Generation Quantum: 12 million euros for a doctoral programme in quantum science
Eucor will set up the new international programme “Gen-Q” using European funding.
The European Commission has selected the project for a new international training programme for doctoral candidates in quantum science and technologies led by Eucor – The European Campus. “Gen-Q” will enable 51 young scientists to complete a PhD with an international, interdisciplinary and intersectoral focus. In addition to the five Eucor universities in Germany, France and Switzerland (Universities of Basel, Freiburg, Haute-Alsace and Strasbourg as well as the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology), the Universities of Amsterdam (Netherlands) and Poznán (Poland) are also involved. The project will run for five years and totals over 12 million euros. In addition to 6 million euros from the European Union, there are 2 million euros from the Swiss State Secretariat for Education, Research and Innovation (SERI) and co-financing from the participating partner universities.
“Quantum science and technology is an interdisciplinary field that explores and harnesses the rules of physics, chemistry, materials science and computer science,”says Prof. Guido Pupillo from the University of Strasbourg, scientific director of the programme. “At Gen-Q, we use this variety of perspectives to work on advanced quantum technologies, such as quantum computing and quantum sensing. To this end, we will attract a large cohort of young talented researchers from all over the world to the Upper Rhine region and to all Gen-Q European partner institutions. This programme is thus of high importance for our institutions, regions, countries and Europe.”
Interdisciplinary, intersectoral, international
The programme focuses on four key areas: (1) overcoming noise in quantum devices; (2) scaling up complexity in so-called qubits and sensors; (3) developing quantum hardware and (4) developing quantum software and hybrid computing. The young scientists will choose between the participating institutions for their doctorate and will also cooperate with various industrial partners in the region.
“The aim of Gen-Q is to contribute to overcoming the future challenges in European quantum science and technology and, at the same time, to train the young academic generation required to meet these challenges,” says Prof. Andrea Schenker-Wicki, Rector at the University of Basel and President of Eucor – The European Campus. The joint programme builds on many years of cooperation between the participating scientists on the Upper Rhine, in particular within the expiring doctoral programme QUSTEC (Quantum Science and Technologies at the European Campus). The project also strengthens the network's strategic focus on “Quantum Science and Technologies”. The Eucor universities are already working together with the partner institutions in the Netherlands and Poland in the framework of the European University Alliance EPICUR.
For Gen-Q, the European Grouping for Territorial Cooperation (EGTC) Eucor – The European Campus receives funding from the EU research framework programme ‘Horizon Europe’ in the Marie Skłodowska Curie ‘COFUND’ funding line to promote the mobility of scientists. In 2015, the five universities in the Upper Rhine region founded the first EGTC that is made up solely of universities.