Funding competition SBRI: Development and Delivery of Quantum Computing Testbeds

Organisations can apply for a share of £30 million inclusive of VAT, to build, commission, and validate an operational quantum computing testbed in the UK.

Competition opens: Monday 21 August 2023
Competition closes: Wednesday 4 October 2023 11:00am

This competition is now closed.

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Description

This is a Small Business Research Initiative (SBRI) competition funded by Innovate UK for the National Quantum Computing Centre (NQCC).

You are invited to submit a proposal for a research and development (R&D) contract to develop and deliver a quantum computing testbed (prototype quantum computers) for the NQCC as a lead customer and end user.

This is a single-phase competition for quantum computing testbed technologies already at a sufficiently advanced stage of development. The quantum computing testbed solutions must be developed for the purpose of testing, benchmarking, and exploratory applications development.

The aim of this competition is to develop and deliver testbeds that:

accelerate growth of UK’s supply base, technological and infrastructure capabilities
accelerate the growth in user adoption of quantum computing, and the industry and developer ecosystem
explore critical bottlenecks and further improve understanding of technology readiness, integration and performance

Your testbed must be located in a suitable facility within the UK, or at the NQCC premises in Harwell, Oxfordshire.

The total cost of your project must reflect the value of the R&D activities and functionality in your proposal. The testbed function and performance results will require appraisal by the NQCC.

You must describe in the project exploitation activities your plans for making the developed testbed available to NQCC. This is for the purposes of further verification, benchmarking and non-commercial R&D following the project completion date.

All post-project arrangements for access and availability of the testbed would be covered under a separate, non-commercial R&D agreement with NQCC. For testbeds at the NQCC premises, asset transfer or loan arrangement options will be considered to avoid post-project relocation and associated costs.

Any adoption and implementation of a commercial solution from this competition would be subject to a separate, possibly competitive, procurement exercise. This competition does not cover the purchase of a commercial solution.

This competition closes at 11am UK time on the date of the deadline.

Funding type

Procurement

Project size

Projects must have total costs of between £2 million to £7 million, inclusive of VAT.

Who can apply

Your project

Projects are expected to:

start by 1 January 2024
end by 31 March 2025
last up to 15 months
carry out the majority of the project work in the UK
intend to exploit the results from or in the UK

Your total project costs must reflect the level of support and R&D needed. We expect projects with total costs at the higher end of the funding to require significant R&D over the 15 month project period.

For projects that are already well developed, which may already be partly built and require less R&D, we expect your costs to be significantly lower.

Applicant

To lead a project, you:

can be an eligible organisation of any size
can work alone or with others from business, research organisations, research and technology organisations or the third sector as subcontractors
must work at NQCC facilities in Harwell, Oxfordshire or a suitable UK location

Contracts will be awarded to a single legal entity only. The work and capabilities of you, as the main contractor, must be critical in the development, delivery and operation of the solution. However, if you can justify subcontracting components of the work, you can engage specialists or advisers. The project and delivery against the project milestones will still be the responsibility of the main contractor.

This contract will not fund any procurement, commercial, business development or supply chain activity with any Russian or Belarusian entity as lead or subcontractor. This includes any goods or services originating from a Russian or Belarusian source.

Funding

A total of up to £30 million inclusive of VAT is allocated to this competition.

The contract is completed and must end by 31 March 2025. Successful organisations are expected to continue any further R&D with the NQCC for potential future exploitation of your developed solution, by separate agreement.

Value Added Tax (VAT)

You must select whether you are VAT registered before entering your project costs.

VAT is the responsibility of the invoicing business. We will not provide any further advice and suggest you seek independent advice from HMRC.

VAT registered

If you select you are VAT registered, you must enter your project costs exclusive of VAT. As part of the application process VAT will be automatically calculated and added to your project cost total. Your total project costs inclusive of VAT must not exceed £7 million.

Not VAT registered

If you select you are not VAT registered, you must enter your project costs exclusive of VAT and no VAT will be added. You will not be able to increase total project costs to cover VAT later should you become VAT registered. Your total project costs must not exceed £7 million.

