Alternatives to Support for the functioning of SEAPs, including for the purpose of establishing, managing and maintaining defence industrial readiness pools

EIC STEP Scale Up Defence

Scope: Only competent organisations , based on designations by Member States, are eligible to apply to the call

Expected Outcome: The successful proposal is expected to further contribute to the expected outcomes specified in topic HORIZON-CL6-2024-GOVERNANCE-02-01: European Partnership of Agriculture of Data, for continuation of the activities in line with already agreed outcomes. Scope: The objective of this action is to continue to provide support to the European partnership of Agriculture of Data identified in the Horizon Europe Strategic Plan 2021-2024 and first implemented under the topic HORIZON-CL6-2024-GOVERNANCE-02-01: European Partnership of Agriculture of Data, and in particular to fund additional activities (which may also be undertaken by additional partners) in view of its intended scope and duration, and in accordance with Article 24(2) of the Horizon Europe Regulation. The consortium which applied to and received funding under HORIZON-CL6-2024-GOVERNANCE-02-01: European Partnership of Agriculture of Data is uniquely placed to submit a proposal to continue the envisioned partnership. Not only did this consortium submit the proposal leading to the identification of the partnership in the Horizon Europe strategic planning 2021-2024, it has also been implementing the…

Expected Outcome: Project results are expected to contribute to all of the following expected outcomes: Public authorities, industry, technology providers, energy producers and consumers profit from de-risking of cost-effective essential value chains of those renewable fuel technologies that can contribute to domestic commercial fuel production beyond 2030 customized to their needs, from improved access to better financing exploiting synergies across funding schemes, and from more effective market uptake, business models, increased competitiveness, and commercialization opportunities. Energy producers, clean tech manufacturing industries, researchers and consumers benefit from improved performance, lower environmental impact, security and competitiveness of ad-hoc renewable fuel technologies compared to existing ones, as well as new market opportunities. Community, public authorities and industry benefit from sharing the de-risking cost and reducing it by engaging several competing solution suppliers/technology providers in parallel, boosting transnational public and private investments in de-risking and attracting new players to tackle supplier lock-in issues The implementation…

Expected Outcome: This action will advance Europe’s leadership in trapped-ion quantum computing by achieving the following key outcomes: Establishment of a full-stack ion-trap quantum computer aiming at more than 1.000 qubits, fully integrated into high-performance computing (HPC) systems, and accessible via the cloud. Demonstration of quantum advantage for selected real-world applications, validated against benchmarks. Strengthened European capabilities to develop modular, interoperable, and scalable quantum computing architectures. Implementation and demonstration of advanced error correction and fault-tolerant quantum computing techniques. Integration of full-stack hardware-software systems with standardised and certified interfaces. Engagement with industry and academia through open access to quantum computing resources and co-design of applications. Scope: The action should support the scale-up of European trapped-ion quantum computing platforms, aiming at technological maturity and usability for industrial and scientific applications. In particular, the action must address at least two major technical roadblocks defined in the Strategic Research and Industry Agenda (SRIA…

Expected Outcome: The expected outcomes of this topic are : A common EU evaluation platform for AI chips and racks, with transparent KPIs, workloads and benchmark reports used for Chips JU selection and procurement decisions. First pilot deployments of European AI compute systems validated for EU sovereign partitions of AI infrastructure. Structured collaboration between buyers and suppliers, supporting deployment, integration and optimisation of European AI compute solutions. Stronger EU demand for European AI chips and racks, helping to create a market for deployment-ready solutions. Increased EU technological sovereignty across the AI compute stack for European datacentres.

Expected Outcome: This action will strengthen Europe's leadership and strategic autonomy in quantum technologies by advancing experimental pilot line capacities as a vital stepping stone toward future industrial-scale quantum hardware production. Qu-Pilot serves as the critical intermediary between academic research and the stable pilot lines under the Chips Joint Undertaking, offering a testbed for technological innovation, reproducibility, and manufacturability. Expected outcomes include: Deployment of experimental quantum pilot lines addressing diverse platforms and materials, laying the groundwork for broader integration into Chips JU pilot lines. Establishment of scalable and reproducible quantum fabrication processes, advancing TRL 4–6 technologies and addressing early-stage certification, standardisation, and quality control. Reinforcement of a pan-European quantum hardware ecosystem through shared infrastructure and open-access models, fostering participation from SMEs, startups, and research institutes. Demonstrated ability to accelerate technology maturity and feed critical feedback loops into future Chips JU stability pilot lines. Enhanced synergies with testing…

