Na vijf jaar van end-user-gedreven ontwikkeling van quantum computing-toepassingen gaan de leden van het Quantum Application Lab (QAL) ieder hun eigen richting op in hun missie om bruikbare quantumtoepassingen te ontwikkelen. Per 1 augustus 2026 komt de QAL-samenwerking tot een einde, na afloop van de looptijd van de overeenkomst tussen de betrokken organisaties.

QAL werd in oktober 2021 opgericht met een Memorandum of Understanding / Letter of Commitment tussen zes Nederlandse organisaties, met als doel industrie en onderzoek samen te brengen rond vroege toepassingen van quantum computing. Op 23 maart 2022 werd deze samenwerking geformaliseerd met de ondertekening van een cooperation agreement.

Sindsdien zijn meerdere projecten uitgevoerd met partners uit verschillende sectoren, waaronder organisaties die een voortrekkersrol wilden vervullen in de vroege fase van quantum-applicatieontwikkeling. Een eerste showcase vond plaats tijdens het éénjarig bestaan in 2023.

Deze activiteiten hebben geleid tot nieuwe inzichten en concrete resultaten op het gebied van quantum computing toepassingen. In 2024 werden de voortgang en resultaten besproken tijdens de mid-term review van Quantum Delta NL (QDNL). Recent zijn projectresultaten ook uitgelicht in de FD Special over quantumtechnologie, met use cases onder andere met Air France-KLM en Alliander.

Tijdens het Internationaal Jaar van Quantum in 2025 werd een laatste samenwerking gestart met het World Food Programme, waarvan de eerste resultaten binnenkort worden gedeeld.

De beslissing om de samenwerkingsovereenkomst niet te verlengen weerspiegelt een gezamenlijk begrip van de veranderende prioriteiten van de betrokken organisaties en het huidige landschap voor quantumtoepassingen. De voormalige QAL-partners zetten ieder hun eigen koers voort richting de ontwikkeling van bruikbare quantum computing toepassingen.

TNO breidt zijn activiteiten uit op het gebied van end-user-gedreven toepassingen via de TNO QAL Facility. CWI en UvA bouwen voort op hun samenwerking binnen QuSoft, gericht op fundamenteel onderzoek in quantumsoftware, quantuminformatie en quantum computing. SURF werkt aan het hosten van een eigen quantumcomputer en de integratie daarvan met bestaande HPC-diensten. Quantum Inspire blijft zich richten op open-access quantum computing in de cloud, in samenwerking met onderzoekers aan de TU Delft. Het Netherlands eScience Center focust zich op de ontwikkeling van hoogwaardige research software voor de Nederlandse wetenschap.

English Version

Quantum Application Development Enters a New Stage for QAL Consortium Members

After 5 years of end-user driven quantum computing application development, the Quantum Application Lab (QAL) members diverge in their mission towards developing useful quantum computing applications. As of 1^st of August 2026, the QAL collaboration will come to an end following the completion of the term of the agreement between the participating organisations.

QAL was initiated in October 2021 with a Memorandum of Understanding / Letter of Commitment between six Dutch organisations, aiming to bring together industry and research to explore early applications of quantum computing. On March 23, 2022, this collaboration was formalised through the signing of a cooperation agreement. 

Since then, multiple projects have been carried out with partners across different sectors, including organisations willing to take a leading role in the early stages of quantum application development. A first showcase was hosted during the 1-year anniversary in 2023.

These activities resulted in new insights and project outcomes related to quantum computing applications. In 2024, progress and results were discussed during the mid-term review of Quantum Delta NL (QDNL). More recently, project results have also been highlighted in the FD Special on quantum technology, including use cases with organisations such as Air France-KLM and Alliander.

During the International Year of Quantum in 2025, a final collaboration with the World Food Programme was started, with the first results to be shared soon.

The decision to not renew the collaboration agreement reflects a mutual understanding of the evolving priorities of each organisation and the current landscape for quantum applications. The former parties to the QAL cooperation agreement each continue on their path towards developing useful quantum computing applications.

TNO expands its efforts in developing end-user driven applications with the  TNO QAL Facility. The CWI and UvA  rely on their ongoing collaboration in doing frontier research in quantum software, quantum information and quantum computing at QuSoft. SURF works towards hosting their own quantum computer and integrating its capabilities with their other high-performance computing services. Quantum Inspire retains its ambition to host open-access quantum computing-in-the-cloud for the Netherlands, welcoming application research in collaboration with other quantum researchers at TU Delft. And the Netherlands eScience Center focusses on its core practice of developing high-level research software for academic Netherlands.

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“[…] I was personally astonished with the development and the maturity of the software ecosystem, where many libraries are already doing a lot of very exciting things.”

Nicolas Renaud

The collaboration between the eScience Centre, QAL and ASTRON on quantum computing for radio astronomy emerged naturally from the existing partnership between the Centre and Astron and in particular Dr. Chris Broekema.

Interpreting and processing radioastronomy data comprises a large and expansive computational pipeline, handling extraordinarily substantial amounts of data. Different sections of this pipeline could potentially benefit from offloading computations to a quantum processor. The main application explored was in image calibration.

