The QuantERA Programme officially launched in November 2016 under the EU Horizon 2020 ERA-NET Cofund mechanism. Poland’s National Science Centre (Narodowe Centrum Nauki, NCN) serves as the program’s coordinator, having initiated efforts to assemble a transnational quantum research funding consortium as early as 2014. A key meeting in June 2015 in Kraków gathered 31 delegates from 20 European and associated countries, who confirmed their commitment and entrusted NCN with coordination.
According to QuantERA’s institutional description, the program is a multinational network of research funding organizations dedicated to ensuring excellent research in quantum technologies. At launch, the consortium comprised 32 organizations from 27 countries and opened its first joint transnational call for proposals.
NCN, a Polish government executive agency established in 2010 to fund basic research, manages the QuantERA Coordination Office from Poland. The Agence Nationale de la Recherche (ANR) in France manages the Call Secretariat. Poland’s lead role in QuantERA positioned the country as an organizational hub for European quantum research funding prior to many national quantum strategies being adopted across the continent.