Today, professor Stephanie Wehner kicked off the Quantum Helix initiative at QuTech in Delft. This initiative, within the Horizon 2020 program, opens the door towards an active community linking researchers and companies on quantum information technology. The Quantum Helix is supported by the FET Quantum Flagship, in which QuTech is highly involved.

One of the goals of the Vision2020 network is linking excellent researchers and innovating companies to deliver pioneering projects under the EU’s Horizon 2020 funding program. Helixes, such as the newly launched Quantum Helix, allow for community building within focused, promising topics where advice and expertise can be shared. At the same time, collaboration between experts in the 15 other specific Helixes is encouraged and allows for the development of new technologies on cross-cutting topics.

This kind of collaboration is made possible by Vision2020’s bespoke networking platform, Crowdhelix. The goal of this platform is to facilitate collaboration between members of academia and industry in pursuit of grant funding from the European Union. Currently, the Crowdhelix platform features nearly 1450 unique users as it cultivates an intelligent and automated matchmaking space for funding opportunities.

QuTech, as powered by TU Delft and TNO, is proud to setup the Quantum Helix in order to generate an approachable network on quantum research and engineering. As a recognized scientific member of the Quantum Community, Professor Stephanie Wehner will lead the Quantum Helix.

As a noted Leeuwenhoek Professor in quantum information at QuTech, Stephanie is one of the founders of QCRYPT, which has subsequently become the largest conference in quantum cryptography. She has written numerous scientific articles in both physics and computer science and as part of the Quantum Internet Team, she works with experimentalists in order to jointly overcome the theoretical challenges in building large scale quantum networks.

Supported by the FET Quantum Flagship, the Quantum Helix aims to provide an industry platform for the Quantum Flagship community in Europe. This will be integral in helping to connect promising startups with corporate players. At the same time this will also enhance the connection between industry and academia in order to address technical subjects or infrastructure requirements for future needs.