Bulgaria
- Participations in EU-funded quantum projects
- 18 (rank 27 of 47 countries)
- EU-funded projects with a participant in the country (CORDIS)
- 15
- Organisations in these projects
- 11
- EU contribution
- EUR 4.3 million
Definitions: Participations by country; Rank of a country by participations; Projects and organisations by country; Net EU contribution to participants by country
How projects are counted: the figure above is the number of EU-funded quantum projects in CORDIS with at least one participant in Bulgaria, the definition used across the country pages. National projects are counted separately below. The projects listing filtered by country shows the records whose own country (coordinator or host) is Bulgaria, EU and national together, and the map counts portal records the same way, so their numbers differ.
Quantum at a glance
- National strategy and programmes
- None recorded in the public investment registry yet.
- Top partner countries in EU-funded projects
- Germany (11 shared projects), Spain (10 shared projects), Greece (8 shared projects), Italy (6 shared projects), Switzerland (6 shared projects) · collaboration in the policy dossier
- Most active organisations
- Bulgarian National Science Fund (3 EU quantum projects), Foundation for Theoretical and Computational Physics and Astrophysics (3 EU quantum projects), K3y (3 EU quantum projects)
- Organisations on this portal
- 4 companies, 5 research organisations and universities, 2 other organisations (of 11 in EU-funded quantum projects)
- Quantum infrastructure
- EuroQCI national quantum communication project: BGQCI
- National post-quantum cryptography guidance
- None found on official pages, 0 documents · checked 2026-10-21
- Education and training
- Master degrees: 0; other courses and schools: 0 (course directory)
- Open quantum jobs
- 0 open positions in this country on the portal
- More about Bulgaria
- EU Quantum Europe Strategy tracker · Quantum in Bulgaria, in plain words
National quantum landscape
Programmes, agencies, centres and networks of Bulgaria, read on their official pages (checked 2026-10-22). Each item links to the page it was read on; the list is not exhaustive and not an endorsement.
National centres and institutes
- Център за компетентност КВАЗАР (QUASAR Competence Centre: Quantum Communication, Intelligent Security Systems and Risk Management): QUASAR is a Sofia-based competence centre, with Sofia University as partner, focused on quantum communication, intelligent security systems and risk management. The Ministry of Innovation and Growth describes it as Bulgaria's national coordinator for EuroQCI.Source: InvestBulgaria Agency Investmap: Competence Center Quantum Communication, Intelligent Security Systems and Risk Management (Quasar), retrieved 2026-10-22; Centre description and partner fields; Ministry of Innovation and Growth: Construction begins on first quantum communications link between Bulgaria and Romania, retrieved 2026-10-22; Paragraph 3 (article dated 19.03.2026)
QuantERA research funding network
- QuantERA III consortium partner: Research funding organisations of this country in the QuantERA III consortium, a network of research funding organisations that launches joint calls in quantum science and technologies: Bulgarian National Science Fund (BNSF).Source: QuantERA: Consortium (QuantERA II and QuantERA III partner lists), retrieved 2026-10-22; QuantERA III tab, country entry
Context: population, economy and research spending
| Indicator | Value | Year | Eurostat dataset |
|---|---|---|---|
| Population on 1 January | 6,423,207 | 2026 | tps00001 |
| Gross domestic product, current prices | EUR 116.55 billion | 2025 | nama_10_gdp |
| Gross domestic expenditure on R&D (GERD), share of GDP | 0.77% | 2024 | rd_e_gerdtot |
| Gross domestic expenditure on R&D (GERD) | EUR 804.9 million | 2024 | rd_e_gerdtot |
| Measure | Value | Based on |
|---|---|---|
| Participations per million inhabitants | 2.8 | 18 participations (CORDIS, projects starting 2015 to 2027) and population 2026 |
| EU contribution per inhabitant | EUR 0.66 | EU contribution (CORDIS, projects starting 2015 to 2027) and population 2026 |
| EU contribution per EUR 1 billion of GDP | EUR 36,648 | EU contribution (CORDIS, projects starting 2015 to 2027) and GDP 2025 |
| EU quantum contribution as a share of GERD | 0.0607% | Yearly averages: EU contribution over the 13 start years 2015 to 2027, GERD over 10 years with figures, 2015 to 2024 |
Method: the CORDIS figures are totals over all EU-funded quantum projects in the catalogue (projects starting 2015 to 2027); population and GDP are the latest single year Eurostat publishes for Bulgaria. Figures per inhabitant and per unit of GDP therefore set cumulative quantum funding against one year of population or output: they correct for the size of the country, not for time. The share of GERD compares yearly averages instead: the EU quantum contribution divided by the number of project start years, against the average yearly GERD over the years of the same span that have a figure. The time windows of the two sources differ, so read these as indicators of relative scale, not as budget shares. Provisional and estimated values are marked as Eurostat flags them. A dash means no figure or no EU contribution; "less than" marks a positive figure too small to show at this precision.
