Turn your ambition into achievement
Win €10,000
+ 12 months of IQM Resonance access
Applications Deadline May 29, 2026
What is it?
The IQM Quantum Research Award is designed to attract university students, researchers, and quantum enthusiasts to encourage them to use the IQM Resonance platform for their projects, and reward the best proposal with a cash prize of €10k, along with access to IQM Resonance to continue working on their research in the next 12 months.
The application process will require creating an account on Resonance, which will be done by the applicant themselves as they submit their proposals.
Between evaluation phases, participants will receive extended access to IQM Resonance and are expected to execute their research on hardware and gather supporting results. The final two phases will include presentations delivered before a curated audience.
Why Participate?
The IQM Quantum Research Award offers a unique opportunity to turn your quantum ideas into real experiments.
Things you need to know
Sign up for an account on the IQM Resonance platform.
Submit your solution via our Award Force site, outlining your research proposal and how you plan to use IQM’s quantum hardware.
Create a piece of research on a relevant topic in quantum computing that can be showcased on IQM’s quantum computers. Submit a scientific abstract in the first round of submissions and iterate on your solution in the following rounds, see details below.
The topic itself is up to you:
Your suggested piece of work may focus on the application layer and tackle an optimization problem, suggest a novel technique in the field of quantum simulation, improve QEC capabilities, work with Error reduction schemes, …
We encourage you to share every solution that you find interesting!
Submit a Scientific abstract: A brief summary of your work, technical details and how it solves a relevant problem.
And in Later Rounds (3-4):
- Presentation: A slide-deck (pdf/pptx) to present your ideas and results.
- Code repository: A repository to allow for reproduction of your hardware results. This will be considered for evaluation, so please write good documentation! Share the link to your code repository (e.g., Github). You can share a public or private repository – if private, please share access with the IQM team.
Prizes
First Place Overall
- A cash award of €10 000.
- 12 months of access to IQM Resonance to continue working on their research.
- Chance to present at a virtual award ceremony
Second Place Overall
- 6 months of access to IQM Resonance to continue working on their research.
- Chance to present at a virtual award ceremony
Finalist Certificates
Applicants who progress to the second round and beyond will receive a certificate of recognition from IQM, indicating the stage they have reached.
Participant Resonance Credits
All entrants selected for the first round and beyond will receive five hundred Resonance credits to perform experiments on IQMs cloud QPUs to support their Submission.
Team Prizes
In the event a Team is selected as a prize winner, the prize shall be divided equally among all members of the Team.
Evaluation & Scoring System
After the Deadline, Applications will be assessed and scored through four (4) stages.
All applications will be scored by experts at each stage consisting of IQM employees. Exact dates and location will be posted on the website. Winners will be announced on the website following the finalist presentations, and by an email sent to the email addresses specified on the application.
1.
The selection will have four stages, starting with an eligibility check (valid university/organization affiliation and quality of abstract submitted). – deadline for submissions May 29th 2026
2.
All valid applications will be moved to the first round of evaluation (concept evaluation) – completed by June 16th, where applications will be scored on the following metrics –
- Feasibility (60%)
- Impact Potential (35%)
- Researcher Profile (5%)
3.
The top 10-15% applications will progress to the second round of evaluation – deadline for submissions July 15th. Evaluation will be until July 25th where the focus will be on refinement, communication, and hardware results. The applicant will be presenting to Technology Leads at IQM. The applications will be scored1 on the following metrics –
- Proposal Quality (55%)
- Presentation Quality (35%)
- Hardware results (10%)
4.
