Two Swiss-led initiatives have been selected for the first phase of the European Commission’s Future Emerging TechnologiesExternal link Quantum Flagship, which aims to “unlock the full potential of quantum technologies and accelerate their development and take-up into commercial products in Europe”.
Quantum technologies aim to exploit the behaviour of energy and matter at the atomic and subatomic – or quantum – level. The goal of the EC Quantum Flagship project is to harness natural quantum phenomena to develop devices with greater power and precision than has previously been possible.
The ten-year, €1 billion (CHF1.1 billion) project is the third European Commission (EC) Flagship, after the Graphene and Human Brain Project Flagships, the latter of which has its coordination offices in Geneva. As announced at the kick-off event on Monday in ViennaExternal link, more than 140 projects applied to the Quantum Flagship’s first open call, of which 20 – including two Swiss-coordinated initiatives – have been selected to receive €132 million for the first phase from October 2018 to September 2021.
Super sensors
The macQsimal project (Miniature Atomic Vapor-Cell Quantum Devices for Sensing and Metrology Applications), coordinated by the Neuchâtel-based Swiss Center for Electronics and Microtechnology (CSEM), aims to develop extremely precise “quantum sensors” for a new generation of ultra-efficient technologies, with applications ranging from consumer electronics to medicine and transportation. According to a CSEM press release, macQsimal will combine advanced sensor physics with micro-fabricated atomic vapor cells, based on what is known as MEMS technology (microelectromechanical systems), to create more reliable devices that can be produced economically on a large scale.
The consortium will develop a platform for developing prototype devices with applications including autonomous navigation, non-invasive medical diagnosis and drug detection.
“A new type of sensor could, for example, boost autonomous cars’ 3D orientation sensing or revolutionise human brain activity measurement,” said CSEM project manager and macQsimal coordinator Jacques Haesler.
Random numbers
At the University of Geneva, Hugo Zbinden will be coordinating another Quantum Flagship project called QRANGE, which is aimed at developing cheaper, faster, and more secure quantum random number generatorsExternal link.
The idea is to harness unpredictable quantum phenomena to generate totally random number sequences. These have potential applications in cyber security and cryptographic protocols, where safe passwords and data protection are becoming increasingly important.
On the subatomic (quantum) level, the laws of quantum mechanics mean that “superposition” phenomena can allow a particle to exist in two states simultaneously, while “entanglement” phenomena can mean that the state of one particle becomes dependent upon that of another.
Building on those properties, the Flagship initiativeExternal link wants to build a “quantum web” of interconnected computers, simulators and sensors. It’s hoped that the performance increases resulting from quantum technologies will “yield unprecedented computing power, guarantee data privacy and communication security, and provide ultra-high precision synchronisation and measurements for a range of applications available to everyone locally and in the cloud”.
Swiss money laundering office registers record number of reports
This content was published on
The Money Laundering Reporting Office Switzerland (MROS) registered a record number of reports of suspicious activity last year.
Two teens accused of planning terror attack released from custody
This content was published on
The Schaffhausen judiciary has released the two teenagers from custody who allegedly planned bomb attacks in Switzerland.
OECD: Sluggish economic activity slowing growth in Switzerland
This content was published on
Sluggish economic activity at the start of the year is weighing on growth in Switzerland, with GDP expected to fall to 1.1% in 2024.
Report finds mistakes which led to Swiss government data breach
This content was published on
Mistakes were made by both the government and internet company Xplain in the case of a criminal cyber-attack on the Bern-based IT business.
Swiss government wants better gender balance in federal administration
This content was published on
New Swiss government personnel management targets say there must be even more female managers in the federal administration.
Swiss national science foundation funded over 5,000 projects in 2023
This content was published on
In 2023, the Swiss National Science Foundation (SNSF) provided a total of CHF961 million worth of funding towards research projects.
Switzerland invites 160 delegations to June Ukraine peace talks
This content was published on
Russia is currently not among the delegations invited to talks aimed at helping bring about peace in the conflict between Moscow and Ukraine.
Survey: air travel most popular way to go on holidays for Swiss
This content was published on
Despite the climate crisis, flying is the most popular mode of transport for private travel – particularly among young, urban and high-income travellers.
Swiss government to use phone data to identify asylum seekers
This content was published on
From April 2025, authorities plan to be able to analyse data from mobile phones, computers and other data carriers to identify asylum seekers.
If you want to start a conversation about a topic raised in this article or want to report factual errors, email us at english@swissinfo.ch.
Read more
More
Europe’s brain project is ‘back on track’
This content was published on
One year after the launch of the Human Brain Project (HBP) – a major European Commission-led brain mapping initiative – the project’s supporters boast ‘remarkable’ results and say the venture is on track after a war with dissenting neuroscientists.
This content was published on
The European Commission says its outside experts have agreed there must be more integration, better infrastructure and an emphasis on concrete results. In a blog postExternal link on Monday, Thierry Van der Pyl, the commission’s director of “excellence in science”, also said the experts stressed the project will greatly influence how neuroscience research is done…
This content was published on
The HBP hope the platforms will allow researchers from many fields to share and analyse data collaboratively, leading to the development of maps of brain diseases, digital brain reconstructions across different biological scales, and brain-inspired computing systems. The launch of the platforms marks the end of the HBP’s two-and-a-half-year ramp-up phase, and the beginning of…
Swiss physicist wins European Inventor Award for laser technology
This content was published on
The European Patent Office (EPO) has presented Swiss physicist Ursula Keller with a European Inventor Award in the “Lifetime achievement”.
Light photographed as simultaneous wave and particle
This content was published on
For the first time Switzerland-based researchers have managed to document light behaving as a particle and a wave simultaneously.
You can find an overview of ongoing debates with our journalists here . Please join us!
If you want to start a conversation about a topic raised in this article or want to report factual errors, email us at english@swissinfo.ch.