National research programme Quantum (PEPR Quantique)

The PEPR Quantum represents the upstream part of the national acceleration strategy, dedicated to quantum technologies, announced in January 2021. It aims to support academic research efforts from fundamental research to proof of concept (TRL 1 to 4). The French government is taking a strong interest in the development of quantum technologies for reasons of national and European sovereignty: the aim is to be at the very top of international scientific and industrial competition, but above all to enable France and Europe to have their own solutions to guarantee their independence in this key area.

The aim of the programme is to ensure the continuity of actions from breakthrough concepts to the deployment of these quantum technologies via the industrial fabric involving start-ups and major groups, in conjunction with major European programmes. The scientific and technological structure of the programme is divided into 4 main areas:

• Area 1: Robust solid-state qubits for quantum computing;
• Area 2: cold atom qubits for quantum simulation, extended to quantum sensors;
• Area 3: Quantum algorithms extended to post-quantum ;
• Area 4: quantum communication and beyond.

To date, the programme has been structured around 10 targeted projects, 2 EquipEx+ projects (from PIA3), and 10 projects selected from calls for proposals, including 2 in the field of ‘quantum computing on the fly’ and 8 others from calls for proposals covering the 4 thematic areas and beyond.

As the cornerstone of the national strategy, the programme has a number of missions. These include:

• Providing input for programmes further downstream in the strategy;
• Expanding the quantum community to include teams whose core business provides novelty and complementarity;
• Strengthening links between academia and industry, especially start-ups;
• Establish synergies with the research and industrial communities;
• Establish synergies with the other accelerator or exploratory PEPRs (Electronics, Cybersecurity, Spin, Networks of the Future and AI);
• Make a major contribution to community development, in conjunction with other national strategy programmes, the European ecosystem, CNRS thematic networks (TeQ, MecaQ, Quantum Gases, etc.), research federations in the field at university sites and the industrial ecosystem.