To lead a project you can:

• be an organisation of any size, including those based in the EU, EEA or internationally
• work alone or with the subcontracted skills and expertise of others from business, research organisations, research and technology organisations, or the third sector (charities, social enterprises and voluntary groups)

Contracts will be awarded to a single legal entity only. The majority of the project work and key deliverables must be completed by the applicant and be carried out in the UK. Subcontractors can be used, but only for specialist skills.

Projects must:

• start on 1 October 2026
• end by 30 September 2028
• last between 18 and 24 months
• have total costs of no more than £14 million, inclusive of VAT
• intend to exploit the capabilities and results from or in the UK

The key aims of this phase 1 competition are to:

• validate technologies and architectures to scale performance of the current state of the art quantum computers
• deploy operational testbeds for independent evaluation and verification
• accelerate the growth in user adoption and developer ecosystem
• accelerate the growth of enterprise operations and industrial capabilities to deliver economic and societal impact in the UK

Your phase 1 project must include a credible technical, commercial and investment roadmap that shows how you will:

• deliver step improvements to your quantum computing system, fix key hardware dependencies, and scale performance for the target workloads and application outcomes
• build and evaluate software stack, including system software, instruction sets, compilers, error correction approaches and practical algorithms for high impact end user applications
• set specifications needed for build, integration and commercial deployment of your quantum computing resource

Your phase 1 project must also define an operational testbed access solution that would be delivered for independent verification and assurance before July 2028 (three months before the end of phase 1). The operational testbed must:

• operate at system level as a programmable testbed for running quantum algorithms or analogue quantum processes
• provide users with a defined software environment that allows experienced users of gate based or analogue quantum computing to operate and programme the system at firmware, pulse, gate or algorithm level
• feature a live system monitoring dashboard with functional and technical performance indicators
• be supplied and supported by system definition, build and delivery report, performance specifications, user training documentation and guidance

You must demonstrate a credible and practical route to market, so your application must include a plan to commercialise your results.

You must define your goals and outline your plan for phase 1 in your application. At this stage contracts will only be given for phase 1.

The phase 1 contract milestones must include clear deliverables and reports demonstrating functional and technical designs, verification methods and test results with measurable targets. The evidence and submissions will be assessed against the following criteria:

• how well the project aligns with the aims of this competition and the wider quantum computing mission
• the quality of your contract delivery performance and organisation capability
• the balance of scientific, technical, industrial and commercial performance at the intermediate and final milestones

In phase 2 we will ask successful applicants from phase 1 to continue to develop their solution.

The focus of phase 1 will include:

• the validation of technologies and architectures to scale performance of the current state of the art quantum computers
• the deployment of operational testbeds for independent evaluation and verification
• accelerating growth of user adoption, enterprise operations and industrial capabilities

The phase 2 development will involve demonstrating advanced production readiness, scalability, and adoption of the next generation of quantum computers.

The objective of this effort is to realise a full-stack quantum computer build, capable of solving high impact practical applications.

The programme’s early phases will help inform a future public procurement of large scale quantum computers beyond 2030.

We will not fund projects that:

• do not use ‘second generation’ quantum technologies, defined as those involving the generation and coherent control of quantum states, resulting in phenomena such as superposition or entanglement
• do not deliver access to an operational testbed three months before the end of phase 1
• would directly duplicate scope and costs from other UK Government or international initiatives you have already been funded to deliver
• are covered by existing commercial agreements to deliver the proposed work programme
• propose disproportional use of material, capital and other costs
• are not mature in their overall development and delivery capability
• do not evidence the positive economic and societal impact outcomes for your innovation
• do not have complete freedom to undertake, operate, develop and exploit the R&D in the UK
• do not demonstrate the necessary resources to develop, operate, upgrade and maintain a complete quantum computing system in the UK
• do not include delivery of significant and critical activities in the UK
• do not develop a viable supply base for future development and operations in the UK

Innovate UK will hold an online briefing at 2pm on Wednesday 8 April: click here to register for a place. A recording and slides will be available afterwards.

If you would like help to find a subcontractor or have other queries, contact Innovate UK Business Connect’s Quantum team.