Quantum research funding in Europe

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How EU funding for quantum projects has developed.

What it is

The European Union funds quantum research and innovation mainly through its framework programmes: Horizon 2020 until 2020 and Horizon Europe since 2021, together with the Digital Europe Programme and the EuroHPC Joint Undertaking.

The Quantum Flagship, launched in 2018, is a long-term initiative that coordinates research projects across Europe.

How it works

Researchers and companies from several countries apply together in competitive calls. Funded projects are published in CORDIS, the Commission's database of research results, which is the source of the figures on this site.

National programmes add to this, and the totals on this site only cover EU-funded projects that mention quantum.

Try it: explore the years

Hover over or focus a bar to see the EU contribution and the number of projects that started that year.

Choose a year.

Why it matters

Stable public funding builds the laboratories, skills and companies that a quantum industry needs, and shows how Europe's priorities change over time.

The chart on this page lets you see the EU contribution for each start year.

Europe’s position

The figures come from the CORDIS data of Horizon 2020 and Horizon Europe. They describe the catalogue of EU-funded quantum projects on this platform, not all public or private spending in Europe.

1,256 EU-funded quantum projects in the catalogue, with an EU contribution of EUR 2,662 million. Basis: the CORDIS projects of Horizon 2020 and Horizon Europe whose title, acronym or topic mentions quantum, read on 2026-10-16; the EU contribution only, not national or private funding, and not other EU programmes such as Digital Europe or EuroHPC procurement.

Most active organisations across all quantum areas

Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique CNRS France, 148 projects
Fundacio Institut de Ciencies Fotoniques Spain, 76 projects
Technische Universiteit Delft Netherlands, 66 projects
Consiglio Nazionale Delle Ricerche Italy, 62 projects
Kobenhavns Universitet Denmark, 61 projects

Ranked by the number of EU-funded quantum projects in the CORDIS snapshot; no ranking per pillar is computed.

On this site

Pages of this portal

Glossary

CORDIS: The Commission's database of EU-funded research projects and results.
Horizon Europe: The EU research and innovation programme for 2021 to 2027.
EU contribution: The part of a project's cost paid by the EU.
EuroHPC: The EuroHPC Joint Undertaking, which pools EU and national funding for supercomputers and also procures quantum computers for them.
Chips JU: The Chips Joint Undertaking under the European Chips Act, which also funds pilot lines for quantum chips.
QuantERA: A network of national research funders that runs joint calls for quantum research projects.