Quantum Experimental Pilot Lines for Quantum Technologies
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View on F&T portalExpected Outcome:
This action will strengthen Europe's leadership and strategic autonomy in quantum technologies by advancing experimental pilot line capacities as a vital stepping stone toward future industrial-scale quantum hardware production. Qu-Pilot serves as the critical intermediary between academic research and the stable pilot lines under the Chips Joint Undertaking, offering a testbed for technological innovation, reproducibility, and manufacturability.
Expected outcomes include:
- Deployment of experimental quantum pilot lines addressing diverse platforms and materials, laying the groundwork for broader integration into Chips JU pilot lines.
- Establishment of scalable and reproducible quantum fabrication processes, advancing TRL 4–6 technologies and addressing early-stage certification, standardisation, and quality control.
- Reinforcement of a pan-European quantum hardware ecosystem through shared infrastructure and open-access models, fostering participation from SMEs, startups, and research institutes.
- Demonstrated ability to accelerate technology maturity and feed critical feedback loops into future Chips JU stability pilot lines.
- Enhanced synergies with testing infrastructures (e.g., Qu-Test), standardisation efforts, and industrialisation roadmaps, enabling horizontal integration across computing, communication, sensing, and enabling tech domains.
Scope:
The action is to implement the pilot production elements of the Qu-Pilot Framework Partnership Agreement. The proposal should advance the maturity of quantum hardware technologies in alignment with EU industrial strategy, emphasising flexibility, innovation, and scalability.
The proposal should address:
- Establishment or enhancement of experimental pilot production infrastructure for TRL 4–6 quantum hardware technologies, with strong R&D orientation.
- Development of pre-industrial processes for:
- Quantum processors (e.g., superconducting, trapped ions, photonic),
- Quantum sensors (e.g., NV centers),
- Cryo-compatible packaging and interconnects.
- Integration of cleanroom capabilities with lithography, etching, and deposition tailored to quantum device requirements (e.g., silicon, diamond, III-Vs), ensuring convergence with Chips JU standards.
- Creation of collaborative fabrication access models (shared-cost basis) open to academic and industrial partners.
- Development of standardised workflows for yield analysis, reproducibility, and quality assurance, supporting component certification pathways.
- Continuous engagement with Qu-Test and other testbeds to enable rapid iteration cycles and technology validation.
- Active alignment with Chips JU’s pilot line roadmap to enable seamless transfer of validated technologies once the stability pilot lines are operational.
- Contribution to a transversal European infrastructure serving multiple quantum domains (computing, sensing, communications), ensuring cross-domain integration and maximising synergies.
Technology Readiness Level - Technology readiness level expected from completed projects
The rules are described in General Annex B of the Horizon Europe Work Programme 2026-2027.
Activities are expected to validate technologies starting at TRL 3/4 and confirm their progression to TRL 5/7 by the end of the project.
News flashes
Opening date: 2026-08-13 (2 months ago)
Closing date: 2026-11-17 (1 month from now)
Procedure: single-stage
Budget: 15,000,000
Expected grants: 1
Contribution: 14,000,000 - 15,000,000
This call topic has been appended 1 time by the EC with news.
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2026-10-15
the submission session is now available...
HORIZON-JU-EUROHPC-2026-QEXP-14
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Timeline
Call opens · 13 Aug 2026 (2 months ago)
Next: Call closes, 1 month from now (17 Nov 2026)
Work programme published
13 Jun 2026 · est.
Call published
13 Aug 2026
Call opens
13 Aug 2026
Call closes
17 Nov 2026
Outcome expected
17 Apr 2027 · est.
Grant agreement signed
17 Jul 2027 · est.
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Work programme published Estimated
13 Jun 2026 · 4 months ago
Topics are listed in the Work Programme before the call opens. Spotting this early gives you a head start on partner search and proposal planning.
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Call published
13 Aug 2026 · 2 months ago
This topic was first published in TopicTree.
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Call opens
13 Aug 2026 · 2 months ago
Submissions can be made from this date.
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Call closes
17 Nov 2026 · 1 month from now
Deadline to submit a proposal.
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Outcome expected Estimated
17 Apr 2027 · 6 months from now
The maximum time to inform applicants of the evaluation outcome is five months after the call closes.
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Grant agreement signed Estimated
17 Jul 2027 · 9 months from now
The maximum time to sign the grant agreement is three months after applicants are informed of the outcome.
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Project information comes from CORDIS (for Horizon 2020 and Horizon Europe) and will be sourced from F&T Portal (for Digital Europe projects)
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