The IGFAE participates in QEX, the first European Centre of Quantum Excellence

The European Commission has just made public the awarding of the first European Centre of Quantum Excellence (QEX) in Europe, in which Galicia will participate through the USC, the UDC, and the Supercomputing Center of Galicia (Cesga). This centre, financed by the European High-Performance Computing Joint Undertaking (EuroHPC JU), is driven by a consortium of eleven partners from five countries and aims to promote the development of quantum technologies and ensure European leadership in quantum computing.

The Galician participation, which has a budget of 1.36 million euros co-funded 50% by the European Commission and the other 50% by the Ministry of Science, Universities and Innovation, will make an important contribution to this objective of creating a single space to provide services and knowledge to users of quantum computers. The Galician part is led by Cesga, a centre shared between the Xunta de Galicia and the Spanish National Research Council (CSIC), and three research centres of the CIGUS Network: the Singular Centre for Research in Intelligent Technologies of the USC (CITIUS) and the Galician Institute of High Energy Physics (IGFAE), a joint centre of the USC and the Xunta de Galicia, and the Centre for ICT Research (CITIC) of the UDC.

Specifically, the Galician centres will contribute mainly to facilitating access for the scientific community and the productive sector to quantum infrastructures. In addition, they will also facilitate the development of new applications and software in the field of quantum computing and will be responsible for carrying out benchmarking activities, a process of comparing quantum computers and applications of this technology. They will also collaborate in the training of researchers and users, boosting the experience acquired in TalentQ, the training and talent-development programme of the Quantum Spain project.

The European Centre of Quantum Excellence will function as a single centre for quantum computing applications and tools, enabling scientific users, European companies and industries to take advantage of the potential of these technologies. Through specialised training programmes and personalised support, QEX will train highly skilled personnel in quantum computing throughout Europe, while also helping users to adapt and co-develop quantum applications, thus ensuring readiness for the next era of computing.

Participating partners

The QEX consortium brings together eleven partners representing a diverse network of scientific and technical expertise from five European Union countries. Coordinated by Stichting QuantumDeltaNL (Netherlands), it also includes, for Denmark, Danmarks Tekniske Universitet, Københavns Universitet and Syddansk Universitet; for Ireland, the University of Galway; for Germany, the Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften and the Deutsches Zentrum für Luft- und Raumfahrt; and for the Netherlands, the Nederlandse Organisatie voor Toegepast Natuurwetenschappelijk Onderzoek, in addition to the leader Stichting QuantumDeltaNL. Joining from Spain are the USC, Cesga, and the UDC.