20 Januar 2026
From battery development and drug research to environmental modeling: With the Quantum Use Challenge and two other Helmholtz initiatives, Forschungszentrum Jülich is bringing quantum technologies and data-driven approaches into targeted applications.
How can quantum technologies be used in practice? With the Quantum Use Challenge campaign, the Helmholtz Association is funding four new projects that bring quantum computing and sensor technology into applications. Forschungszentrum Jülich is involved in three projects.
The aim is to bring quantum technologies into application more quickly - particularly in the fields of energy, health, and earth and environment. Close cooperation between technology development and application is intended to accelerate the transfer. The projects will start on January 1, 2026, and run for three years.
Four projects with clear application prospects
The QT-Batt project, coordinated by Forschungszentrum Jülich, uses quantum computing and quantum sensing to gain a better understanding of new battery materials. The aim is to develop more powerful and durable energy storage devices for the energy transition.
Also coordinated by Jülich is QuWIRK, which develops quantum algorithms for drug discovery. These are intended to help evaluate biological data more efficiently and identify promising drug candidates more quickly.
Jülich is a partner in the qFLOW project. Here, quantum-assisted flow simulations are being developed, for example for applications in groundwater or environmental research. The aim is to create more realistic and efficient models.
The fourth project, QuBiopsy, is researching new quantum-based imaging techniques for particularly sensitive cancer diagnostics.
Bridge between research and application
"The enormous potential of quantum technologies must be translated into practical benefits for society," explains Tommaso Calarco, director of the Jülich Institute for Quantum Control and specialist in the optimization of quantum processes. The physicist is considered the initiator and pioneer of a joint national and European quantum technology strategy. "To achieve this, research must be adapted to the needs of users. Since all these players are represented in our various research areas, we have a unique opportunity to develop real innovations from their synergies and keep Germany at the forefront of this strategic field."
With its participation in three of the four projects, Forschungszentrum Jülich is underscoring its role as a key player in applied quantum research. The Quantum Use Challenge aims to contribute to the step-by-step transfer of quantum technologies into real-world applications-from energy supply and medicine to environmental and climate protection.
Further Helmholtz initiatives with Jülich participation
In addition to the Quantum Use Challenge, the Helmholtz Association is launching two further initiatives in which Forschungszentrum Jülich is involved. One of these is Helmholtz Biomedical Engineering, in which Jülich is participating with the Insight project. The aim is to gain a fundamentally better understanding of the interactions in the human microbiome and to translate this knowledge into a scalable platform for medical applications.
Specifically, the platform should, among other things, enable the selection of probiotic bacterial strains specific to individual patients-for example, to suppress multi-resistant pathogens. In addition, the approach opens up new perspectives for personalized therapies, for example in chronic inflammatory bowel diseases (IBD), as well as for microbiome-sensitive drug development.
Water security in the focus of global change
The research center is represented in the research campaign "Water Security for People and the Environment" with the project "Solution Lab Rur Erft" (SLRE). The Helmholtz-wide project is developing new scientific and technical solutions for extreme water events - both droughts and floods - against the backdrop of global change.
Increasing climate fluctuations, longer dry spells, and more frequent heavy rainfall events threaten water security in Germany and beyond. The Rur-Erft catchment area serves as a model region, as it combines a high susceptibility to water extremes, very different usage requirements - from agriculture, industry, nature conservation, and settlement development - and a high density of observation stations.
SLRE combines a hydro-economic digital twin with interest groups, their usage requirements, and the resulting scenarios. This takes place in an interactive solution room, where adaptation options can be played out and tested for effectiveness. Here, the terrestrial water cycle is mapped with all its natural and anthropogenic components: rivers, groundwater, soil moisture, vegetation, land use, drainage infrastructure, water abstraction, reservoir management, and irrigation systems.
Research in dialogue with society and politics
The campaigns are developed with partners from politics, business, and society. They address key technologies and strategic research areas of the German High-Tech Agenda of the Federal Ministry of Education, Research, Technology, and Space (BMFTR) and aim to effectively translate scientific findings into practice.
Further Information
