New primitives and protocols for functionalities of future hybrid classical-hybrid and quantum networks
Horizon Europe · Grant topic
An independent quality check has put this review on hold. The structured terms below are kept as history and are not cleared; read the official documents.
Summary
A Polish company can use this call for R&D.
Funds new cryptographic primitives and protocols beyond quantum key distribution for hybrid classical-quantum and quantum networks.
- Who can apply
- Companies can lead: SME, large company, startup, research org, university.
- Amount
- €4M per projectTotal budget €4,000,000
- Deadline
- 15 Sept 2027 02:00 CESTin 326 days
- Status
- Forthcomingopens 2 Mar 2027
Machine-classified from the call text; check eligibility at the source.
Description
Expected Outcome:
Proposals are expected to contribute to one or more of the following:
• New primitives beyond Quantum Key Distribution (QKD) for future hybrid classical-quantum and quantum networks either as quantum equivalents of classical primitives or as new primitives for new practical applications, also in the relativistic setting when relevant, or as new primitives and protocols with modular, realistic integration of solutions from different cryptographic approaches, with focus on beyond-QKD applications and with gradual release on trust in hardware;
• Analysis of the applicability and strength of the results compared to their best classical-only counterpart, critical analysis of the formal assumptions and of performance, security proofs;
• Investigation of fundamental aspects of quantum information processing tasks, their eventual limits; and/or the connection between quantum computing and cryptography for insights for stronger cryptographic foundations;
• Roadmap for quantum cryptography and networks functionalities.
Scope:
The action supports research on new primitives and protocols beyond QKD for security and trust-based applications, by combining different cryptographic approaches and by exploiting insights from quantum information science, to demonstrate compelling quases of quantum cryptographic advantage and obtain foundational results on the unique features of quantum protocols. The goal is to build on the basis of insights from the field of real-world, applied cryptography and the vision from the quantum domain on future entanglement-based networks, the foundations of a new cryptography, that will support mid-term hybrid classical-quantum and further in the future almost fully quantum networks. The design of such new foundations may need entirely new paradigms whose design requires different expertise.
The proposal should target some of the following areas and lead to a roadmap:
• Development of quantum primitives which have classical equivalent, of new quantum primitives not possible classically (or without trusted hardware), and of alternative solutions improving quantum cryptography protocols using classical cryptography solutions (in particular PQC), by flexibly incorporating various cryptographic components, with some beneficial aspects such as performance improvements (run time, energy usage, less requirements on HW etc.)
• Analysis of the applicability and strength of the results compared to their best classical-only counterpart, critical analysis of the formal assumptions, rigorous security proofs, case-by-case analysis of composable security and of performance.Connection between quantum information processing tasks and holography, and transfer to the cryptographic context, such as, among others, non-local quantum computation for position-verification schemes and spoofing schemes as means of establishing trust, via foundational insights on entanglement and quantum correlations; connection between quantum computing and cryptography providing stronger cryptographic foundations.
• Development of a quantum cryptography roadmap, which identifies challenges for the technical realisation and scaling of applications and presenting the implications for the best hardware and architecture settings for both near-term and long-term applications of quantum networks.
Proposals should include, in a balanced manner, quantum scientists and researchers from PQC with experience on real-world, applied cryptography and with interest in quantum protocols and new paradigms for future networks.
Who can apply, in detail
- Applicant types
- SME, Large company, Startup, Research org, University
- Purpose
- Research and innovation
- R&D relevance
- 3 of 3
- Poland eligible
- Yes
- Country limit
- —
- Region
- Any
- Consortium
- Unclear
- Readiness level (TRL)
- —
- Topics
- Quantum networks
- Hybrid classical-quantum networks
- Beyond-QKD primitives
- Cryptographic protocols
- Quantum information processing
Machine-classified from the call text; check eligibility at the source. 23 Oct 2026
Conditions
Typed facts extracted from the source documents by Scindu's grant-data review. Each value keeps its own conditions. Unknown means unstated, not zero or unlimited.
- Applicant restriction
- Chinese public universities administered or supervised by the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT) cannot participate in any action under this work programme. This is an all-action participant restriction, separate from country funding eligibility. This RIA falls outside the listed RIA destination exceptions, so China-established entities are generally ineligible in any capacity, subject only to justified case-by-case exceptions; this does not relax any more restrictive own-topic EU/Associated Country/control condition.
- Applicant restriction
- Participation is limited to Member State and Associated Country legal entities. Eligible-country entities directly or indirectly controlled by a non-eligible country or entity cannot participate. This applies in addition to the independent-beneficiary consortium minimum; no actual entity ownership was assessed.
- Application restriction
- Planned opening2March2027 and deadline15September2027 at17:00Brusselslocaltime. ECCC ExecutiveDirector may move opening up to one month earlier/later and delay deadline up to two months. Budget subject to2027appropriations; live submission flow untested.
- Application restriction
- Use Portal PartA, PartB and mandatory annexes. Coordinator mandate, declarations and applicant capacity/eligibility are required. The actual submission template controls the required documents.
