Inauguration of Euro-Q-Exa: Expanding the European Quantum Computing Infrastructure

The inauguration ceremony was hosted by the Leibniz Supercomputing Centre (LRZ) and attended by Henna Virkkunen, the European Commission’s Executive Vice-President for Technological Sovereignty, Security and Democracy, Silke Launert, Parliamentary State Secretary at the Federal Ministry of Science, Research & Technology and Markus Blume, the Bavarian State Minister for Science and Art.

Hosted and operated by LRZ in Munich and supplied by IQM Quantum Computers, Euro-Q-Exa is a digital quantum computer based on superconducting qubits arranged in a square lattice, enabling complex quantum computations. This architecture supports quantum error-correction strategies through high-quality qubits and high gate fidelities and plays a key role in the execution of quantum algorithms across a broad range of application domains, making it suitable for use across multiple scientific fields.

While the system will initially offer 54 physical qubits, Euro-Q-Exa will be expanded by the end of 2026 with the installation of an upgrade offering 150 qubits.

Like all other EuroHPC quantum computers, the new system will offer European end-users access to a hybrid classical-quantum architecture. Euro-Q-Exa will be integrated into LRZ’s SuperMUC-NG supercomputer.

As of tomorrow, Euro-Q-Exa will be ready to provide compute resources to European end users already using other LRZ quantum resources. New users seeking access will be able to do so in the coming weeks across Germany and Europe via the Munich Quantum Portal (MQP) and the EuroHPC JU access portal. Primarily aimed at research and innovation, it will also be accessible to a broad range of European users, from academia and industry to the public sector.

Henna Virkkunen, the European Commission’s Executive Vice-President for Technological Sovereignty, Security and Democracy, declared during the ceremony:

“As the quantum market is still nascent, the European Commission is actively shaping it: through EuroHPC, and together with Member States, we have already procured and co-funded the first six European quantum systems. Four are operational, and two more are under procurement. This is a clear demonstration of Europe’s commitment to building sovereign quantum capacity on our own continent.

The Leibniz Supercomputing Centre stands as a concrete example of this ambition in action. It shows how we can successfully support and scale up leading European providers such as IQM, who are at the forefront of quantum innovation. By anchoring these systems in Europe, we are strengthening our industrial base and ensuring that strategic technologies are developed and deployed in Europe, for Europe.

With the new system — and its substantial upgrade planned for early 2027 — we are already enabling complex quantum computations today. This is not a distant promise; it is operational reality.”

Anders Jensen, Executive Director of the EuroHPC Joint Undertaking stated:

“The inauguration of Euro-Q-Exa represents another milestone in our journey towards a world-class European quantum computing infrastructure. This new EuroHPC quantum system reinforces our commitment to providing researchers, industry, and the public sector with cutting-edge computational resources, fostering innovation and technological sovereignty across Europe.”

Prof. Dieter Kranzlmüller, Chairman of the Board of Directors, LRZ, added:

“With Euro-Q-Exa, we are combining the strengths of quantum and supercomputing. This gives researchers the opportunity to test new approaches and implement groundbreaking calculations, opening up new scientific dimensions using European technology. Here at LRZ, we are looking forward to embarking on some exciting research projects and gaining new insights.” 

More details

Superconducting qubits, arranged on a square lattice, enable complex quantum computations by supporting quantum error correction. With high-quality qubits and gate fidelities, this technology plays a pivotal role in executing quantum algorithms across a broad range of application domains.

Owned by the EuroHPC JU, Euro-Q-Exa is co-funded with a total acquisition cost of EUR 25 million. The EuroHPC JU will fund EUR 10 million and the remaining EUR 15 million will be provided by the Federal Ministry of Research, Technology and Space (BMFTR) and the Bavarian State Ministry of Science and the Arts. 

To date, the EuroHPC JU has procured six quantum computers, located across Europe. Two of these systems have already been inaugurated in 2025: PIAST-Q in Poznań, Poland in June and VLQ in Ostrava, Czechia in October, marking a milestone in Europe’s leap into the quantum era. 

The deployment of these quantum computers across Europe aims to offer the widest possible variety of European quantum computing platforms and hybrid classical-quantum architectures, including analogue quantum simulators based on neutral atoms, trapped ions, superconducting circuits, and photonics to adiabatic systems, enabling the execution of annealing routines. This approach positions Europe at the forefront of this emerging field while providing European end-users with access to diverse and complementary quantum technologies. 

In addition to these six systems, two analogue quantum simulators, Jade and Ruby, have been procured under the EuroHPC JU project HPCQS and inaugurated end of 2025 in Germany (Julich Supercomputing Centre, JSC) and France (GENCI).

Procurement processes are also currently ongoing for additional EuroHPC quantum computers to be hosted and operated by SURF in the Netherlands and by LuxProvide in Luxembourg. 

About EuroHPC JU

The EuroHPC JU is a legal and funding entity that brings together the European Union and participating countries to coordinate efforts and pool resources with the objective of making Europe a world leader in supercomputing.    

To equip Europe with a cutting-edge supercomputing infrastructure, the EuroHPC JU has already procured 12 supercomputers, distributed across Europe including JUPITER in Germany, and Alice Recoque, Europe’s first exascale systems. 

European scientists and users from the public sector and industry can benefit from EuroHPC supercomputers via the EuroHPC Access Calls no matter where in Europe they are located, to advance science and support the development of a wide range of applications with industrial, scientific and societal relevance for Europe. 

Currently, the EuroHPC JU is also overseeing the implementation of 19 AI factories (AIF) across Europe, complemented by 13 AI Factory Antennas, to offer free, customised support to SMEs and startups. 

The EuroHPC JU also funds research and innovation projects to develop a full European supercomputing supply chain, from processors and software to applications to be run on these supercomputers and know-how to develop strong European HPC expertise.

With the recent adoption of Council Regulation (EU) 2026/150, the EuroHPC JU’s mandate has been expanded with new action pillars dedicated to the deployment of AI Gigafactories across Europe and the advancement of quantum technologies.

About LRZ

The Leibniz Supercomputing Centre (LRZ) proudly stands at the forefront of its field as a world-class IT service and computing user facility serving Munich’s top universities and colleges as well as research institutions in Bavaria, Germany and Europe. As an institute of the Bavarian Academy of Sciences and Humanities, LRZ has provided a robust, holistic IT infrastructure for its users throughout the scientific community for over sixty years. It offers the complete range of resources, services, consulting and support - from email, web servers and Internet access to virtual machines, cloud solutions, data storage and the Munich Scientific Network (MWN).

Home to SuperMUC-NG, LRZ is part of Germany’s Gauss Centre for Supercomputing (GCS) and serves as part of the nation’s backbone for the advanced research and discovery possible through high-performance computing (HPC). In addition to current systems, LRZ’s Future Computing Group focuses on the evaluation of emerging Exascale-class architectures and technologies, development of highly scalable machine learning and artificial intelligence applications, and system integration of quantum acceleration with supercomputing systems.

About IQM Quantum Computers

IQM is a global leader in designing, building, and selling superconducting quantum computers. IQM provides both on-premises full-stack quantum computers and a cloud platform to access its computers anywhere in the world.    

IQM customers include the leading high-performance computing centres, research labs, universities and enterprises which have full access to IQM's software and hardware.  IQM has over 280 employees with offices in Espoo, Munich, Paris, Warsaw, Madrid and Singapore.