The top 3 applications from the second round will progress to the final round of evaluation – completed by August 9th. Final evaluation will be done on August 10th which will focus on implementation and scalability potential. The applicants will be asked to present to the Department Heads – Technology at IQM. The applications will be scored on the following metrics –
- Proposal Quality (55%)
- Presentation Quality (35%)
- Hardware scalability (10%)
| Step | Evaluation Focus | Criteria / Metrics | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| Round 1: Eligibility Check | Basic qualification and compliance | Eligibility & Rule Compliance (Yes or No) | Verification of participant sign-up details, affiliations, validity of abstract. |
| Round 2: First-Round Review | Concept evaluation | a. Feasibility (60%) b. Impact Potential (35%) c. Researcher Profile (5%) |
Panel evaluates how original, practical, and impactful the idea is and the strength of the researcher’s profile. No presentation in this round. |
| Round 3: Semi-Finals | Refinement and communication | a. Proposal Quality (55%) b. Presentation Quality (35%) c. Hardware Results (10%) |
Assessment of how well the researcher incorporates feedback, articulates ideas, and demonstrates understanding through their presentations. |
| Round 4: Final Evaluation | Implementation and scalability potential | a. Proposal Quality (55%) b. Presentation Quality (35%) c. Hardware Scalability (10%) |
Comprehensive evaluation of long-term potential, scalability prospects, and confidence in execution. |
Final score (%) refers to the weight assigned to each criteria.
Official Rules
IQM Research Award
The IQM Research Award (the “Competition”) is designed to inspire university students, researchers, and quantum enthusiasts (“you” or “entrant” or “participant”) in discovering quantum computing possibilities.
Sponsor. The Competition is organized by IQM Finland Oy, business ID 2912625-6, with address Keilaranta 19, 02150 Espoo, Finland (“IQM” or “Sponsor”), or one of its affiliates, at IQM’s sole discretion. The Competition will be hosted virtually through IQM Research Award platform (the “Website”).
Admission
To enter, you must:
- Be at least eighteen (18) years of age and be a resident in one of the eligible applicant regions – Finland, Germany, Spain, Poland, France, Italy, Singapore, South Korea, Japan or the USA. (“Eligible Individual”)
- Complete the Application IQM Research Award platform, including submitting attachments. Entrants must fully complete the registration materials specified through the link. No other method of registration will be accepted.
- Accept these Official Rules, and be bound by the decisions of the Sponsor.
- Create a Resonance account here and accept its end user terms.
- Be a natural person. Participation on behalf of, or as a representative of, any corporation, partnership, limited liability company, organization, or other legal entity is prohibited.
The Competition is open to Teams of Eligible Individuals comprised of up to four people. If a Team is entering the Competition they must appoint an authorize on individual representative to act and enter the submission on the Teams behalf. By entering a Submission on behalf of a Team you warrant that you are the authorised to act on behalf of your team.
Applications will be accepted until 29th May 2026 23.59 EET (the “Deadline”).
Non-winning application materials will not be returned and will be deleted at the end of the Competition. Proof of submission of an Application is not considered proof of delivery or receipt of such Application by Sponsor. Sponsor is not responsible for technical, hardware or software malfunctions, lost or unavailable network connections or failed, incorrect, inaccurate, illegible, incomplete, garbled, lost, misdirected, intercepted, late, or delayed Applications, or Applications or other communications not otherwise received by Sponsor, or other technical problems related to Applications or the Website. Sponsor, in its sole discretion, reserves the right to disqualify any person who tampers with the entry process, or who otherwise violates these Official Rules.
Intellectual Property
The Submission must be the participants’ original work product and be solely owned by a participant or their team, with no other person or entity having any right or interest in it, except for the disclosed open-source components.
Except where otherwise documented (such as third-party open-source code), each Participant retains full ownership of the intellectual property rights in their Submission.
By entering this Competition, each participant grants to the Sponsor a non-exclusive, irrevocable, royalty-free, worldwide, perpetual, sub-licensable right and license to use, review, assess, test, and otherwise analyze the Submission for the purposes of the Competition. Furthermore, the participant grants the Sponsor the right to publish, display, reproduce, and distribute the Submission (including screenshots, videos, code snippets, and descriptions) in any media or marketing for reporting purposes related to the Competition or the Sponsor’s business, without further compensation or notice. Sponsor reserves the right, but is not obligated, to publish information about the Submissions and presentations on its website or in other publications.
