A Look Back at On Board to Synergy 2026

On board to Synergy 2026

Since 2023, this event has brought together all the teams of the PEPR Quantum, as well as its partners—both institutional and industrial—to foster dialogue and highlight the scientific and strategic challenges of quantum technologies, both in France and across Europe.

This year, the government’s renewed commitment to the development of quantum technologies provided an opportunity to take stock of the program’s first five years of operation—and, more broadly, of the national quantum strategy—as well as to prepare for the future by outlining the major scientific, technological, and industrialization challenges for the coming decade.

The 2026 edition of this event was introduced by Mehdi Gmar, Deputy Director General for Innovation at the CNRS. He highlighted the importance of the French quantum ecosystem in the academic sphere and its significance in terms of innovation.

Several institutional sessions were held to discuss developments related to changes in the national and European contexts

An opening panel, moderated by Sébastien Tanzilli and Olivier Serre, brought together institutional decision-makers, defence stakeholders, and scientists. The goal was to provide participants with an overview of France’s ambitions through three consecutive discussions on complementary topics, namely:

• Follow-up on the National Quantum Strategy;
• National sovereignty and defense issues;
• Infrastructure and technology platforms.

A second panel also presented examples of the Spanish and German quantum strategies, as well as the ins and outs of the future European “Strategic Research & Innovation Agenda”, “Quantum Act” and “Fault-tolerant quantum computing pathway.”

Thematic sessions on the PEPR’s research axis

The event also featured thematic sessions on the program’s four main research areas. The stated objectives were to build strong, lasting bridges between projects, between complementary scientific and technological communities, and between academic and industrial teams.

Accordingly, and in light of developments in the national and European contexts, the program’s leadership organized five scientific thematic sessions. On the one hand, the program’s projects highlighted their work and progress. On the other hand, startups and major industrial groups showcased their achievements and presented their R&D roadmaps. It was also an opportunity to take stock of current, planned, or potential collaborations within this remarkably dynamic ecosystem.

The five sessions were particularly intensive and brimming with ideas, focusing on the following topics:

• From physical qubits to logical qubits: progress and prospects for integration across different hardware platforms;
• Towards LSQ: reliability, quantum machine programming;
• Towards Quantum Advantage: Algorithms and Use-cases;
• Quantum sensors: from French scientific leadership to strategic applications
• Path to a sovereign quantum network: architecture, security, applications and roadmap.

Presentations by the Early-Stage Researcher Chairs

Finally, the program’s young talents—recipients of super-postdoc-style fellowships supporting specific projects—were brought on board. During the event, nine Early-Stage Researcher fellows presented their work, along with its impacts and key highlights, as conducted within the framework of the program.

“On Board to Synergy 2026” served as an opportunity to highlight just how essential synergies between academia, startups, and industry are to the French and the European quantum ecosystem. The PEPR Quantum management team would like to extend a warm thank you to all participants for their involvement!