Research and development

Your project must have at least 50% of the contract value attributed directly and exclusively to R&D services, including solution exploration and design of components, sub-systems and systems. R&D can also include prototyping and trials of the product or services beyond the current state of solution availability. Your project must incorporate the results of your R&D in the testbed you can produce and demonstrate to acceptable quality standards.

R&D does not include:

commercial development activities such as quantity production
supply to establish commercial viability or to recover R&D costs
integration, customisation or incremental adaptations and improvements to existing products or processes

Subsidy control

SBRI competitions involve procurement of R&D services at a fair market value and are not subject to subsidy control criteria that typically apply to grant funding.

Your Project

This competition is a procurement for stable and well-characterised prototype or development platform solutions for a physical quantum computer. It must be capable of running quantum algorithms or analog quantum processes, referred to here as testbeds.

The testbeds developed and delivered can be comprised of novel components and subsystems that can be tested as part of the integrated system.

Your testbed must be tested and validated at system level by the end of the project. It must operate at system level as a testbed for running quantum algorithms or analog quantum processes.

Your testbed must deliver a level of functionality, allowing an experienced user of gate-based or analog quantum computing, to operate and programme the system with a defined software environment using sample scripts. The quantum processing units (QPUs) must offer state of the art performance.

Your project must establish an accessible quantum computing testbed and supply base for performance evaluation studies and applications development.

Your project must:

include the requirements and specification development, build, commissioning, initial test and validation stages
lead to an operational quantum computing testbed as the main project output
work with the National Quantum Computing Centre (NQCC) as a lead customer of the testbed
develop a secure supply base in the UK
undertake the majority and critical project work in the UK
build UK capability in quantum technology development
plan to further develop and exploit the solution within the UK

The NQCC will appraise the outcome and results of validation activities of your testbed at your proposed build and operating location.

You must demonstrate that your testbed is suitable for use in an operational setting and meets target performance specifications.

You must outline your approach to allow access for verification and benchmarking by the NQCC and include a plan to commercialise your results. You must demonstrate your plans to establish a secure supply chain to support further development and manufacture.

This SBRI contract for the quantum computing testbed will cover the design, build, installation, performance validation, and demonstration of operational readiness.

At the completion of the SBRI contract in March 2025, you will be required to complete a project disclosure form or an audit instructed by Innovate UK.

Portfolio Approach

The funder reserves the right to take a portfolio approach. They want to support a balanced variety of solutions across budgets, technologies, technological maturity, location, qubit modalities, gate based and analog quantum computing.

Research categories

Prototype development and evaluation

This can include prototyping, demonstrating, piloting, testing and validation of novel integrated quantum computing testbed systems in operating environments.

The primary objective is to make further technical improvements on quantum computing testbeds beyond current state, that would benefit from the acceleration provided by this SBRI contract and be close to deployment at the end of the programme.

Projects we will not fund

We will not fund projects that:

do not use ‘second generation’ quantum technologies defined as those involving the generation and coherent control of quantum states, resulting in phenomena such as superposition or entanglement
do not address how any potentially negative outcomes including but not limited to, on the environment or society, would be managed
do not evidence the potential for their proposed innovation to generate positive economic or societal impact
would directly duplicate other UK government or EU funded initiatives you have already been funded to deliver
are covered by existing commercial agreements to deliver the proposed solutions
are feasibility studies or are low maturity in their development
do not include delivery of significant and critical activities in the UK

21 August 2023: Competition opens
24 August 2023: Online briefing event: watch the recording
4 October 2023 11:00am: Competition closes
15 November 2023: Feedback
15 November 2023: Applicants notified
1 January 2024: Phase 1 contracts awarded

Before you start

By submitting an application, you agree to the terms of the draft contract which is available once you start your application. The terms of the contract are non-negotiable and are included in the draft contract. We reserve the right to change the terms and conditions if necessary.

The final contract will include any milestones you have agreed with the funding authority and will be sent to you if your application is successful. The contract is binding once it is returned by you and signed by both parties.

