EPSRC Hybrid Algorithms for Quantum Advantage

Funding to advance the theoretical capabilities required for the design and implementation of hybrid quantum algorithms.

The Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) – in partnership with the National Quantum Computing Centre (NQCC) – has launched this funding opportunity to advance the theoretical capabilities required for the design and implementation of hybrid quantum algorithms, strengthening the UK capability to scale from the Noisy Intermediate Scale Quantum computing (NISQ) era towards achieving quantum advantage.

The opportunity specifically supports the aims of National Quantum Strategy Mission 1 (QM1), which states ‘by 2035, there will be accessible, UK-based quantum computers capable of running 1 trillion operations and supporting applications that provide benefits which surpass those of classical supercomputers across key sectors of the economy’. Successful applications will address the reduction of resource requirements through adaptive estimation and innovative algorithms, while incorporating high-value sector engagement, user adoption and seamless domain integration of quantum computing.

The opportunity seeks to enable collaboration between researchers, industry, government and regulators to accelerate hybrid quantum-classical computing across hardware, software, algorithms and applications in support of QM1. Projects should enable scalable, resource-efficient and trustworthy hybrid quantum-classical computation. Research in the following areas is welcomed:

• Adaptive resource estimation and algorithmic efficiency (methods to drive down computational resource requirements through innovative algorithms, adaptive estimation under uncertainty, and workflows aligned with high-value sector needs).
• Compilation, modelling and translation from algorithms to machine executable code (tools and models for translating algorithms into efficient quantum classical programs, including estimating hardware scale, qubit quality, classical coprocessing and operational depth required to run them).
• Quantum and classical resource co-estimation (understanding how classical resources scale when quantum elements are optimised, and how to balance workloads across hybrid systems).
• Verification, benchmarking, error mitigation and error correction (scalable testing and validation frameworks, error-mitigation techniques, resource-efficient approaches to error correction, and benchmarking strategies suitable for NISQ and pre-fault-tolerant systems).
• Future technology requirements and foundational theory (novel research topics underpinning the long‑term scaling of hybrid quantum–classical computing, driving rapid progress beyond the NISQ era through the Mega‑QuOp stage and onward to Giga‑ and Tera‑QuOp (GQuOp and TQuOp) era).

This is not an exhaustive list and applicants may propose other areas of novel research.

Projects must be no more than three years in duration with latest start date of 1 February 2027.