Grand Challenge on Quantum Sensors for Inertial Navigation

The Horizon Europe grant opportunity HORIZON-CL4-2026-04-DIGITAL-EMERGING-11 focuses on the Grand Challenge for Quantum Sensors for Inertial Navigation. This initiative is designed to advance quantum-enabled navigation systems that can operate in GNSS-denied environments, addressing critical vulnerabilities in navigation technologies.

Eligible applicants must be Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (SMEs) and may only submit proposals as mono-beneficiary applicants, meaning no consortium with multiple organizations is allowed. The call is specifically structured as a Coordination and Support Action (CSA), providing grants based on actual eligible expenses rather than lump-sum funding.

Funding for this opportunity is capped at EUR 500,000 per grant, with a total budget of EUR 2 million planned for approximately three grants. The projects are expected to run for about six months, emphasizing the need for documented lab validation of existing prototypes rather than development funding for new prototypes.

Geographic eligibility extends to legal entities established in EU Member States, Iceland, Norway, and certain associated countries, including Canada, Israel, and the United Kingdom. Entities from China and those controlled by entities from non-eligible countries are excluded to safeguard the EU's strategic interests.

The program specifically targets the quantum technologies sector, particularly quantum sensors for inertial navigation applications. These include navigation technologies that enhance precision in aerospace, maritime, aviation, and autonomous systems.

The project aims to deliver technical and financial roadmaps, benchmark existing technologies, and prove the commercial viability of quantum navigation systems. The evaluation focuses on the credibility of the technical approach, expected contributions to EU-level technological sovereignty, and the effectiveness of the project implementation.

The submission window for applications opens on January 15, 2026, and closes on April 15, 2026, via a single-stage process. There is no explicit co-funding requirement stated for the applicants, but leveraging existing prototypes from other funding sources is encouraged. Overall, this call plays a crucial role in strengthening the EU's technological autonomy and resilience in navigation systems.

This is a Horizon Europe call, specifically HORIZON-CL4-2026-04-DIGITAL-EMERGING-11, focusing on the Grand Challenge on Quantum Sensors for Inertial Navigation. It falls under the DIGITAL (HORIZON-CL4-2026-04) call and aims to achieve open strategic autonomy in digital and emerging enabling technologies. The action type is a HORIZON Coordination and Support Action (CSA), with a HORIZON Action Grant Budget-Based [HORIZON-AG] Model Grant Agreement (MGA).

The call employs a single-stage deadline model. The planned opening date is 15 January 2026, and the deadline for submission is 15 April 2026, at 17:00:00 Brussels time. The total budget allocated to this topic is 2,000,000 EUR, with an indicative number of 3 grants to be awarded.

The expected outcome of this CSA is to support the development of quantum-enabled navigation systems for use in GNSS-denied or contested environments. This initiative is the first phase of a two-phase competitive structure, implemented in close collaboration with the European Investment Bank (EIB).

Phase 1 (this topic) focuses on readiness analysis in terms of exploitation and investments, benchmarking the commercial viability of quantum-enabled navigation systems. The aim is to deliver concrete outputs that improve the conditions for use of the supported projects through credible technical, industrialization, and financial roadmaps, validated against investor requirements (e.g., EIB, InvestEU). Activities also include analyses of investor-readiness and supply-chain sovereignty.

Phase 2 involves the indirectly managed action “HORIZON-CL4 Quantum Top-Up to InvestEU: Grand Challenge Phase 2” in the Cluster 4 part of the Horizon Europe 2026/2027 Work Programme. The CSA is designed to allow the best possible application in Phase 2, and the current CSA results may inform applications by beneficiaries to investment support managed by the EIB under InvestEU (separate procedures).