When you start an application, you will be prompted to create an account as the lead applicant or sign in as a representative of your organisation. Using your account, you will be able to track your applications progress.

As the applicant you are responsible for:

collecting the information for your application
representing your organisation in leading the project if your application is successful

You will be able to invite colleagues from your organisation to contribute to the application.

What happens next

A selected panel of assessors will review and score your application. You will be notified of the outcome and feedback will be provided.

Contracts will then be issued to successful applicants.

What we will ask you

The application is split into 4 sections:

Project details.
Application questions.
Finances.
Project Impact.

You must read the guidance on applying for a competition on the Innovation Funding Service before you start.

Before submitting, it is the lead applicant’s responsibility to make sure:

that all the information provided in the application is correct
your proposal meets the eligibility and scope criteria
all sections of the application are marked as complete

You can reopen your application once submitted, up until the competition deadline. You must resubmit the application before the competition deadline.

Accessibility and inclusion

We welcome and encourage applications from people of all backgrounds and are committed to making our application process accessible to everyone. This includes providing support, in the form of reasonable adjustments, for people who have a disability or a long-term condition and face barriers applying to us. Watch the video on how we are making our application process more accessible and inclusive for everyone.

You must contact us as early as possible in the application process. We recommend contacting us at least 15 working days before the competition closing date to ensure we can provide you with the most suitable support possible.

You can contact us by emailing support@iuk.ukri.org or calling 0300 321 4357. Our phone lines are open from 9am to 5pm, Monday to Friday (excluding bank holidays).

1. Project details

This section provides background for your application and is not scored.

Application details

Give your project’s title, start date and duration.

Who made you aware of the competition?

Select a category to state who made you aware of the competition. You cannot choose more than one.

How long has your organisation been established for?

Select a category to state how long has your organisation been established for. You cannot choose more than one.

What is your organisation’s primary area focus?

Select a category to state your organisation’s primary focus area. You cannot choose more than one.

Project and scope summary

Please provide a short summary of your project.

Describe your project briefly. Be clear about the proposed solution and utility, what makes it compelling and innovative beyond the current state, and how it relates to the scope of the competition. How does the project tackle different aspects of the challenge and how will it deliver an integrated testbed solution?

Your answer for this section can be up to 400 words long.

This section is not scored, but we will use it to decide whether the project fits the scope of the competition. If it does not, it may be rejected.

Public description

Please provide a brief description of your project. If your application is successful, we will publish this description. This could happen before you start your project. This question is mandatory, but we will not assess this content as part of your application.

Describe your project in a way that you are happy to see published. Do not include any commercially sensitive information. We have the right to amend the description before publication if necessary but will consult you about any changes.

Your answer can be up to 400 words long.

Applicant location

You must state the name of your organisation along with your full registered address.

You must also state the name and full registered address of any potential or confirmed subcontractors.

We are collecting this information to understand the geographical location of all participants of a project.

Your answer can be up to 400 words long.

2. Application questions

The assessors will score all of your questions except question 1 which is not scored.

Your answer to each question can be up to 400 words long. Do not include any URLs in your answers unless we have explicitly requested a link to a video.

Question 1. Testbed location and hosting (not scored)

You must specify the location for your proposed testbed.

Your text answer to this question must be either:

testbed located and hosted at NQCC Harwell, Oxfordshire
testbed located and hosted at another suitable location in the UK

If your testbed is hosted on the NQCC’s premises, you must indicate compatibility with the NQCC’s facilities by completing and submitting the attached NQCC Quantum Computing Operational Platform Criteria and Checklists template.

You must upload the completed template as a single appendix in PDF format. The font must be legible at 100% zoom.

If you are not using a NQCC facility, then you must upload a blank ‘NQCC Quantum Computing Operational Platform Criteria and Checklists’ template in PDF format.

Question 2. Proposed idea or technology

How does your project meet the challenge described in the competition scope?

Provide a description of your proposed idea or technology.

Include a description of the current state of development or readiness of your testbed.

You can submit a single appendix as a PDF containing images and diagrams to support your answer. It can be no larger than 10MB and up to 2 A4 pages long. The font must be legible at 100% zoom.

