Accelerating adoption of quantum enabled sensing and PNT

Overview

Innovate UK, part of UK Research and Innovation (UKRI), will invest up to £14.3 million in collaborative R&D projects designed to accelerate the adoption of quantum enabled sensing and position, navigation and timing (PNT) technologies.

The competition is focused on overcoming specific technical or commercial barriers that are preventing quantum technologies from being adopted in real-world applications. Projects must identify a clearly defined barrier for a specific technology and use case, then develop and demonstrate an innovative solution that improves the technology’s commercial viability and route to adoption.

Projects are expected to combine technical development with practical validation. Field trials, proof of concept demonstrations and direct engagement with end users or customers should form a central part of the work.

Scope

Sensing and measurement technologies are critical across many aspects of modern life and industry, from healthcare to critical national infrastructure. Quantum technologies can provide new capabilities and transform the performance of existing products and services, creating real-world benefits across areas such as defence, transport and healthcare.

The aim of this competition is to accelerate the adoption of quantum enabled position, navigation and timing (PNT) and sensing technologies by addressing specific technical and commercial barriers.

Projects must identify one or more barriers to adoption for a quantum technology in a specific use case and propose an innovative solution to address them.

Projects must:

• outline one or more technical or commercial barriers and describe how these impede customer adoption of the quantum enabled technology
• deliver an innovative, competitive solution to the barrier
• demonstrate the feasibility and commercial viability of the solution

Activities such as field trials, proof of concept demonstrations and other means of facilitating end-user or customer engagement should be considered primary objectives of the project, alongside any required technical developments.

Projects are encouraged to:

• propose new or significantly extend existing use cases
• co-develop the solution with an end user
• integrate quantum enabled technologies with existing user technologies, platforms or workflows
• deploy quantum enabled technologies in representative operational settings or challenging environments

Projects must exploit the capabilities of second generation quantum technologies. These are defined as technologies involving the generation and coherent control of quantum states, resulting in phenomena such as superposition or entanglement. Technologies involving single photon generation and detection are also in scope.

Innovate UK intends to take a portfolio approach, funding a variety of projects across different technologies, levels of technology maturity, markets and technological themes.

Key themes and topics

Projects must focus on one of the following technological themes:

• quantum enabled sensing for healthcare
• quantum enabled PNT
• quantum enabled sensing for transport, telecoms, energy or defence

Projects will not be funded where they:

• do not aim to accelerate adoption of quantum technologies
• do not identify a specific barrier to adoption for a specific use case
• do not focus on a specific quantum enabled sensing or PNT technology
• are not original in scope and duplicate someone else’s work
• are covered by existing commercial agreements, including UK government or international initiatives
• do not use second generation quantum technologies

Project duration

Projects must:

• Last 12 to 24 months
• Must start on 1 December 2026
• End by 30 November 2028

Award value

Grant funding request between £1 million and £3 million.

Funding rates

For industrial research projects, purposeful research that builds new knowledge and skills to improve or develop products, processes or services, often through prototypes or system components that validate ideas in realistic settings, organisations can get funding for eligible project costs of:

• up to 70% if they are a micro or small organisation
• up to 60% if they are a medium-sized organisation
• up to 50% if they are a large organisation

Research organisations undertaking non-economic activity can share up to 30% of the total eligible project costs.

Eligibility criteria

• Projects must be collaborative and led by a UK registered business of any size
• Projects must include at least one grant-claiming SME
• Collaborators can be a UK registered business of any size; an academic institution; a charity; a not for profit; a public sector organisation; or a research and technology organisation (RTO)
• Subcontractors must be preferably UK-based with fully justified and appropriate costs. Overseas subcontractors can be used where applicants provide a clear justification for why a UK subcontractor cannot be used
• All funded project work must be carried out within the UK
• Projects must intend to exploit the results from or in the UK
• Subsidy control and State aid rules apply through the Research, Development and Innovation Streamlined Subsidy Scheme under the Subsidy Control Act 2022