Source: Eurostat, datasets tps00001, nama_10_gdp, rd_e_gerdtot (retrieved 2026-10-21), reused under the Eurostat copyright notice. The normalised figures are calculated by this portal from Eurostat and CORDIS data; Eurostat is not responsible for them.
Quantum areas
| Quantum area | Projects |
|---|---|
| Quantum computing and simulation | 7 |
| Quantum communication | 1 |
| Quantum sensing and metrology | 3 |
| Quantum-safe security (post-quantum cryptography) | 3 |
| Not placed in a pillar | 1 |
15 distinct projects in all; a project with several areas counts in each. 7 projects are placed by the taxonomy rules on their titles or a keyword suggestion, pending review (they have no reviewed technology tag). Pillars follow one method across the portal: the confirmed classification of a project where there is one, else the taxonomy rules on its title, else the snapshot keyword suggestion when a keyword matched; a project that matches none of them is "Not placed in a pillar" and is counted apart, not under enabling technologies. A project in several pillars is split evenly between them; post-quantum cryptography is shown apart.
Research output
- Quantum publications in 2025
- 35 (+25% since 2021)
- Quantum patent families, earliest priority 2020 to 2024
- 0 (partial: 84% of the publication months read so far)
Publications: OpenAlex (CC0), retrieved 2026-10-25; patent families: EPO Open Patent Services. A work or family with several countries counts for each. All countries, method and the patent independence bands
Funding over time
EU-funded quantum projects with at least one participant from Bulgaria, by start year and application pillar. The last two years are still being filled. Besides the CORDIS projects (Horizon 2020 and Horizon Europe), this chart includes 8 quantum projects of other EU programmes from the EU Funding & Tenders Portal.
- Not placed in a pillar
- Quantum-safe security (post-quantum cryptography)
- Quantum sensing and metrology
- Quantum communication
- Quantum computing and simulation
Explore funding trends for Bulgaria by platform, supply-chain segment or kind of organisation, in projects or EU contribution.
Place in the supply chain
Companies from Bulgaria taking part in EU-funded quantum projects of each supply-chain segment, and their share of all companies in that segment. Segments are keyword matches on project titles; public project data, not a census of suppliers.