This question will be scored against this assessment criterion: ‘How well does the proposal meet the challenge?’

Question 3. Technical project summary

What are the main technical challenges you are addressing?

Explain:

how you will address the challenge
what the innovation is
the main technical deliverables and associated performance targets
the research and development that will prove the scientific, environmental and commercial merit of the project
what might be achieved by deploying the innovation to address the selected challenge

This question will be scored against these assessment criterion: How valid is the technical approach? Are the deliverables and performance targets clearly defined?

Question 4. Current state of the art and intellectual property

Are similar products currently available from your organisation or other entities in the market?

How is your proposed project specifically differentiated from the existing solutions?

You must include details of:

existing intellectual property (IP), you can attach an IP register
its significance to your dependencies & freedom to operate
novelties you develop or employ
new approaches or technologies you use
new tools or utility

You can upload an IP register as an appendix in PDF format no larger than 10MB and up to 2 A4 pages. The font must be legible at 100% zoom.

This question will be scored against these assessment criteria: ‘How innovative is this project? How much does the project develop or employ novel concepts, approaches, methodologies, tools or technologies for this area?

Question 5. Project plan and methodology

Describe your project plan and identify the main milestones, tasks, deliverables, evaluation activity and milestone success criteria.

The emphasis throughout must be on practicality and customer value.

Provide evidence that the technology works, can be made into a viable product and can achieve the proposed benefits.

You must:

describe resources that will be needed to deliver the project
describe what the main success criteria will be
identify the project management processes that will ensure you achieve the milestones and success criteria
provide a clear plan for establishing technical and commercial feasibility
describe the relevant main technical, operational and business risks and what you will do to mitigate them
provide a clear plan for development of a working prototype
include plans for the testing and validation of the prototype and demonstration of operational readiness

You must explain how you would handle any IP restrictions or disputes which might arise during the project.

Include details of how you will maintain freedom to operate and fulfil the IP requirements detailed in the contract if you are working with subcontractors.

Any activity between NQCC and your organisation post project will be the subject of a non-commercial and separate R&D agreement.

You must upload a project plan or Gantt chart as an appendix in PDF format. The PDF must be no larger than 10MB and up to 2 A4 pages. The font must be legible at 100% zoom.

Your milestones must:

be clear
be defined using SMART (specific, measurable, achievable, realistic and time-bound) criteria
be associated with the appropriate deliverables and payments
indicate your payment schedule by month

This question will be assessed against these assessment criteria:

does the proposal show a clear plan for establishing technical and commercial feasibility and the development of a working prototype
is there a clear management plan
what are the main technical, commercial, and environmental risks to the project’s success
how will these be effectively managed
are the milestones and evaluation procedures appropriate

Please note information from the finances section will be used to support the assessment of this question. Proposed milestones and associated payments stated in this section must match those entered in the finance summary on your application.

Question 6. Technical team and expertise

Who is in the technical team? What expertise do they offer?

Provide a brief description of your technical team, including any subcontractors.

Describe:

how each organisation has the skills, capabilities, and experience to deliver the intended benefits
their current or intended presence in the UK
how much of their time will be spent on the project

This question will be scored against these assessment criterion: Does the applicant have the skills, capabilities and experience to deliver the intended benefits? Are the majority of R&D activities undertaken in the UK?

Question 7. Costs and value for money

How much will your project cost? How does it represent value for money for your team and the taxpayer?

Describe:

the total costs inclusive of VAT (If applicable) you are requesting in terms of the project goals.

how your project represents value for money for you and the taxpayer

Proposed costs stated in this section must match those entered in the finance summary. All costs quoted must reflect actual costs at a ‘fair market value’ and not include profit.

You can submit a single appendix as a spreadsheet in PDF format, no larger than 10MB and up to 2 A4 pages long to support your answer. The font must be legible at 100% zoom.

All payments are made quarterly in arrears on submission of an invoice. The invoice must be submitted within 30 days of the end of each monitoring period for all completed milestones.