Under Phase 1, projects are expected to establish a comprehensive technical and financial roadmap that demonstrates the potential of the proposed Q-INS solutions. They should deliver evidence-based design and benchmarking packages for reduced-scale systems, including documentation, test/benchmark reports, and evidence of pre-existing or externally financed prototypes, in one of the following two categories:

Category 1 (cold-atoms Q-INS): Q-INS based on cold-atom interferometry (or other technology of at least equivalent performance) featuring long-term navigation accuracy (<10 m/hour) due to reduced drift with respect to commercial Inertial Measurement Units (IMUs). End-user requirements together with documented benchmark evidence from existing or externally financed prototypes will be collected for demonstrations in maritime or aviation applications.

Category 2 (Chip-scale Q-INS): Low C-SWAP Q-INS measuring acceleration, rotation rate, and/or magnetic field, aimed at the implementation of chip-scale sensors based on defect centers and vacancies in crystals or on warm atomic vapours (including nuclear magnetic resonance), for applications e.g. in small satellites, UAVs, and autonomous transport.

Proposals should target systems that are already sufficiently mature to enable credible benchmarking and industrial road-mapping. Specific expected outcomes include:

A detailed technical roadmap, including system architecture, integration strategy, performance milestones, risk assessments, and industrialization plan for scalable production.

The industrialization plan should be validated in conjunction with the EIB requirements, including commercialization timelines, and should include at least the following:
Detailed Q-INS architecture based on quantum sensing techniques hybridized with classical IMUs.
Compliance assessment for SWaP-C requirements, environmental resilience, and real-world integration.
An assessment of dependencies on non-EU suppliers of critical components and proposal of effective mitigation measures in view of a sovereign supply chain.
Potential list of end-users to capture system requirements and use-case constraints.

A comprehensive financial roadmap and viability assessment covering business models, market analyses, commercialization pathways, revenue projections, and investment criteria.

Documented lab-validation/benchmarking of an existing or externally financed prototype (no EU funding of R&I or prototype development in this CSA), with preliminary benchmark results.

An application strategy identifying target sectors (maritime, aviation, space, autonomous systems) and quantifiable advantages over classical IMUs.

The scope of the Grand Challenge on Quantum Sensors for Inertial Navigation is to advance the development of quantum-enabled navigation systems for use in GNSS-denied or contested environments. Q-INS combines quantum sensors with classical inertial measurement subsystems to deliver reliable, resilient, and sovereign positioning capabilities. The topic supports the EU’s ambition to strengthen technological sovereignty in strategic navigation infrastructures, aligned with the objectives of the STEP and the Digital Decade.

Projects funded under this action are expected to span approximately six months, with an EU contribution up to EUR 0.5 million.

Legal entities established in China are not eligible to participate in both Research and Innovation Actions (RIAs) and Innovation Actions (IAs) falling under this destination.

Participation is limited to legal entities established in Member States, Iceland and Norway and the following additional associated countries: Canada, Israel, Republic of Korea, New Zealand, Switzerland, and the United Kingdom.

Proposals must be submitted by a single legal entity (mono-beneficiary CSA) which is an SME.

Evaluation and Award Criteria include:
Excellence: credibility of the technical approach for road-mapping and benchmarking; adequacy of performance metrics and methodology (e.g. drift rate, SWaP-C, environmental resilience) and early end-user engagement to define requirements.
Impact: enhancing the EU stance around quantum inertial navigation from different angles; expected contribution to EU technological sovereignty (including mitigation of non-EU supply-chain dependencies) and to societal, industrial and economic benefits; credibility of the path to commercialisation and investor-readiness.
Quality and efficiency of the implementation: credibility of the work plan, resources and risk management for a mono-beneficiary CSA; capacity to deliver the specified outputs (technical & financial roadmap, validation/benchmarking reports, viability assessment); appropriateness of the team and access to facilities for validation/benchmarking of existing prototypes.

The application form has been customised for this topic to include the additions to the standard evaluation criteria.

