A European Benchmarking Framework for hybrid quantum-classical computing

The grant opportunity HORIZON-EUROHPC-JU-2024-BENCHMARK-05-03, part of the Horizon Europe program, is focused on creating a European benchmarking framework for hybrid quantum-classical computing systems. This initiative is categorized under the Research and Innovation Action (RIA) framework, with the total budget set at €2 million. Projects will receive funding amounts between €500,000 and €1,000,000. The funding mechanism allows for up to 50% coverage of eligible project costs, requiring recipients to secure matching co-funding.

Eligible participants include legal entities established in EU Member States and associated countries, which encompass a broad range of potential applicants such as universities, research institutions, small and medium enterprises, and large corporations. The call is aimed at projects that develop a unified, extensible benchmarking framework for assessing the performance of quantum computing and hybrid high-performance computing systems.

The framework aims to improve decision-making in the procurement of quantum-accelerated supercomputers and to enhance the performance and operations of hybrid HPC-QC systems. The project involves developing a standardized benchmarking suite with workflows, performance metrics, and open-source reference implementations. It emphasizes establishing a comprehensive suite to allow for consistent evaluation across different hardware platforms, including metrics related to throughput, latency, and energy consumption.

Applications will be submitted through a single-stage open call, scheduled to open on December 11, 2025, with a submission deadline of March 24, 2026. The application process is competitive, with only one project expected to be funded from this allocation. Successful proposals must demonstrate substantial expertise in high-performance computing, quantum technologies, and standardization processes, and they are encouraged to integrate with existing benchmarks in the field.

The project aims to foster collaboration between industry and research communities to ensure alignment with European strategic goals in quantum computing, and all deliverables will be made available under the European Union Public Licence to encourage transparency and accessibility. Applicants must also present a clear plan for engagement with standardization bodies and should anticipate future developments in the quantum computing landscape.

Overall, the initiative seeks to position Europe as a leader in defining standards for the performance assessment of quantum and hybrid computing systems, thereby enhancing the competitiveness of EU suppliers and driving innovation in the sector.

The HORIZON-EUROHPC-JU-2024-BENCHMARK-05-03 call, part of the Horizon Europe program, aims to establish a European benchmarking framework for hybrid quantum-classical computing systems. This initiative falls under the HORIZON-RIA (Research and Innovation Actions) funding scheme. The call seeks to fund projects that will develop a unified, extensible, and well-documented benchmarking framework and suite to assess the performance of quantum computing (QC) and hybrid high-performance computing (HPC)-QC systems.

The expected outcomes of this call include:

Enhanced decision-making in procuring quantum-accelerated supercomputers through comprehensive system comparisons.
Improved operation and fine-tuning of hybrid HPC-QC systems, leading to better performance, throughput, energy optimization, and user experience.
Increased competitiveness of EU quantum suppliers via transparent benchmarking.
A unified, extensible benchmarking framework with common standards, versioning, and control.
A well-maintained benchmarking suite for QC- and hybrid HPC-QC workflows, featuring open-source reference implementations and SDK-agnostic specifications.
Active contributions to European and global standardization efforts for QC and hybrid HPC-QC benchmarking.

The scope of the projects should include:

A. Development of a Benchmarking Framework:

Offer a detailed comparison methodology among different systems and integration approaches, ensuring reproducibility, repeatability, and replicability of metrics.
Define and continuously update a performance metrics catalogue.
Standardize benchmarking input and output formats.
Collect and report benchmarking results with statistical analysis.
Ensure benchmarks are executable on target environments.
Offer a standardized workflow and repository with version control.
Provide at least one reference implementation based on an EU SDK for each benchmark.
Ensure production quality for assessing EuroHPC’s QC and hybrid HPC-QC systems.
Provide templates with input data for executing the benchmarking suite on every EuroHPC system.
The benchmarking framework should be implemented as software providing a dynamic workspace for users.

