++ Registration closed ++
Some quick updates
⏱️ We’re going to close the event registration in a week. So, if haven’t made up your mind: Register now! It’s free of charge. https://lnkd.in/dGfDGqEq
🕘 Our Quantum Café opens at 8 and the program starts at 11:39. On the second day we open our Café at 8:00 and the program starts at 9:45.
🍿 We’ll close the first day with a panel discussion by Digitale Stadt Düsseldorf e.V. and a quantum pub quiz by our friend Jan Werum – and then: Party! There’s dinner, an open bar and a beautiful outside area to relax and network (or win the pub quiz).
🍲 There will be light breakfast, lunch and dinner + an open café and a bar, all free of charge. 🌿 We’re veggie and vegan friendly & please tell us if you have special requirements
🗣️ The primary event language is English (but to tbh. we just want you to talk, talk, talk 🙂
🔋 We try to create an event that is accessible for everyone. If you have special requirements, please tell us, beforehand or at the event, so we can take better care of it: live@qci.dlr.de (and please give us feedback if we messed up so we can get better).
🅿️ There’s a limited amount of parking spaces at the event. Please consider using public transportation to come to our event. The closest bus & metro station is U72 Niederheid.
👥 AFQC 2026 is all about talking with each other and getting involved. That’s why our Quantum Café is always open and why we offer meet-ups during the first and second day, see agenda: https://lnkd.in/dn4A2QvT
🛜 There’s free wifi for everyone, so if you do need to take that conf call or finish that paper you can do that at our Open Quantum Café.
🪞 Do you want to show of your company’s products or team’s breakthroughs? We invite you to bring small exhibits or presentations that you can show to people at our big table in the Quantum Café (but we really want to keep AFQC as a place to share not sell ideas)
Be part of AFQC 2026: Challenge
AFQC is the annual community conference that brings together experts from all over the quantum computing ecosystem in an participative format.
In 2026 we want to challenge ourselves: What does it really take to get ahead with quantum computing?
Do you want to be part of this challenge? The registration is closed but you can still sign up to stay in the loop. The call for participation has ended. Thanks for your many ideas. But you can still get involved at one of the many great workshops and talks.
Agenda
This agenda is regularly updated and expanded.
Wednesday, 27. May 2026
| Time | Stage Guidance & inspiration | Salon Discuss big ideas | Workshop Share your expertise | Business Case Share expertise | Pitch Deck Show off great ideas |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 08:00 | Open Quantum Café Networking Coffee, snacks, nice people 210 min | ||||
| 11:30 | Intro Intro to AFQC 2026 Robert Axmann, DLR QCI · Daniel Stadler, EIN Quantum NRW · Host: Katharina Menne 30 min | ||||
| 12:00 | Salon Talk Creating a European Network for Quantum Computing Software Robert Wille, MQSC × Paolo Viviani, LINKS Foundation × Philipp Kunst, Fraunhofer IAO 60 min | Workshop Quantum Chemistry Between VQE and Fault Tolerant Birger Horstmann, DLR TT 60 min | Lessons Learned Balancing Quantum Advantage and Business Needs Corey O'Meara, E.ON 60 min | Pitch & Q&A Assessing Practical Speedups Shawn Skelton, Uni Hannover 60 min | |
| 13:00 | Lunchbreak & Meet-ups Business Lunch Light Lunch in our Open Quantum Café and Outside 60 min | ||||
| 14:00 | Salon Talk Providing Infrastructure for Deep Tech Start-ups Christoph Gehlen, Technologie Zentrum Dortmund × Alain Pierrot, DLR QCI 60 min | Coding Workshop Eclipse Qrisp for Real-World Applications Sebastian Bock, Fraunhofer FOKUS 60 min | Best practice How to: Aufträge von öffentlichen Auftraggebern (in German) Stephan Manns & Stephan Goller, DLR QCI Procurement 60 min | Hands-on Implementing Applications with the QCI Connect SDK Elisabeth Lobe, DLR SC × Gary Schmiedinghoff, DLR SC 60 min | |
| 15:00 | Salon Talk Quantum Computing Meets the Law (de/en) Jana Jentzsch & Gerhard Deiters, BHO Legal × Hjørdis Petersen, DLR QCI 60 min | Coding Workshop From Business Use Cases to Hardware-Ready Quantum Circuits Nikola Strah × Nadav Ben-Ami, Classiq Technologies 60 min | Canceled From Lab to Product: Crossing the Valley of Death in Deep Tech Anja Bräuning & Christian Piltz, EleQtron 60 min | Pitches & Ideas From estimating resources to compiling quantum algorithms for chemistry Oumarou Oumarou & Christian Gogolin, Covestro 60 min | |
| 16:00 | Welcome Address State Minister Ina Brandes Ministry of Culture and Science of NRW 10 min | ||||
