Quantum Test and Demonstration Facilities (Q-TEST)

A Test and Demonstration Facility is a physical or technical infrastructure used to develop, integrate, validate, demonstrate, or scale up technologies under realistic or market-relevant conditions.

The facility may, for example, comprise fabrication equipment, testing equipment, integration and packaging facilities, pilot plants, or modular environments in which different quantum technology components can be integrated and tested as a complete system.

Yes. The facility must be made available to multiple users on an open, transparent, and non-discriminatory basis.

Applicants must describe in their application how access to the facility will be organised, including the target user groups and how access conditions and pricing will be determined.

The purpose is to ensure that the supported facility contributes to the development of the Danish quantum ecosystem and can be used by relevant companies and other users requiring testing, demonstration, or validation capacity.

Access conditions and pricing must be publicly available or otherwise capable of being documented to Innovation Fund Denmark.

Yes. If a company has contributed more than 10% of the investment costs for establishing the facility, the application must specify whether that company will be granted access on preferential terms and, if so, what those terms consist of.

Applicants must describe any special access rights in a clear and transparent manner, including how access is organised and which conditions apply to other users of the facility. If the application is funded, these terms will be made public.

As a general rule, internal personnel costs cannot be funded through the Q-TEST grant.

Where, following a specific assessment, direct and necessary internal personnel contributions are exceptionally included, there must be a clear and demonstrable link between the employee’s work and the establishment or upgrade of the facility.

Inclusion is more likely to be justified where the employee is specifically hired for the establishment activity in question or, for a limited period, works exclusively on necessary establishment, installation, integration, calibration, validation, commissioning, or start-up activities.

The work must be clearly distinguishable from operations, administration, project management, reporting, market analysis, and other ancillary activities.

Applicants are encouraged to consult their auditor prior to submitting an application if personnel contributions are intended to form part of the co-financing of establishment activities.

Applicants should also be aware that, if funding is awarded, any personnel costs included in the project accounts must be treated in accordance with the applicable accounting rules governing the capitalisation of labour costs and must be capable of being approved by the project auditor through an auditor’s statement.

Investments completed prior to the project start date cannot, as a general rule, be included as eligible project costs.

In exceptional cases – and subject to a case-by-case assessment – existing assets such as equipment, components and technical installations acquired before the project start date may form part of the test and demonstration facility established under Q-TEST.

However, existing assets cannot be included as eligible project costs solely on the basis of their existing value, book value or previous acquisition cost.

Only documented project-related costs that are directly linked to the use, adaptation, integration or commissioning of tangible or intangible assets may be included as eligible project costs, provided that one of the following conditions is met:

• The asset is directly integrated into the new test and demonstration facility; or
• The asset is used to support the establishment of the new facility without becoming a permanent part of the facility itself.

The application and/or budget comments must explain the significance of the asset for the successful establishment of the overall facility.

Operating costs are not eligible for support.

However, limited support may be provided for activities necessary to make the facility operational, including commissioning, test production, validation, system integration, calibration, and initial performance verification.

Ordinary commercial operations, marketing, sales activities, and other ongoing operating costs incurred after the start-up phase are not eligible for support.

Ongoing rental costs for a showroom or cleanroom will generally not be eligible, as rental expenses are considered operating costs.

However, where applicants can demonstrate that separate costs are incurred for the establishment, installation, upgrading, or physical adaptation of facilities, such costs may, following a case-by-case assessment, be considered eligible if they are necessary to make the facility operational.

Licences for intangible assets may be eligible where they are directly linked to the establishment or upgrade of the facility.

This may also include production or process know-how required for the integration or operation of the facility. Depending on the circumstances, access to proprietary data may also be eligible.

By contrast, operating licences or know-how relating primarily to the business model or commercial exploitation of the facility cannot be included.

Support is granted within the framework of Article 26a of the General Block Exemption Regulation (GBER) and the applicable regional aid ceilings.

The specific aid intensity depends, among other factors, on the nature of the investment, the size of the undertaking, and the applicable State aid rules.

Please note that universities and GTS institutes may apply for support where, in the specific activity concerned, they are carrying out an economic activity and are therefore considered undertakings for State aid purposes.

This may, for example, be the case where they own and operate a Test and Demonstration Facility, bear the economic risk, and provide access to the facility on commercial terms.

Public research organisations and GTS institutes are considered enterprises when determining aid intensity.

Under the EU SME definition, the number of employees is the primary criterion.

To be classified, for example, as a small enterprise, a company must have fewer than 50 employees and, at the same time, remain below at least one of the applicable financial thresholds (either annual turnover or annual balance sheet total).

If the employee threshold for a small enterprise is exceeded, the company will generally be classified as a medium-sized enterprise, even if its turnover remains within the small enterprise threshold.