Each entrant represents and warrants that their Application and material or information shared throughout the Competition will not violate or infringe the rights, including, without limitation, copyrights, trademark rights or rights of publicity/privacy, of any third party, and that any pre-published material used in the Application and/or presentation is properly cited. The Sponsor shall not be liable for any infringement of intellectual property rights, privacy rights, or any other rights of third parties caused by the Participant. Participant agrees to indemnify and hold the Sponsor harmless from any claims arising out of such infringement.
Participant acknowledges that the Sponsor may already be working on research similar to your Submission. Participating in this competition does not restrict the Sponsor’s right to develop, use, or sell any products or technologies, regardless of their similarity to your application.
Excluding Submissions, all intellectual property related to this Competition, including but not limited to copyrighted material, trademarks, trade-names, logos, designs, promotional materials, web pages, source codes, drawings, illustrations, slogans and representations are owned or used under license by the Sponsor. All rights are reserved. Unauthorized copying or use of any copyrighted material or intellectual property without the express written consent of its owners is strictly prohibited. Any use in a Submission of Sponsor’s intellectual property shall be solely to the extent provided for in these Official Rules.
Use of Open Source
Participants may submit a submission that includes the use of open-source software, provided the participant complies with applicable open-source licenses and, as part of the submission, creates software that enhances and builds upon the features and functionality included in the underlying open-source product. Participants are permitted to use software development tools, IDEs, and/or programming languages that are publicly developed and openly licensed, if participants clearly attribute the work to the author.
No Sponsor Employees Eligible
Employees, officers, directors, and agents of Sponsor, its parent companies, subsidiaries, affiliates, and advertising or promotional agencies (collectively, the “Sponsor Parties”) are not eligible to win a prize in this Competition. This restriction also applies to the immediate family members (defined as a spouse, parent, sibling, child, or step-child, regardless of where they reside) and household members (defined as people who share the same residence at least three months a year, whether related or not) of such employees, officers, directors, or agents. The Sponsor reserves the right to verify the eligibility of any winner and to disqualify any individual found to be in violation of this provision.
Entrant’s Personal Information
By entering this Competition you agree to the Privacy Policy, found at https://meetiqm.com/privacy-policy/, and consent to be contacted by Sponsor by telephone, mail or email regarding this Competition.
Limitation of Liability
Resonance Terms of Service
Governing Law and Disputes
General Conditions
- Sponsor has the right in its sole discretion to modify this Competition and these Official Rules.
- Sponsor is not responsible for any policies, rules, or actions of third parties that may prevent any student from entering, participating in and/or being selected as a winner or receiving any consideration at any stage of this Competition.
- The Sponsor may disqualify any participant if they believe the person is trying to cheat, breaking the rules, or acting inappropriately or illegally.
- If the Official Rules conflict with any other information found in Competition materials (such as the website, forms, or ads), the Official Rules apply.
- The Official Rules may be changed at any time. Any updates will be posted on the Competition website. The revised rules take effect at the time specified in the update, or immediately upon posting if no time is given.
- If the Sponsor does not enforce a rule, it does not waive the right to do so. If any part of these rules is illegal or cannot be enforced, the rest of the rules stay in effect, and the invalid part will be replaced with a valid one that best reflects the original intent.
- No purchase or payment is necessary to enter or win, and any purchase or payment will not increase your odds of winning.
- Entrants are prohibited from submitting any Application, materials, or information that is subject to export control laws, including but not limited to the European Union Dual-Use Regulation and the U.S. Export Administration Regulations. Entrants represent and warrant that their submission does not contain any data or technology that is restricted from export, transfer, or disclosure under applicable laws.
- Participants are solely responsible for all tax liabilities arising from participation or the receipt of any award.
Ask questions on
Learn about Resonance on
Shape the future of quantum research.
Applications Deadline May 29, 2026
If you have any questions or would like to report a problem, please do so using this form
