On September 21, 2022, the Novo Nordisk Foundation announced a grant of DKK 1.5 billion (approximately $200 million) over 12 years for the Novo Nordisk Foundation Quantum Computing Programme (NQCP), to be hosted at the Niels Bohr Institute of the University of Copenhagen. The programme’s mission is to develop fault-tolerant quantum computing hardware and quantum algorithms for solving problems in the life sciences, according to the Novo Nordisk Foundation announcement.
Part of the grant was earmarked for establishing Quantum Foundry P/S, a fabrication facility co-located with the programme that will supply materials and hardware. During the first seven years, researchers will develop materials and hardware for qubits across three quantum computing platforms, then select the most suitable platform for scale-up in the remaining five years.
Anticipated participants include researchers from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Delft University of Technology, the Technical University of Denmark, Aarhus University, and the University of Toronto. CEO Mads Krogsgaard Thomsen said the foundation wanted to “make Denmark a world leader in quantum research.”