CALL FOR PROJECTS – QuantERA

FUNDING OF INTERNATIONAL COLLABORATIVE RESEARCH IN THE FIELD OF QUANTUM TECHNOLOGIES

ABOUT QUANTERA ERA-NET QUANTUM TECHNOLOGIES

The QuantERA program is a European network of 35 funding agencies from 29 countries. QuantERA supports excellence in research and innovation in quantum technologies (QT).

The objectives of the Program are to:

provide the European quantum community with calls for proposals in QT
promote excellence in QT research
encourage transnational collaborations in QT
networking of QT research funders
Map national, regional and European public policies in QT
Disseminate research excellence in the European Research Area (ERA)

OBJECTIVE

To support collaborative research and development (R&D) in the quantum technologies sector, PROMPT and PRIMA Québec are joining forces to offer Quebec academic institutions a new call for quantum projects within the framework of the international PSO.

The PSO-International contributes to supporting the international action of Quebec actors from the university, college, institutional and industrial sectors working in the various niches of research and innovation.

To this end, the Ministry of Economy, Innovation and Energy (MEIE) supports PRIMA Québec and Prompt in their participation in the QuantERA 2023 call. As part of this call, 29 European and non-European countries participate with a preliminary total budget of approximately €33 million.

ELIGIBLE PROJECTS

The submitted proposals are expected to be aligned with one of the two QuantERA Call 2023 streams:

Quantum Phenomena and Resources (QPR)

Applied Quantum Science (AQS)

Only projects that fall under the Applied Quantum Science (AQS) stream are eligible for Prompt and PRIMA Quebec.

PRIMA Québec and Prompt only support projects in the Applied Quantum Science(AQS) stream; the QuantERA call for projects covers a wider area.

Contact a PRIMA or Prompt advisor to check the eligibility of the project according to PRIMA rules.

The deadline for submitting project proposals is May 11, 2023 (11 a.m. Montreal time; 5 p.m. Brussels time).

In accordance with its strategic plan, PRIMA Québec encourages the submission of projects concerning the development of advanced materials applied to Québec’s key sectors, such as transport and infrastructure, energy, the environment, textiles, electronics and health.

Targeted technologies by this call for projects concern all types of application sectors. Projects must address one or more of the following research areas, see the guide for a description of the themes:

Theme 1 : Quantum communication
Theme 2 : Quantum simulation
Theme 3 : Quantum computation
Theme 4 : Quantum information sciences
Theme 5 : Quantum metrology sensing and imaging

INTERNATIONAL CONSORTIA

The project consortia for QuantERA call 2023 must have a minimum of 3 eligible partners requesting funding in at least 3 of the following countries: Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Canada (Québec), Czechia, Croatia, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Israel, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey, the United Kingdom.

MAIN ELIGIBILITY CRITERIA

The list below includes the main criteria, all of which are found in the guide The call for projects is funded under the PSO-International. The proposal must meet all PRIMA (or PROMPT) and QuantERA criteria.

Each project must comprise at least three eligible partners, based in an entity eligible to Research Funding Organisations (RFOs) participating in the QuantERA 2023 Call from at least three countries.
The consortium needs to be focused, that is, the proposed research must have a clearly defined goal.
One partner acts as the Project Coordinator for the entire consortium and is the single point of contact towards the QuantERA Call Secretariat. Each consortium partner is directed by a Principal Investigator (PI), who interacts with the respective RFO. PI may not coordinate more than one proposal.
Each partner can choose only one funding organisation when submitting a proposal.
The consortium budget must be balanced:
- at most 60% of the total requested funding may be requested by partners from one country;
- at most 40% of the total requested funding may be requested by a single partner.
TRL levels of the targeted projects range from 1 to 9, for projects of 24 or 36 months.
The Quebec’s applicant for a project can be a university, a CCTT or a public research center.
Minimum one company (priority an SME) with a presence (production or R&D) in Quebec
Minimum 20% in cash contribution by the company
Maximum 50% contribution by PRIMA Québec
Any contribution from another MEIE program, including MITACS scholarships, is excluded from complementary funding.
Maximum of 80% public money
Pay the management fees which represent 5% of the direct research costs (3% from company, 2% from MEIE).
Minimum duration of 2 years and maximum of 3 years with a maximum contribution from PRIMA of 500k$ CAD/project, MEIE and FIR management fees included.

It is strongly recommended to contact an advisor before submitting a project to ensure that all the rules are respected.

WEBINAR

A webinar, proposed by PRIMA Québec and PROMPT to present all the details of the call, will take place on Thursday February 16, 2023, 10 a.m. registration link, here.

TIMELINE

Launch of the call: January 26, 2023
Deadline for the proposal submission: May 11, 2023, 5 p.m. (Brussels time)
Notification of accepted proposals: December 2023
Start date for funded projects: January 2024

RELEVANT DOCUMENTS

English version

The PRIMA Québec Instruction Guide
The Text of the QuantERA call
The PRIMA Québec Application Form
The Funding Calculation Help Table (in french only)

If you are the main project coordinator, see QuantERA website for QuantERA forms

French version

Le Guide de présentation PRIMA
Le Texte de l’appel QuantERA(en anglais seulement)
Le Formulaire de demande PRIMA Québec
Le Tableau d’aide au calcul du financement

PARTNER SEARCH TOOL

In order to facilitate the process of forming research consortia, we offer applicants a Partner Search Tool available here: https://ncn.gov.pl/partners/quantera/.

This tool can be used by projects looking for partners and partners looking for projects.