From Cancer Detection to Disaster Response: NQCC Announces Quantum Computing Projects to Receive 2025 SparQ Grants

Insider Brief:

• The NQCC, in collaboration with STFC and UKRI, launched the SparQ Proof of Concept Call in July 2024, offering up to £75,000 ($95,000) for business-led projects focusing on quantum solutions in healthcare, energy, and logistics.

• The newly announced selected projects address areas such as aerodynamics, cancer detection, renewable energy, fraud detection, and orbital computing, with contributions from organizations like Oxford Ionics, Mind Foundry, and Quantinuum.

• The program promotes partnerships among industry, academia, and government entities, emphasizing early-stage quantum use cases and advancing practical applications through March 2025.

The National Quantum Computing Centre, in collaboration with the Science and Technology Facilities Council and UK Research and Innovation, launched a Proof of Concept Call earlier this year, in July 2024. This initiative, part of the SparQ program, offered grants of up to £75,000 (approximately $95,000) for business-led projects exploring practical applications of quantum computing. According to the original announcement, it was targeted towards early-stage use cases in healthcare, energy, and logistics, with an emphasis on analyzing quantum hardware/software requirements and benchmarking quantum applications.

The selected projects, now officially announced, will run through March 2025, with a focus on advancing quantum solutions in diverse sectors​.

Selected Projects: Bridging Research and Applications

Mid-Circuit Measurement for Aerodynamics

• Entities Involved: Oxford Ionics, Quanscient, NQCC, Airbus Operations.
• Project Description: Investigating mid-circuit quantum measurements for Computational Fluid Dynamics simulations to model airfoil designs and vehicle aerodynamics. Aims to develop a roadmap for quantum-powered aerodynamics in the aerospace industry.

Quantum Optimization for Disaster Response

• Entities Involved: Mind Foundry, NQCC.
• Project Description: Optimizing sensor network configurations for disaster response to maximize connectivity, coverage, and usability across challenging terrains.

Quantum Machine Learning for Cancer Detection

• Entities Involved: Applied Quantum Computing, Royal Brompton and Harefield Hospital, Brunel University London, STFC Harwell, Digital Catapult, NQCC.
• Project Description: Using Quantum Machine Learning (QML) to enhance early cancer detection via liquid biopsies. The project explores faster, cheaper, and more effective AI-assisted diagnostic pathways.

Quantum Solutions for Renewable Energy

• Entities Involved: Frazer-Nash Consultancy, ORCA Computing, The Crown Estate, NQCC.
• Project Description: Assessing quantum computing’s ability to address computational challenges in renewable energy systems, from batteries to wind farm management.

QuantiCo: Quantum for Corrosion Chemistry

• Entities Involved: Capgemini UK, Airbus, King’s College London, NQCC.
• Project Description: Developing quantum-powered molecular embedding techniques to analyze corrosion, critical to aerospace and energy applications.

Quantum for Fraud Detection

• Entities Involved: Unisys, Paysafe UK, NQCC.
• Project Description: Leveraging quantum computing for enhanced fraud detection in financial transactions, reducing false positives and improving regulatory compliance.

Quantum Resource Estimation for Polymers

• Entities Involved: PsiQuantum, QinetiQ, STFC Daresbury, NQCC.
• Project Description: Exploring quantum phase estimation for simulating polymers with commercial value in energy, defense, and transport.

Space-Hardened Quantum Error Correction

• Entities Involved: Quantarverse, Radiation Analysis Services, Quantum Software Lab, University of Edinburgh, NQCC.
• Project Description: Developing error correction techniques tailored to orbital computing to mitigate space radiation effects.

Optimizing Road Network Maintenance

• Entities Involved: Aioi R&D Lab, Mind Foundry, NQCC.
• Project Description: Using quantum algorithms to minimize road closure disruptions by optimizing scheduling and maintenance operations.

Flexible Job Shop Scheduling

• Entities Involved: LTIMindtree, D-Wave UK, NQCC.
• Project Description: Enhancing resource allocation in manufacturing by optimizing personnel, machinery, and material usage to reduce costs and emissions.

Quantum Simulations for Batteries

• Entities Involved: Quantinuum UK, The Hartree Centre, NQCC.
• Project Description: Studying the quantum resources required for NMR simulations of next-generation battery models.

OmIQ: Multimodal Cancer Data Analysis

• Entities Involved: ColdQuanta UK, Avatrial, NQCC.
• Project Description: Exploring quantum computing for multimodal cancer data analysis, targeting improvements in clinical decision-making and diagnostics.

International Year of Quantum in Action

According to the NQCC, these projects were selected for their ability to adequately represent how quantum computing might be applied to solving real-world problems. By focusing on practical applications, the SparQ Proof of Concept Call also encourages collaboration across academia, industry, and government to close the gap between research and application, just in time for the International Year of Quantum.