| Segment | Companies from Bulgaria | All companies | Share | Most active company here |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cryogenics and cooling | 0 | 5 | 0% | - |
| Photonics, lasers and optics | 0 | 117 | 0% | - |
| Control electronics and cryo-CMOS | 0 | 24 | 0% | - |
| Materials, fabrication and foundry | 0 | 82 | 0% | - |
| Qubit hardware platforms | 0 | 76 | 0% | - |
| Quantum software and algorithms | 1 | 72 | 1% | K3y |
| Quantum communication and security systems | 1 | 201 | 0% | - |
| Quantum sensors and metrology devices | 0 | 111 | 0% | - |
European quantum supply chain · Technology map: supply-chain view
Organisations on this portal
Published on this portal: 11 of the 11 organisations from this country in these projects (Research organisation 4, Company 4, Public body 1, Other 1, Higher education 1). With the most EU quantum projects:
- Bulgarian National Science Fund Public body 3 EU quantum projects
- Foundation for Theoretical and Computational Physics and Astrophysics Research organisation 3 EU quantum projects
- K3y Company · SME 3 EU quantum projects
- Afsea Sektsia Sofia Other · SME 2 EU quantum projects
- Electrodistribution Grid West Ad Company 1 EU quantum project
- Elektroenergien Sistemen Operator Ead Company 1 EU quantum project
- Institut Po Otbrana Research organisation 1 EU quantum project
- Institute of Optical Materials and Technologies ""academician Jordan Malinowski"" - Bulgarian Academy of Sciences"" Research organisation 1 EU quantum project
- Institute of Solid State Physics Bulgarian Academy of Sciences Research organisation 1 EU quantum project
- Sofia University St Kliment Ohridski Higher education 1 EU quantum project
Quantum infrastructure
- BGQCI: QKD-secured communication networks, validated across national infrastructure (The source describes BG QCI as the national plan through which Bulgaria takes part in EuroQCI, to validate the technologies across national infrastructure and demonstrate the real operation of QKD-secured communication networks, and reports a national kick-off meeting in Sofia. The EU Funding & Tenders Portal gives the project period 2023-01 to 2025-06; the period has ended.)
This entry in the filterable catalogue
National sources
No national open-data source of this country is connected yet. Every source the portal reads, with its licence, is listed on the data sources page.
Regional and cohesion funding
Quantum-related projects co-funded by EU cohesion policy (European Regional Development Fund, European Social Fund, Cohesion Fund), selected and managed by national and regional authorities and located in this country according to the source. They are not in CORDIS and not part of the EU research figures above. Sources and methods: data sources page.
Source: Kohesio (EU cohesion policy projects), European Commission, Directorate-General for Regional and Urban Policy (DG REGIO). Licence: CC0 1.0 (Cohesion Open Data Platform, dataset 2014-2020 Kohesio projects). Read weekly, last read 28 Oct 2026 (5 days ago). The record at the source is authoritative.
1 Kohesio project located in this country on the portal:
Sources and coverage of this profile
Where each part of this profile comes from, the period it covers, how complete it is and when it was last verified. "Unknown" and "none recorded" mean that the portal holds no verified data, not that the figure is zero.
| Part of the profile | Source | Period | Coverage | Last verified |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| EU-funded quantum projects | CORDIS, Publications Office of the European Union | Projects starting 2015 to 2027 | Every EU-funded quantum project with a participant in the country | 2026-10-16 |
| National quantum landscape | Official pages of ministries, agencies, programmes and centres | As stated on each page | 2 facts, read on official pages; not exhaustive | 2026-10-22 |
| National programmes and public investment | Public investment registry (official announcements) | As announced | None recorded (unknown, not zero) | 2026-10-27 |
| Quantum infrastructure | Infrastructure catalogue (EuroHPC, EuroQCI and official pages) | Current status of each entry | 1 entry, located in the country | 2026-10-27 |
| Post-quantum cryptography guidance | PQC guide (national cyber security authorities) | Current guidance | None found on official pages | 2026-10-21 |
| National funding sources | National funding inventory (#426) | Per source | 0 of 2 sources checked are read by the portal; national projects are not shown (unknown, not zero) | 2026-10-24 |
| Population, economy and research spending | Eurostat | Latest year published per indicator | Population, GDP and GERD | 2026-10-21 |
Something wrong or missing for Bulgaria? Suggest a correction with an official source; an editor reviews every suggestion before anything changes.
Next steps
Policy dossier for Bulgaria (printable, with JSON export) · Build a consortium shortlist with partners from other countries · Compare with another country · Follow the money: awards and outputs of projects with a participant in Bulgaria · Country map · All countries
CORDIS projects whose title, acronym or topic identifier mentions quantum, Horizon 2020 and Horizon Europe. Catalogue coverage, not a census of the ecosystem. Source: CORDIS, Publications Office of the European Union (retrieved 2026-10-16), reused under the European Commission reuse notice (Decision 2011/833/EU). No endorsement by the source is implied.