- Eligible project scope
- Research new beyond-QKD primitives/protocols for hybrid classical-quantum and future quantum networks, including quantum equivalents, classically impossible primitives, relevant relativistic settings and modular cryptographic integration with reduced hardware trust. Compare to best classical counterparts, examine assumptions/performance and provide security proofs. Investigate fundamental quantum-information limits and quantum-computing/cryptography connections, leading to a functionality roadmap.
- Eligible project scope
- Target some listed areas and deliver a roadmap: quantum and new nonclassical primitives or classical/PQC-assisted improvements with modular components and runtime/energy/hardware benefits; rigorous applicability, classical comparisons and case-specific composable-security analysis, with relevant holography/nonlocal-computation/position-verification/spoofing/entanglement connections; and challenges of implementation/scaling with hardware/architecture implications for near- and long-term quantum networks.
- Expected number of grants (planning estimate)Captured SEDIA planning estimate for exact topic HORIZON-CL3-2027-02-CS-ECCC-04
- 1 count
Expected funded-project/grant count in the exact provider topic budgetOverview. Indicative planning metadata, not guaranteed awards, maximum accepted projects, staffing or consortium size. It does not replace any differently expressed work-programme planning range.
- Other condition
- Research and Innovation Action implemented through the ECCC cybersecurity call. The Commission contribution agreement and call-wide EUR71.8million are separate from the topic allocation.
- Other condition
- Eligible contributions take lump-sum form. Detailed budgets use basic cost eligibility and the embedded RIA funding-rate methodology. Interim payments concern accepted completed packages, with conditional partial-package payments possible at final balance. No additional actual-payroll reimbursement rate follows. Actual budget and duration are fixed in the grant agreement.
- Other condition
- Activities may use classified background or produce EUCI/SEN results. Apply AnnexB security provisions and proposal security self-assessment, with grant-specific requirements determined from actual project content; this does not classify every project automatically.
- Other condition
- GeneralAnnexD full-proposal RIA criteria are Excellence, Impact and Implementation, each scored to5, individual threshold3 and total10. Passing thresholds enters budget-limited ranking; ECCC call or later conditions may further specify execution.
- Other condition
- Own-topic WP overview gives an indicative expected project-count range of1–2, separate from the captured provider planning scalar. It is not a hard award-count bound, guaranteed award number, beneficiary reach or staffing count.
- Partner requirement
- Three independent beneficiary legal entities in three different countries: at least one EU Member State entity and at least two others in different Member States or Associated Countries. Affiliates do not count towards this minimum. Topic-specific required actors are additional.
- Staff restriction
- Include a balanced mix of quantum scientists and PQC researchers with real-world applied-cryptography experience and interest in quantum protocols and new network paradigms. This describes research-team expertise, not advertised posts or a numeric hiring requirement.
Amounts and costs
- Indicative budget
- €4,000,000
Topic budget as stated in the portal's budget table. Lump-sum and per-project limits are in the call conditions.
- Eligible cost
- Personnel, subcontracting and purchases can form eligible lump-sum budget estimates under the grant conditions. The general25% indirect flat rate excludes subcontracting, FSTP and unit/lump-sum amounts that already include indirect costs. No salary, contract, headcount, FTE or employment duration is prescribed by this topic.
- Funding intensity, maximum
- 100 percent of eligible amount in lump-sum methodology
RIA maximum applied within the lump-sum amount-setting method; not separately reimbursed actual salary or all project expenditure.
- Indirect cost flat rateGeneralAnnexG indirect costs for this Horizon action/grant methodology
- 25 percent of the named eligible-direct-cost base
Base: total eligible direct costs excluding subcontracting, financial support to third parties and any unit costs/lump sums already including indirect costs. Apply only within the relevant grant/budget methodology; for lump sums this contributes to amount-setting, not an extra actual-cost payment or wage rate.
- Expected contribution per project
- €4,000,000
Expected indicative point contribution, not a hard cap; topic table indicative1–2project count is planning only.
- Topic allocation
- €4,000,000
Total indicative topic allocation, not per-project cap or remaining balance.
Personnel and services
Participates in the balanced interdisciplinary research mix explicitly requested by the topic.
Researcher · Required staff
No headcount, FTE, degree/PhD age, employment duration, contract type or salary rate is prescribed. This is an expertise requirement, not an advertised vacancy.
Source documents
Call facts
- Opens
- 2 Mar 2027
- Deadline model
- Single-stage
- Programme
- Horizon Europe · 2021 - 2027
- Call
- HORIZON-CL3-2027-02-CS-ECCC · Indirectly Managed Action by the ECCC (2027)
- Types of action
- HORIZON Research and Innovation Actions
- Source
- ec.europa.eu
- Checked
- 24 Oct 2026
- Portal updated
- 2 Mar 2026
- Review status
- Partial review
- Reviewed
- 23 Oct 2026
This is a summary of the source page, not the official text. Eligibility, conditions and the submission system are at the source.