B. Establishing a Comprehensive Benchmarking Suite:

The benchmarking suite should be hardware agnostic, enabling cross-device verification.
Provide thorough documentation for developers and end-users.
Develop novel hybrid HPC-QC benchmarks in three key areas:
Throughput: Capturing end-to-end performance, including latency and data movement overhead.
Latency: Measuring queue-to-solution time.
Energy: Assessing per-shot energy, cryogenic overhead, control-electronics draw, and energy-to-solution.
Catalogue relevant QC benchmarks from across the software stack, including:
Component/Gate Level: Gate fidelities, connectivity, energy-state relaxation time, coherence (T1/T2), randomized benchmarking (RB), cross-talk RB, error-per-layered-gate (EPLG), logical-error rate, logical error scaling (Λ).
System Level: Clifford-volume, cross-entropy (XEB), CLOPS/rQOPS, MegaQuOp, GHZ-state fidelity.
Software/Compiler Level: Error-syndrome mapping, decoding-throughput metrics, quantum compilation volumetric benchmarks.
Application Layer: VQE, QAOA, MaxCut, Q-Score, quantum-enhanced ML, Monte Carlo sampling, workload-specific benchmarks, quantum application score.
Support both noisy-intermediate-scale-quantum (NISQ) and fault-tolerant-quantum-computing (FTQC) regimes.
Ensure each benchmark produces at least one metric.
Define reliable metrics to compare different qubit modalities and the depth of HPC-QC integration.
Ensure the scalability of each benchmark.

Proposals must justify the selection of benchmarks and metrics, aligning them with the European HPC-QC landscape. Integration of existing benchmarks is encouraged, provided agreements with benchmark owners and licensing compatibility are secured. An IP plan and licensing strategy under the European Union Public Licence (EUPL-1.2) is required. A strategic development roadmap anticipating future QC and hybrid HPC-QC developments is also necessary. The consortium should engage with industry and research communities for continuous feedback.

The proposal should consider the state-of-the-art in quantum computing benchmarking and define a mechanism to monitor the framework and pool existing benchmark suites for deployment in a common data repository. The benchmarking framework and suite must be available under the European Union Public Licence (EUPL).

The application should adhere to the General Annex A of the Horizon Europe Work Programme 2023-2025, with a page limit of 70 pages. Eligible countries are described in Annex B of the Work Programme General Annexes. Participation is limited to legal entities from Member States, associated countries to Horizon Europe, and EuroHPC JU Participating States, as detailed in the provided list. This restriction is to safeguard the Union’s strategic assets and autonomy.

Financial and operational capacity and exclusion criteria are described in Annex C of the Work Programme General Annexes. The evaluation and award process follows General Annex F of the Horizon Europe Work Programme 2023-2025, with a maximum of one project being funded. Award criteria are described in Annex D, and submission and evaluation processes are in General Annex D. The indicative timeline for evaluation and grant agreement is in Annex F.

The EU funding rate will be up to 50% of the eligible costs, as an exception to General Annex G. The legal and financial set-up of the grants follows General Annex G.

Application form templates are available in the Submission System, including those for HE RIA, IA, CSA, RI, PCP, PPI, COFUND, FPA, MSCA, ERC, and EIC actions. Evaluation form templates will be adapted as necessary. Guidance documents include the HE Programme Guide and Model Grant Agreements (MGA).

The call opens on December 11, 2025, with a deadline of March 24, 2026, at 17:00:00 Brussels time. The total budget for this topic is EUR 2,000,000, with contributions ranging from EUR 500,000 to EUR 1,000,000 per project. It is expected that approximately 1 to 11 grants will be awarded.

This funding opportunity seeks to create a standardized and transparent way to evaluate the performance of emerging quantum and hybrid quantum-classical computing systems in Europe. By establishing a comprehensive benchmarking framework and suite, the EU aims to drive innovation, enhance the competitiveness of its quantum industry, and make informed decisions about future investments in this rapidly evolving field. The project requires a collaborative approach, involving industry, research communities, and standardization bodies, to ensure the framework remains relevant, up-to-date, and aligned with the needs of the European HPC-QC ecosystem.