Full Economic Cost (FEC) calculations are not relevant for SBRI competitions. SBRI is a competitive process and applications will come from a variety of organisations. Whatever calculation you use to arrive at your total eligible project costs your application will be assessed against applications from other organisations. Bear this in mind when calculating your total eligible project costs. You can include overheads but remember that this is a competitive process.

The assessors are required to judge the application finances in terms of value for money. They will score your finances against this assessment criterion: ‘Are the budget and costs realistic, justified and appropriate for the aims and methods?

Information from the finances section will be used to support the assessment of this question. Proposed costs stated in this section must match those entered in the finance summary on your application.

Question 8. Commercial potential and exploitation

What is the commercial potential of your project? You must focus on the needs and value to NQCC and other customers. This should include use of the testbed by the NQCC for conducting post project performance testing and benchmarking.

Describe your:

timescales
plans for the NQCC’s access to the testbed system for conducting performance benchmarking and non-commercial R&D
support and maintenance for ongoing operations
projects commercial potential for a marketable product, process or service
delivery plan
expected route to market

The NQCC's access may include physical access, access to the programming environment and secure remote access, as applicable.

Describe the competitive advantage that your project has over existing or alternative technologies that meet market needs.

Describe any existing commercial relationships relevant to the project.

With the focus on your proposed customer’s needs, you can also mention the future commercial potential across the public or private sector and international markets.

This question will be scored against these assessment criteria:

is there a clear plan for NQCC to use and access the testbed
is there a clear commercial potential for a marketable product, process or service
is there a clear plan to deliver that and a clear route to market
how significant is the competitive advantage of this technology over existing technologies that meet the market’s needs

Question 9. Risk management and mitigationYou must identify risks to the successful delivery of your project, and appropriate mitigations.

Explain:

the main risks and uncertainties of the project, including the technical, commercial, managerial and environmental risks
how you will mitigate these risks
any project inputs that are critical to completion, such as resources, expertise, and data sets
any output likely to be subject to regulatory requirements, certification, ethical issues and other requirements identified, and how you will manage this

You must upload a risk register as an appendix in PDF format. The PDF must be no larger than 10MB and up to 2 A4 pages. The font must be legible at 100% zoom.

This question will be scored against these assessment criterion: Has the applicant identified the risks associated with delivery and where possible proposed mitigations?

3. Finances

Enter your project costs, organisation details and funding details.

You must select whether you are VAT registered before entering your project costs. We advise you answer the VAT registered question first before entering your costs. Your total project costs must not exceed £7 million.

If you select you are VAT registered, you must enter your project costs exclusive of VAT. As part of the application process VAT will be automatically calculated and added to your project cost total.

VAT is the responsibility of the invoicing business. We will not provide any further advice and advise you to seek independent advice from HMRC.

For full information on what costs you can claim, see our project costs guidance.

4. Project Impact

This section is not scored but will provide background to your project.

You must complete the Project Impact questions before being able to submit the application.

More information can be found in our Project Impact guidance and by viewing our Impact Management Framework video.

Background and further information

Broader Information

NQCC is a national lab focussing on technology development, quantum readiness, and establishing a state-of-the-art quantum computing infrastructure in UK.

Contractors can propose hosting and operation of the testbed at National Quantum Computing Centre (NQCC) or an external location in the UK. For proposals looking to host at NQCC, any activity will be subject to agreement and the assessment of the suitability of the testbed. Hosting of contractor staff will be subject to adherence to site policies and appropriate induction.

About Small Business Research Initiative competitions

SBRI provides innovative solutions to challenges faced by the public sector. This can lead to better public services and improved efficiency and effectiveness.

The SBRI programme:

supports economic growth and enables the development of innovative products and services through the public procurement of R&D
generates new business opportunities for companies
provides a route to market for their ideas
bridges the seed funding gap experienced by many early-stage companies

SBRI competitions are open to all eligible organisations that can demonstrate a route to market for their solution. Under current regulations, SBRI contracts are open to applications from organisations registered in the UK, European Union (EU) and the European Economic Area (EEA). The SBRI scheme is particularly suited to small and medium-sized businesses, as the contracts are of relatively small value and operate on short timescales. Developments are 100% funded and focused on specific identified needs, increasing the chance of exploitation.

