The 2nd 2026 Call for access to the VTT Q50 and Aalto Q20 quantum computers is now open for users from Finnish higher-education institutions and research institutes. The Call is launched by the Finnish Quantum-Computing Infrastructure FiQCI, maintained and developed by VTT, CSC, and Aalto University. VTT Q50, operated by VTT and Aalto Q20, operated by Aalto University is accessible through the EuroHPC LUMI supercomputer environment, hosted by the LUMI consortium led by CSC.
Note: This Call is now closed (31 May 2026).
Through this Call, accepted projects will get access to a true hybrid high-performance computing / quantum computing (HPC+QC) environment, with a quantum computing resources that exceed the capacity of full emulation on supercomputers.
This opens exciting avenues in both software development and end-user applications. For a software development perspective, this setup enables the development of, for example, quantum-classical hybrid algorithms, error mitigation techniques, and quantum compilers that optimise circuit execution based on real hardware features.
For end-users, applications such as quantum-enhanced optimisation, simulation of molecular systems and materials science, and machine learning acceleration through hybrid quantum-classical AI models becomes possible.
The LUMI HPC backbone ensures that computationally demanding pre- and post-processing tasks can be seamlessly incorporated. Thus, quantum computing becomes a practical enhancement to supercomputing, and vice versa.
With both the VTT Q50 and Aalto Q20 quantum computers as part of FiQCI, also parallel quantum computing directly within a supercomputer environment can be explored.
Timeline of Call
- 11 May 2026 Call opens
- 31 May 2026 Call closes
- 4 June 2026 (tentative) Outcome communicated
How to apply
Access to the VTT Q50 and Aalto Q20 machines is organised through regular Calls. Calls are planned at least four times per year.
The deadline for Call 2/2026 is 31 May 2026. Proposals will be evaluated within FiQCI as soon as possible after the deadline. The results will be communicated to all applicants after decision. The expected duration of the projects is one year.
Proposal will be evaluated based on scientific merit, feasibility, and computational resource justification.
The application form is available here: Application form for FiQCI Academic Projects 2/2026
Please fill in all the applicable fields in the application form, including abstract, key scientific/societal/technological contribution, justification for the importance, and references.
Requested computing time
Carefully estimate the total need of computational resources required for your project!
As a guideline, execution of a single circuit, using 10.000 shots consumes roughly 10 QPU-seconds. Initialisation time for each circuit, included in this estimate, is roughly 4 seconds. The execution time will naturally depend on the exact circuit being executed.
We have set up a resource estimator to aid in estimating the QPU resources required: FiQCI QPU resource estimator
The amount of resources applied for should be justified in the application. We acknowledge that this will be a rather approximate exercise, when practical experience on using the system is still scarce. The total available QPU time available per Call is approximately 1,000 QPU-hours, and we expect to grant resources to several projects.
The following example resource application serves as a guideline; both smaller and larger resources can be granted based on the application. In addition to QPU resources, it is mandatory to apply also for classical resources in at least one category (CPU or GPU). *Please keep the classical resources limited to what is actually needed for keeping the quantum computing part going! If you need additional supporting classical resources related to the project, but not necessary for running the quantum jobs, you should apply for a separate LUMI project for these. Also storage resources are required. For example, 10,000 TiBh corresponds to storing on average roughly 1 Terabyte of data for a year.
Resource allocation example:
- VTT Q50 QPU hours: 5
- Aalto Q20 QPU hours: 5
- LUMI CPU-core hours (in thousands of CPUh): 4
- LUMI GPU-core hours (in thousands of GPUh): 0
- LUMI Storage TiB hours (in thousands of TiBh): 10
Terms of Use
Accepted Projects must accept the Terms of Use for the LUMI supercomputing environment and, if applicable, the VTT Q50 system. Full Terms of Use will be communicated to the Principal Investigators before start of the projects.
The main restrictions are:
- Only academic research purposes are eligible
- Use is restricted to users affiliated with a Finnish University, University of Applied Sciences, a state-owned research institute, or the National Archives of Finland
- No commercial purposes are allowed
- No sensitive or specific category data can be handled
- For VTT Q50 , access is allowed only from within Finland
Acknowledgement
When publishing the results that utilise VTT Q50 and/or Aalto Q20, users have to acknowledge the use of VTT Quantum, Aalto Q20, and FiQCI, preferably in the format:
- “These [results] have been acquired by VTT’s quantum computer VTT Quantum.”. Users should use “VTT Q50” when referring to the quantum computer.
- “These [results] have been acquired by the use of the Aalto Q20 quantum computer”. Users should use “Aalto Q20” when referring to the quantum computer.
- “The authors acknowledge the use of the Finnish Quantum-Computing Infrastructure FiQCI.”
Questions and clarifications.
Please direct any and all questions regarding the Call to fiqci-feedback@postit.csc.fi. We are happy to help!