Eligible Applicant Types: The opportunity is open to legal entities established in EU Member States, countries associated with Horizon Europe, and EuroHPC JU Participating States. This includes a wide range of potential applicants such as universities, research institutes, SMEs, large enterprises, and other organizations capable of conducting research and innovation activities.

Funding Type: The funding type is a HORIZON Research and Innovation Action (RIA) grant, specifically a HORIZON Action Grant Budget-Based [HORIZON-AG]. This means it is a grant designed to support research and innovation activities with a budget-based approach.

Consortium Requirement: The opportunity requires a consortium of multiple applicants. This is implied by the need for active engagement with industry and research communities, and the scope of the project which necessitates a diverse range of expertise.

Beneficiary Scope (Geographic Eligibility): The geographic eligibility is limited to legal entities established in EU Member States, countries associated with Horizon Europe, and EuroHPC JU Participating States. Specifically mentioned are Albania, Armenia, Austria, Belgium, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Czechia, Denmark, Estonia, Faroe Islands, Finland, France, Germany, Georgia, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Kosovo, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Moldova, Montenegro, Netherlands, North Macedonia, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Türkiye, and the United Kingdom.

Target Sector: The program targets the digital, industry, and space sectors, with a specific focus on high-performance computing (HPC), quantum computing (QC), and hybrid HPC-QC systems. It also touches on standardization, benchmarking, and software development.

Mentioned Countries: Albania, Armenia, Austria, Belgium, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Czechia, Denmark, Estonia, Faroe Islands, Finland, France, Germany, Georgia, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Kosovo, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Moldova, Montenegro, Netherlands, North Macedonia, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Türkiye, United Kingdom.

Project Stage: The project stage is focused on development, validation, and demonstration. The call aims to develop a benchmarking framework and suite, which implies moving beyond basic research and into practical application and validation of HPC-QC systems.

Funding Amount: The total budget for the topic is EUR 2,000,000. The indicative grant contributions range from EUR 500,000 to EUR 1,000,000, with an expectation of funding 1 to 11 projects.

Application Type: The application type is a single-stage open call. The planned opening date is 11 December 2025, and the deadline for submission is 24 March 2026.

Nature of Support: Beneficiaries will receive money in the form of a grant to cover eligible costs associated with the research and innovation activities. The EU-funding rate will be up to 50% of the eligible costs.

Application Stages: The application process is a single-stage process.

Success Rates: The indicative number of grants is 1 to 11, but without knowing the expected number of applications, it is impossible to estimate the success rate.

Co-funding Requirement: Yes, there is a co-funding requirement. The EU-funding rate will be up to 50% of the eligible costs, meaning that the beneficiaries or other parties must provide the remaining funding.

Summary:

This Horizon Europe call, HORIZON-EUROHPC-JU-2024-BENCHMARK-05-03, aims to establish a European benchmarking framework for hybrid quantum-classical computing systems. The goal is to enhance decision-making in the procurement of quantum-accelerated supercomputers, improve the operation and performance of these systems, and boost the competitiveness of EU quantum suppliers. The project involves developing a software-implemented benchmarking framework with standardized workflows, performance metrics, and a comprehensive benchmarking suite for QC and hybrid HPC-QC workflows. The framework should be hardware-agnostic, extensible, and well-documented, with open-source reference implementations. The project also requires active engagement with industry and research communities and contributions to European and global standardization efforts. Eligible applicants are legal entities from EU Member States, associated countries to Horizon Europe, and EuroHPC JU Participating States. The funding will be provided as a HORIZON Research and Innovation Action (RIA) grant, covering up to 50% of the eligible costs, with individual grants ranging from EUR 500,000 to EUR 1,000,000. The application process is a single-stage open call with a deadline of 24 March 2026, and the granting authority expects to fund between 1 and 11 projects. The project should consider the state-of-the-art in quantum computing benchmarking, define a mechanism to monitor the framework, and make the framework available under the European Union Public Licence (EUPL).