SBRI is a procurement of R&D services. If successful, you will receive a contract to deliver the proposed activity. Costs quoted must reflect actual costs at a ‘fair market value’ and not include profit.

You must submit an invoice for the work undertaken. All payments are made in arrears on submission of an invoice. Invoices must be submitted within 30 days of the end of each monitoring period for all completed milestones.

If you are VAT registered, your total costs are expected to include VAT that you would charge as a service provider. VAT is the responsibility of the invoicing business, and applications are expected to list total costs inclusive of VAT.

Suppliers for each project will be selected by an open competition process and retain the intellectual property generated from the project, with certain rights of use retained by the contracting authority. This is an excellent opportunity to establish an early customer for a new technology and to fund its development.

Applicable policies for personnel hosted at NQCC’s site.pdf (opens in a new window)

Data sharing

This competition is jointly operated by Innovate UK and the National Quantum Computing Centre (NQCC) (each an “agency”).

Any relevant information submitted and produced during the application process concerning your application can be shared by one agency with the other, for its individual storage, processing and use.

This means that any information given to or generated by Innovate UK in respect of your application may be passed on to NQCC and vice versa. This would include, but is not restricted to:

the information stated on the application, including the personal details of all applicants
scoring and feedback on the application
information received during the management and administration of the grant, such as Monitoring Officer reports and Independent Accountant Reports

Innovate UK, and NQCC are directly accountable to you for their holding and processing of your information, including any personal data and confidential information. Data is held in accordance with their own policies. Accordingly, Innovate UK, and NQCC will be data controllers for personal data submitted during the application. Innovate UK’s Privacy Policy is accessible here. NQCC’s privacy policy is available Privacy notice.

Innovate UK complies with the requirements of GDPR, and is committed to upholding the data protection principles, and protecting your information. The Information Commissioner’s Office also has a useful guide for organisations, which outlines the data protection principles.

Next steps

If you are successful with this application, you will be asked to set up your project.

You must follow the unique link embedded in your email notification. This takes you to your IFS Set Up portal, the tool that Innovate UK uses to gather necessary information before we can allow your project to begin.

You will need to provide:

the name and contact details of your project manager and project finance lead
a redacted copy of your bank details

In order to process your claims, we need to make sure that the bank details you give to us relate to a UK high street bank that is regulated by the Prudential Regulation Authority (PRA). The account must have a BACS clearing facility and be in the same company name as your application.

If you have any doubts that your bank account will not meet Innovate UK's funding criteria, you can use the sort code checker. If you input the sort code and find a tick next to the ‘BACS Direct Credit payments can be sent to this sort code’, this will give you an indication that the bank account you hold is acceptable.

Finance checks

We will carry out checks to make sure you are an established company with access to the funds necessary to complete the project.

You must check your IFS portal regularly and respond to any requests we have sent for additional information to avoid any delays. We will also review your milestones, which, if not suitable, will need to be amended during project setup.

Failure to complete project setup may result in your contract being withdrawn.

Your Contract

Once you have successfully completed project setup, we will issue your contract.

The contract will be made available on your IFS portal. You will need to sign and upload this before you start your project, and this must be completed within 30 days of being notified your application was successful.

Your contract will show the start date for your project, do not start your project before this date. Any costs incurred before your start date cannot be claimed as part of your contract.

If your application is unsuccessful

If you are unsuccessful with your application this time, you can view feedback from the assessors. This will be available to you on your IFS portal following notification.

Sometimes your application will have scored well, and you will receive positive comments from the assessors. You may be unsuccessful as your average score was not above the funding threshold or your project has not been selected under the portfolio approach if this is applied for this competition.

Further help and guidance

If you want help to find an organisation to work with, contact the Innovate UK KTN.

If you need more information about how to apply, or you want to submit your application in Welsh, email support@iuk.ukri.org or call 0300 321 4357.

Our phone lines are open from 9am to 12pm and 2pm to 5pm, Monday to Friday (excluding bank holidays).

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