement and control techniques and of strategies for the verification of quantum simulations.

Application of quantum simulations to condensed matter, chemistry, thermodynamics, biology, high-energy physics, quantum field theories, quantum gravity, cosmology and other fields.

3. Quantum computation
Development of noisy intermediate-scale quantum platforms; devices to realise multiqubit algorithms; demonstration and optimisation of error correction codes; progress towards fault-tolerance; interfaces between quantum computers and communication systems.

Development of novel quantum algorithms and software stacks; demonstration of quantum speed-up; new architectures and programming paradigms for quantum computation, including hybrid approaches.

4. Quantum information sciences
Novel sources of non-classical states and methods to engineer such states. Development of device-independent quantum information processing. Methods for the reconstruction and estimation of complex quantum states or channels and certification of their properties. Development of resource theory for quantum information. Study of topological systems for quantum information purposes. Understanding and control of open quantum systems; development of methods to confine dynamics in controllable decoherence-free subspaces. Study of thermodynamic processes at the quantum scale.

Novel ideas and applications in quantum science and technologies, based on e.g. superposition and entanglement, as means to achieve new or radically enhanced functionalities.

5. Quantum metrology sensing and imaging
Use of quantum properties for time and frequency standards, light-based calibration and measurement, gravimetry, magnetometry, accelerometry, and other applications. Development of detection schemes that are optimised with respect to extracting relevant information from physical systems; novel solutions for quantum imaging and ranging. Implementation of micro- and nano- quantum sensors, for instance for quantum limited sensitivity in the measurement of magnetic fields at the nanoscale. Extension of the reach of quantum sensing and metrology to other fields of science including e.g. the prospects of offering new medical diagnostic tools.

Expected Impacts
Funded projects are expected to significantly advance the state-of-the-art of quantum sciences and technologies[1] by achieving one or more of the following targets:

• Develop a deeper fundamental and practical understanding of systems and protocols for manipulating and exploiting quantum information;
   
• Enhance the robustness and scalability of quantum information technologies in the presence of environmental decoherence, hence facilitating their real-world deployment;
   
• Develop reliable technologies for the different components of quantum architectures;
   
• Identify new opportunities and applications fostered through quantum technologies, and the possible ways to transfer these technologies from laboratories to industries;
   
• Enhance inter-disciplinarity in crossing traditional boundaries between disciplines in order to enlarge the community involved in tackling these new challenges;
   
• Create a diverse and inclusive quantum community;
   
• Spread excellence throughout Europe by involving partners from the widening countries;
   
• Build leading innovation capacity across Europe by involvement of key actors that can make a difference in the future, for example excellent young researchers, ambitious high-tech SMEs or first-time participants