In image calibration, we are tasked with reconstructing an image using data collected by multiple antennas. Due to atmospheric conditions or issues in the electronics connecting the antennas, this data needs to be recalibrated before the image can be reconstructed. The calibration requires solving large linear systems, a task at which quantum computers are known to excel. More on this work can be found in this recent publication on the results: link.

After the successful conclusion of this project, quantum computing application development for the eScience Centre and QAL continues. From streamlining the integration of quantum computing into classical quantum chemistry workflows to exploring new frontiers, the eScience Centre is poised to embrace together with QAL the exciting possibilities that lie ahead.

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The Quantum Application Lab (QAL) is proud to announce the receipt of the “Subsidie Economische Structuur en Arbeidsmarktversterking” (SESA) grant, a significant financial boost of 1.2 million euros, awarded by the Amsterdam municipality. This strategic investment in QAL reinforces the local economic structure and labor market and amplifies the value of quantum technologies for end-users across various sectors, such as life-science & health, energy, automotive and finance.

Upscaling

The SESA grant marks a pivotal moment for QAL and follows a recent grant received from Quantum Delta NL (QDNL), supported by the National Growth Fund (NGF). The SESA grant enables the consortium to scale its operations and intensify its activity in quantum computing application development. With these funds, QAL will appoint new quantum innovation officers, a role crucial in translating the high-level academic knowledge to tangible end-user benefits. This ensures that our quantum solutions are aligned with market needs. As QAL’s current innovation officer, Koen Leijnse, reflects:

“With the support of the Amsterdam municipality, QAL will not only contribute to the economic structure by creating high-value jobs and fostering a skilled workforce adept in the latest quantum technologies, but also by bringing closer the advent of practical advantage from using quantum computers.”

Quantum computing is a complex and emerging technology and as such, stands to benefit greatly from specialized expertise that spans multiple disciplines and sectors. Recognizing this, QAL leverages the diverse proficiencies of its consortium members to demystify and streamline the implementation of quantum computing application into practical workflows, making the intricacies of quantum algorithms more accessible to a broader range of industries.

Consortium

The QAL consortium spans the whole range of quantum application development from fundamental quantum algorithms knowledge found at University of Amsterdam (UvA) and Centrum Wiskunde & Informatica (CWI), to high performance computing expertise through SURF, software development proficiency at the Netherlands eScience Centre, applied research at The Netherlands Organization for Applied Scientific Research (TNO) and Dutch quantum-computing-in-the-cloud provider Quantum Inspire (provided by QuTech – a collaboration between the TU Delft and TNO). On top of that, QAL is partnered with additional quantum-hardware providers, such as IBM, QuiX Quantum, Amazon Web Services and Microsoft Azure.

Contact Information

Quantum Application Lab (QAL)

Amsterdam, The Netherlands

info@quantumapplicationlab.pro

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At QAL our focus is to develop applications of quantum computing by connecting academia with industry, and providing expertise and support, including foundational knowledge on algorithm design, software engineering and high performance computing. It is a collaboration between UvA, TNO, CWI, SURF, eScience Center, and Quantum Inspire.

Within the projects, QAL will be collaborating with Toyota Motor Europe and Wageningen University & Research, while University of Twente, QuiX Quantum and IBM Quantum will be amongst the technology providers (making their hardware available for development, testing, and benchmarking).

Four outstanding projects will be performed in collaboration with Toyota:

• A quantum chemistry project which sees the involvement of, between others, VU – Vrije Universiteit and CWI – Centrum Wiskunde & Informatica, and which focuses on water splitting simulations.
• A quantum machine learning project for optimization.
• A supply chain optimization project to improve logistics.
• A personalized marketing research project.

The fifth project, together with Wageningen University & Research, will focus on quantitative genetics.

The total project budget, of approximately 2.2 M euros, will be used for hiring additional expertise, development of and access to novel quantum computing equipment and to support the projects and QAL-organization in a broader sense. QAL has the objective to advance quantum computing by making it practical via use cases and applications (both concerning hardware and software), and having as a main objective to bring value to end users. At QAL people believe in collaboration and knowledge sharing: the knowledge gained from the projects will be made available, “the algorithms developed will be shared on Github”, says business developer Richard Harderwijk. QuSoft will be involved in the projects through the direct involvement of UvA and CWI.

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QAL invites researchers who want to explore the use quantum computers for their scientific use cases to apply for in-kind contributions from QAL members!  

The knowledge and technological developments in quantum computing have increased impressively over the last years. Big and small companies, governments and researchers from different fields are all wondering: what can we do with quantum computers? Are they useful for our problems? When should we expect them to give some advantage?    

At QAL we are interested in supporting the development of use cases and applications in different fields. We want to understand: how could quantum computers benefit an application? What type of algorithms can we use? What are the requirements and bottlenecks of implementing and executing these use cases? In order to explore these questions, we are looking to further engage with academic use cases and learn together what quantum computing can do for us! 

Links

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At QAL we will focus on figuring out together with end-users which specific computational problems will benefit from quantum computing on devices that will be ready on the near term, such as quantum annealers and noisy intermediate-scale quantum devices. This way we can develop quantum applications that can provide quantum advantage on the near term. These applications will scale up in value as technology heads towards fault-tolerance.

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