New calls: The first EuroHPC quantum computers and upgrades to existing EuroHPC systems

The European High Performance Computing Joint Undertaking (EuroHPC JU) has launched two calls for expression of interest: one to select the hosting entities which will host and operate the first EuroHPC quantum computers and one to upgrade the existing EuroHPC supercomputers.

Call for expression of interest to host and operate EuroHPC quantum computers

The call invites supercomputing centres to apply as hosting entities for quantum computers, which will be acquired and owned by the EuroHPC Joint Undertaking. By making quantum computers available to European users, the EuroHPC Joint Undertaking will address the growing demand for quantum computing resources and services from European industry and academia. The quantum computer infrastructure will support the development of a wide range of applications with industrial, scientific and societal relevance for Europe.

The selected hosting entities will operate the quantum computers on behalf of the EuroHPC JU. These computers will be integrated in existing supercomputers operated by the hosting entities. Eligible hosting entities are national supercomputer centres, which are already established in EuroHPC JU participating states that are also Member States of the European Union (EU). The applicant hosting entity may represent one participating state that is a Member State of the EU or a hosting consortium of participating states that have agreed to contribute together to the acquisition, integration and operation of the quantum supercomputer.

In line with the Council Regulation (EU) 2021/1173, the EuroHPC JU will procure at least three quantum computers in 2022 with a total EU contribution of EUR 40 million. The quantum computers will be co-funded by the EuroHPC JU budget stemming from the Digital Europe Programme (DEP) and by contributions from the relevant EuroHPC JU participating states. The JU will co-fund up to 50% of the total cost of the quantum computers with an estimated total contribution of between EUR 8 – 10 million per quantum computer.

The selection will aim at ensuring a level of diversity in the technologies and architectures of the different quantum computers to be acquired to give users access to as many different quantum technologies as possible.

Applications must be submitted by Thursday 30th June 2022, 17:00 CET, Luxembourg time. More details and all supporting documents are available on this dedicated webpage.  

Call to upgrade existing EuroHPC supercomputers

The overall objective of this call is to allow hosting entities of supercomputers that the EuroHPC Joint Undertaking owns or co-owns to apply for the system to be upgraded. The upgrade will lead to an extension of the supercomputer’s lifetime, increase its operational performance and provide new functionalities to address the growing evolution of user needs.

A hosting entity shall be eligible to respond to this call for expressions of interest at the earliest one year after the selection date of the hosting entity of the EuroHPC supercomputer, and no later than three years after this date. A EuroHPC supercomputer may be upgraded only once. The applicant hosting entity may represent one EuroHPC JU participating state that is also an EU Member State or the original hosting consortium of EuroHPC JU participating states that have agreed to contribute to the acquisition and operation of the EuroHPC supercomputer. The EuroHPC JU shall own or co-own the upgraded features of the supercomputer under the same conditions of ownership of the original EuroHPC supercomputer.

Selected hosting entities will receive financial contributions to upgrade existing EuroHPC supercomputers. The upgrades will be co-funded by the EuroHPC JU budget coming from the Digital Europe Programme and by contributions from relevant participating states. The JU will co-fund up to 35% of the total cost of the upgrade with a maximum EU budget for this call of EUR 33 million. EuroHPC JU participating states will be required to fund the remaining total costs of the upgrade. The total cost of the upgrade shall not exceed 30 % of the total acquisition cost of the original EuroHPC supercomputer.

Applications must be submitted by Friday 3rd June 2022, 16:00 CET, Luxembourg time.

More details on the procedure are available on this webpage.  

Background  

The mission of the EuroHPC JU is to develop, deploy, extend and maintain in the EU a federated, secure hyperconnected supercomputing, quantum computing, service and data infrastructure ecosystem; to support the development and uptake of demand-oriented and user-driven innovative and competitive supercomputing and quantum computing systems based on a supply chain that will ensure the availability of components, technologies and knowledge. These activities will therefore limit the risk of disruptions while ensuring the development of a wide range of applications are optimised for these systems; and, to widen the use of that supercomputing and quantum computing infrastructure to a large number of public and private users. EuroHPC JU will also support the transition and the development of key skills for European science and industry.

To date the EuroHPC JU has already procured seven supercomputers, located across Europe. Four petascale supercomputers are operational Vega in Slovenia, MeluXina in Luxembourg, Discoverer in Bulgaria, Karolina in the Czech Republic. User can access these supercomputers by applying for computing time.

The procurement and installation of Deucalion in Portugal, as well as two EuroHPC pre-exascale supercomputers LUMI in Finland, Leonardo in Italy are ongoing. Lastly, the procurement of the third EuroHPC pre-exascale supercomputer, MareNostrum5 in Spain, is on-going. 

On 17 December 2021, the EuroHPC JU launched two new calls for expression of interest for the selection of hosting entities to host and operate additional  mid-range and exascale supercomputers.