This funding opportunity is a Coordination and Support Action (CSA) under the Horizon Europe program, aimed at bolstering the development and commercial viability of quantum-enabled inertial navigation systems (Q-INS) within the European Union. It's structured as the first phase of a larger initiative, with the ultimate goal of creating navigation solutions that are reliable even when traditional GPS signals are unavailable. The focus is on supporting SMEs to create roadmaps, benchmark existing technologies, and prepare for future investments, particularly through the InvestEU program. The EU is keen on fostering technological sovereignty in this area, ensuring that critical components are sourced from within the Union and associated countries. The project seeks to bridge the gap between promising quantum sensor technologies and their practical application in sectors like maritime, aviation, and autonomous systems.

Eligible Applicant Types: The eligible applicant type for this opportunity is SME (Small and Medium-sized Enterprise). The call specifies that proposals must be submitted by a single legal entity (mono-beneficiary CSA) which is an SME.

Funding Type: The funding type is a grant, specifically a HORIZON Coordination and Support Action (CSA) under the Horizon Europe program. The type of Model Grant Agreement (MGA) is a HORIZON Action Grant Budget-Based [HORIZON-AG].

Consortium Requirement: The opportunity requires a single applicant. The call specifies that proposals must be submitted by a single legal entity (mono-beneficiary CSA).

Beneficiary Scope (Geographic Eligibility): The geographic eligibility includes legal entities established in Member States, Iceland, Norway, Canada, Israel, Republic of Korea, New Zealand, Switzerland, and the United Kingdom. Participation is limited to these countries to safeguard the Union’s strategic assets, interests, autonomy, and security. Entities established in third countries which may become associated to Horizon Europe during 2026 and 2027 may be eligible if the third country is identified for this topic as an eligible country in the List of Participating Countries in Horizon Europe at the time of submission of the application.

Target Sector: The program targets the digital and emerging enabling technologies sector, specifically focusing on quantum sensors for inertial navigation (Q-INS). It also touches upon areas like Artificial Intelligence, Quantum technology, Photonics, and Semiconductors. The target sectors also include maritime, aviation, space, and autonomous systems.

Mentioned Countries: Iceland, Norway, Canada, Israel, Republic of Korea, New Zealand, Switzerland, United Kingdom, China (mentioned as ineligible).

Project Stage: The project stage is validation and benchmarking of existing prototypes, with a focus on establishing a comprehensive technical and financial roadmap, including criteria for investment readiness, bankability, risk assessment, and scalability. The proposals should target systems that are already sufficiently mature to enable credible benchmarking and industrial road-mapping.

Funding Amount: The EU contribution is up to EUR 0.5 million per project.

Application Type: The application type is an open call, with a single-stage submission process.

Nature of Support: The beneficiaries will receive money in the form of a grant.

Application Stages: The application process involves a single stage.

Success Rates: The indicative number of grants is 3, with a budget of 2,000,000 EUR, so the success rate is other.

Co-funding Requirement: The text does not explicitly state a co-funding requirement.

Summary: This Horizon Europe call, HORIZON-CL4-2026-04-DIGITAL-EMERGING-11, focuses on the Grand Challenge on Quantum Sensors for Inertial Navigation. It aims to advance the development of quantum-enabled navigation systems for use in GNSS-denied or contested environments. The call is structured as a Coordination and Support Action (CSA) and is the first phase of a two-phase competitive structure. The primary goal of this phase is to establish a comprehensive technical and financial roadmap, benchmark the commercial viability of quantum-enabled navigation systems, and deliver evidence-based design and benchmarking packages for reduced-scale systems. The projects are expected to span approximately six months, with an EU contribution of up to EUR 0.5 million. The call is open to SMEs established in EU Member States, Iceland, Norway, Canada, Israel, Republic of Korea, New Zealand, Switzerland, and the United Kingdom. The projects should target systems that are already sufficiently mature to enable credible benchmarking and industrial road-mapping, with specific expected outcomes including detailed technical and financial roadmaps, industrialization plans, viability assessments, and documented lab validation of existing prototypes. The call supports the EU’s ambition to strengthen technological sovereignty in strategic navigation infrastructures, aligned with the objectives of the STEP and the Digital Decade.