The DOE Quantum Genesis Q Competition
Closed Posted
- Opportunity number
- DE-FOA-0003657
- Agency
-
Department of Energy
- Applications due
- Award size
- $250,000 to $200,000,000
Opportunity facts
- Assistance listings
- Funding instrument
- Other
- Category
-
- Science and Technology and other Research and Development
- Eligible applicants
-
- For Profit Organizations
- Small Businesses
- Points of contact
Opportunity details come from Grants.gov. Updated .
About this opportunity
The Department of Energy is soliciting applications from domestic for-profit entities to develop and demonstrate a scientifically relevant, fault-tolerant quantum computer, with applications due October 19, 2026, under the Quantum Genesis Q Competition. Eligible applicants are limited to domestic for-profit organizations legally formed and operating in the United States; limited foreign entity waivers may be approved. Applicants must be registered in SAM.gov, must not participate in malign foreign talent recruitment programs, and must not be entities of concern as defined in the CHIPS and Science Act. Cost sharing is waived.
DOE anticipates selecting between three and ten awardees and will distribute up to $215 million over approximately 30 months through Other Transaction Agreements structured in two phases. Phase I provides fixed payments: $250,000 upon DOE approval of the verification and validation plan, and $1,250,000 upon completion of an intermediate prototype achieving approximately 10 logical qubits and 1,000 hard operations within one year. Phase II distributes $100 million as a general incentive pool among awardees who successfully demonstrate a first-generation SRQC with at least 100 logical qubits and 100,000 hard operations by September 2028, with two additional bonus pools of $50 million each for achieving 150 or more and 200 or more logical qubits respectively. All work must be performed in the United States, though partial waivers are possible.
Applicants must demonstrate a technically viable plan for delivering a full-stack quantum solution, including manufacturing and operational capabilities, and must show a history of successfully creating multi-qubit quantum computers. Proposals are limited to 50 pages and must address current quantum capabilities, phased scaling plans, scientific relevance demonstrations, team structure, and quantum ecosystem contributions. The program is assigned CFDA 81.049, Office of Science Financial Assistance Program. An informational webinar is scheduled for September 25, 2026; questions are due by October 6, 2026.
Synopsis
The Department of Energy (DOE) recently announced the establishment of the Quantum Genesis initiative to develop and deploy the world's first fault-tolerant, scientifically relevant quantum computing (SRQC) capability for research and development. The Department seeks to realize this bold ambition through the Quantum Genesis Q Competition (herein, the Q Competition), a first of its kind effort to accelerate the timeline for realizing this novel, transformative capability. The Quantum Genesis initiative will serve as a foundational pillar of the broader Genesis Mission, designed to usher in a new era of computational power for the nation and accelerate scientific discovery and innovation. The announcement of the Quantum Genesis initiative marks a significant step toward the Department's goals outlined in President Trump's Executive Order (EO), Ushering in the Next Frontier of Quantum Innovation and its Quantum Computer for Application Development and Discovery Science (QC-ADDS) effort.[1]
This request for applications (RFA) invites proposals from domestic commercial entities have a technically viable plan for the Quantum Genesis program and achieving the milestones of the Q Competition. The intent of the Q Competition is to accelerate the development timeline for SRQCs, align successful applicants with the needs of the Department and the scientific community, and to enable the necessary scaling of quantum hardware, software, and enabling technology while developing scientific workflows that ensure SRQCs contribute to national scientific and technological advancement. In addition to the goal of building the first-generation SRQC, these partners may also help to form the technical foundation for DOE's continued efforts into the 2030s to deploy one or more next-generation SRQCs at National Laboratories.
DOE envisions this competition as a first step toward scaling fault-tolerant quantum computers to scientific relevance alongside other ongoing and planned activities. DOE acknowledges that potential vendors may have timelines that do not coincide with this competition, even though they may have a viable path to future platforms of interest to the DOE. Failure to participate or complete the milestones does not disqualify an entity or vendor from future DOE collaborations or procurements.
Files
| File | Type | Posted |
|---|---|---|
| DE-FOA-0003657_sample_OTA.pdf | ||
| DE-FOA-0003657.pdf | ||
| PKG00294159.pdf |
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