| 16:30 | Salon Talk The Next Challenge in Quantum Chemistry Christian Gogolin, Covestro × Birger Horstmann, DLR TT 60 min | Hands-on Workshop Getting started with Analog & Hybrid Computing on the REDAC Lucas Wetzel & Daniel Thuerck, anabrid 60 min | Lessons Learned From Quantum Start-up to Scale-up: Business Development Playbook to build on Eda Sorani, Planqc 60 min | Coding Workshop Optimizing Quantum Applications on Quantum Hardware César A. Rodríguez Rosario & Jan M. Knaup, Commutator Studios 60 min | |
| 17:30 | Break Cooldown & Group Photo 6:20 pm group photo 60 min | ||||
| 18:30 | DigiSpecial Panel Talk European Sovereignty with Quantum Technologies Fritzi Köhler-Geib, Deutsche Bundesbank × Harald Summa, DE-CIX × Henrik Hahn, Evonik, EIN Quantum NRW × Robert Axmann, DLR QCI 60 min | ||||
| 19:30 | All Hands Wrap-up Robert Axmann, DLR QCI × Daniel Stadler, EIN Quantum NRW × Host: Katharina Menne 15 min | ||||
| 20:00 | Error Bar Party Networking · Pub Quiz · Party 180 min | ||||
| 23:00 | Doors close | ||||
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Thursday, 28. May 2026
| Time | Stage Guidance & inspiration | Salon Discuss big ideas | Workshop Share your expertise | Business Case Share expertise | Pitch Deck Show off great ideas |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 08:00 | Open Quantum Café Networking Coffee, snacks, nice people 90 min | ||||
| 09:45 | Welcome to Day 2 Robert Axmann, DLR QCI × Daniel Stadler, EIN Quantum NRW · Host: Katharina Menne 15 min | ||||
| 10:00 | Salon Talk Quantum Futures in Dialogue: Innovation, Security, and Sustainable Development Rebecca Mossop, DLR MI × Matthias C. Kettemann, Uni Innsbruck · UNESCO × Adrian Schmidt, KIT-EDU 60 min | Coding Workshop Fault-Tolerant Quantum Error Correction Sascha Heußen, neqxt 60 min | Hands-on Workshop Fixing Our Supply Chain: How can we Cooperatively Overcome Sourcing Challenges? Jakob Buchheim, DLR QT-IMN 60 min | Impact Workshop FullStaQD: Full Stack Quantum Computing for Germany Philipp Kunst, Fraunhofer IAO & Max Schweikart, KIT 60 min | |
| 11:00 | Salon Talk Challenges that drive innovation Susann Lüdtke, L.I.A. × Tobias Tenner, BDB 60 min | Workshop Application-driven Benchmarking: What Is Quantum Good For? Benedikt Poggel × Jeanette Miriam Lorenz, Fraunhofer IKS 60 min | Best practice From Curiosity to Capability: QC Adoption in Practice Natalia Stolyarchuk, Bitkom 60 min | Presentation & Q&A Governance for Quantum Technologies Matthias Kettemann, Innsbruck Quantum Ethics Lab 60 min | |
| 12:00 | Welcome Address State Minister & Deputy Minister-President Mona Neubaur Ministry of Economic Affairs, Industry, Climate Protection and Energy NRW 10 min | ||||
| 12:10 | All Hands Handover & Group Photo Group Photo 12:20 Robert Axmann, DLR QCI × Daniel Stadler, EIN Quantum NRW × Host: Katharina Menne 20 min | ||||
| 12:30 | Lunchbreak & Meet-ups Business Lunch Light Lunch in our Open Quantum Café and Outside 90 min | ||||
| 14:00 | Meet-up at Quantum Café QC×Mobility · QCI Connect users · HPC QC Hybrid · Communication Specialists · Quantum Fellowship Program · etc. Gary Schmiedinghoff · Matthias Zimmermann · Francisca Gois · Felix Knoke 90 min | Meet-up Let's meet: Quantum State Initiatives Philipp Ranitzsch 90 min | Meet-up Meet-up Optimiziation Community R.S.V.P. Elisabeth Lobe, DLR SC 90 min | Meet-up Fraunhofer × DLR Matchmaking R.S.V.P. 90 min | Meet-up Quantum Future Ann-Kristin Rink 90 min |
| 15:30 | Doors close | ||||
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What to expect
Hands-on workshops
Explore new ways to tackle your quantum computing challenges together with other experts from all across the community
Inspiring discussions
Dive deeper: Learn from the failures and successes of leading experts and prepare yourself for the next challenge
Community & Networking
Connect with experts, startups, and peers in an exciting environment. We’ll create space and time for your own challenges. Get involved!
Recap AFQC 2025
Relive the highlights! Watch the best moments, inspiring talks, and connections from our last quantum computing event.
200
experts from research, industry, start-ups and policy joint the conversation 2025
3
workshop arenas definied top challenges for startups, technologies and the whole ecosystem
15
solutions were proposed that will bring forward the whole ecosystem: A Guide to Real Impact in Quantum Computing.
The Venue
Experience AFQC 2026 at THE FRAME, Düsseldorf’s modern hotspot for innovation and creativity
With spacious, flexible halls, cutting-edge tech, and a vibrant atmosphere, it’s the perfect place to learn, collaborate, and network. Don’t miss out and be part of the future of quantum!
