Institut ''Jožef Stefan''
IJS
Institut izvaja vrhunske raziskave v javnem interesu na najvišji mednarodni ravni in s tem se vključuje v svetovno znanost ter prispeva k družbenemu napredku.
ID: 464457225131-30
Lobbying Activity
Response to EU quantum Act
12 Dec 2025
The Jožef Stefan Institute is a growing fundamental science research organisation, with a longstanding and internationally recognised record of excellence in fundamental and applied research across multiple core areas of quantum science. We here focus on recommendations to be considered for the EU Quantum Act. Basic and applied research: We fully support the establishment of the Quantum Europe Strategy and Quantum Act. We strongly affirm that sustained investment in both basic and applied research in fields relevant to quantum technologies (QT) is indispensable for Europes long-term technological sovereignty and competitiveness. However, we caution against an overconcentration of resources into industrial scale-up at the expense of foundational research. Across almost all strategic quantum application domains, there exist well-identified scientific and technological bottlenecks that cannot be overcome through incremental engineering alone. Addressing these challenges will, in many cases, require breakthrough technologies that do not yet exist and advances rooted in physical principles that are not yet fully understood. We therefore advocate a strong and well-resourced role for fundamental research. Targeted applied research requires substantial fresh funds with significantly better success rates than 2-3% at the EIC. 97-98% of the unsuccessful applicants waste valuable time and resources. The Quantum act needs to address this problem in the area of QT. Governance: We support the consolidation of quantum research and innovation within a single EU framework, provided that its governance structures are carefully designed so as not to undermine existing excellence in European quantum science. In this context, we would particularly welcome the establishment of a dedicated Quantum Joint Undertaking such that its governance can ensure coherent, long-term support for both foundational and technology-oriented quantum research. Geographical balance: We currently operate within a highly heterogeneous European quantum ecosystem, where levels of technological maturity range from early-stage scientific exploration to emerging industrial deployment. We believe that partners from Widening and Transition countries are currently less poised for industrial scale-up, but can undoubtedly contribute to the discovery of entirely new quantum applications, as well as the development of novel material platforms, device concepts, and system architectures that remain underexplored today. From this perspective, 100% funding covering both fundamental and applied research, supporting pan-European consortia with welcomed participation from widening countries, is essential to harness the full potential of all Member States, to foster new quantum technologies, and to actively pull quantum ecosystems in widening countries toward higher levels of applicative maturity. Quantum science and technologies can be aligned with key EU environmental and health priorities (e.g. the European Green Deal), in particular via quantum-enabled metrology for air, water and food quality, offering natural leadership opportunities for Widening and Transition Member States with strong environmental-science traditions. We would also suggest a cross-member-state access to quantum computing and simulation resources, to be managed by the appropriate (or EuroHPC) JU. To foster excellence and accelerate the development of quantum applicationsboth for scientific discovery and industrial usethe EU should ensure pan-European access to all publicly funded quantum hardware. Embedding such access rights within the EuroHPC JU framework would democratize the use of quantum resources, prevent duplication of effort, and strengthen Europes technological sovereignty.
Read full responseMeeting with Rodrigo Ballester (Cabinet of Commissioner Tibor Navracsics)
18 Apr 2017 · Open educational resources