The Computation-based Science and Technology Research Centre (CaSToRC) of The Cyprus Institute (CyI) has been awarded a prestigious ERA chair grant in Quantum Computing (QC). The project, called Quantum Computing for Excellence in Science and Technology (QUEST), will receive a total of 2.5 Million Euro funding to make Cyprus "quantum ready" and to close the gap that currently exists between Cyprus and other EU countries in quantum computing and quantum technologies.

Quantum Computing is an exciting and rapidly evolving field predicted to be the next computing architecture that can solve problems conventional computers cannot. Quantum computers have the potential to accelerate scientific discovery and innovation, revolutionize modelling of financial markets, engineering and material science and allow the design of new materials and empower machine learning and artificial intelligence. They could be used to model subatomic particles, molecular interactions, and chemical reactions. 

The project will create a research group in Quantum Computing at the Computation-based Science and Technology Research Center (CaSToRC) of The Cyprus Institute (CyI) in partnership with the German Electron-Synchrotron (DESY), which is developing the Center for Quantum Technology Applications at DESY.

Principal Investigator for the project is Institute Professor Constantia Alexandrou of CaSToRC. Dr. K. Jansen from DESY will assume the position of ERA chair.

The objectives of QUEST are aligned with, and are made feasible by, the role of CaSToRC as the national high-performance computing Center of Cyprus. The QUEST project will further establish a quantum computing Hub as a collaborative platform for utilising quantum computing for applications in science and technology and for supporting joint projects and innovative ideas, interconnecting researchers from research institutions in Cyprus, forging collaborations, and pursuing applications in industry. QUEST will prepare the island for the emerging quantum era, allowing it to enter the quantum arena and exploit new opportunities in quantum computing at the European level, such as by the EuroHPC Joint Undertaking and the quantum technologies flagship program, as they emerge in this rapidly evolving field.

QUEST is the second ERA chair grant within the EU Widening Call of the Horizon Europe funding programme to be awarded to CaSToRC, following the “Modeling and Simulation for Engineering Applications (SimEA)” ERA Chair grant awarded in 2019 with Principal Investigator Professor C. Alexandrou, an outstanding achievement. The Cyprus Institute has been awarded a total of three ERA Chair Grants starting in 2015 with the “Solar Thermal Energy Chair for the Eastern Mediterranean (CySTEM – ERA Chair)”.