Expected Outcome: This action will consolidate Europe’s position in superconducting quantum computing through: Establishment of a full-stack superconducting quantum computer aiming at 1.000 physical qubits and QPU architecture based on chiplet technology. The system should feature a scalable and user-adjustable architecture, T1 coherence time above 100 us, gate fidelities (both one- and two-qubit gates, and read-out) of at least 99.9%, read-out speed below 300 ns, two-qubit gate speed below 20 ns. Demonstration of quantum advantage on selected industrial use cases, validated through benchmarking with best-in-class classical methods. Deployment of a cloud-accessible quantum system integrated with high-performance computing environments. Maturation of fault-tolerant quantum computing protocols, including effective quantum error correction and noise mitigation schemes. Delivery of a comprehensive, standardised software stack supporting system bring-up, calibration, control, benchmarking, and user access. Strengthened supply chains and industrial capacity in Europe for superconducting quantum technologies. Scope: The proposal should contribute to the scale-up and practical deployment…

Expected Outcome: This action aims to establish European leadership in neutral-atom quantum simulation and digital quantum computing by delivering: Fully programmable industry-ready quantum simulators based on 10.000 neutral atoms in a scalable architecture, accessible via cloud platforms, and with the possibility of integrating them into high-performance computing environments. Fully programmable platform for neutral-atom quantum computing capable of both analogue quantum operations and gate-based computing with 1.000 physical qubits and a clear path to further scalability to 10.000 physical qubits. Coherence time of the order of hundreds of interaction times and infidelity of operations below 1%. Demonstration of quantum simulation and/or computing operating beyond classical computability, validated through benchmarking with classical methods. New real-world applications across science and industry (at least two) (e.g: in the energy and health sectors) The software stack for these applications, including enhanced software for verification, algorithm implementation, and user programming interfaces. Demonstration of the full quantum stack – including quantum control, electronic…

Expected Outcome: Projects are expected to contribute to all the following expected outcomes: Effective and innovative methods for gathering, sharing and using large data sets in energy applications for the purpose of training AI models while ensuring privacy and security. Advanced and - wherever possible - open-source AI foundation models to support the digitalisation of the energy system, through improved grid observability, forecasting of supply and demand, advanced storage and renewables integration, demand side flexibility and energy efficiency. Enhanced cooperation, knowledge sharing and interoperability among energy system actors for secure and seamless data exchange. Advanced methodologies for AI model development ensuring that the results are FAIR (Findable, Accessible, Interoperable, Reusable) beyond the project ending, open source and accommodating for technology evolution. Scope: The quality of AI models depends strongly on the amount, quality, and representativeness of the data used for their training. Projects are expected to focus on developing, training and testing AI foundation models, using extensive data sets to accelerate the energy transition in key focus…

Expected Outcome: This action will establish a pan-European open-access testing and experimentation infrastructure for quantum technologies, enabling systematic validation and certification of quantum components and systems. Expected outcomes include: Deployment of distributed quantum testing facilities accessible across Europe, including remote access and standardized test protocols. Provision of certification services aligned with future standardisation efforts, ensuring trust, quality, and interoperability of quantum technologies. Support for SMEs, start-ups, and research institutions in validating quantum components and sub-systems. Strengthening of Europe’s competitiveness by ensuring robust quality assurance mechanisms and accelerating the time-to-market of emerging quantum products. Scope: The proposal should implement the testing-related part of the action plan established under the Framework Partnership Agreement for Qu-Test. The action must include: Expansion and interconnection of open-access testing facilities in multiple Member States, covering a range of quantum technologies (e.g., processors, sensors, photonics, control systems). Development and deployment of…

Expected Outcome: This action will strengthen Europe's strategic autonomy in quantum-secure communications by advancing core QKD technologies and integration capabilities. Expected results include: Development and demonstration of next-generation QKD systems, with a focus on cost-effectiveness and integration, with specific measurable improvements in one of the following parameters or features: (i) key rate (>1 Mbps over metropolitan distances), (ii) operational coverage of a network at the regional scale, >300 km for fibre-based QKD, including e.g. twin field and free-space links also for non-wired segments and for redundancy, (iii) development and demonstration of advanced quantum cryptographic protocols beyond QKD with provable security advantage over classical cryptographic systems. Implementation of hybrid quantum-classical cryptographic frameworks combining QKD and post-quantum cryptography (PQC), tested on clearly defined real-world applications. Integration of quantum communication components with network equipment and orchestration systems (e.g., software-defined networking). Validation of QKD-based security in high-priority use cases beyond EuroQCI infrastructure,…