At AFQC 2026, we are bringing together experts from across the quantum computing ecosystem at a participatory community conference. The programme starts on Wednesday at 11 a.m., preceded by a gentle warm-up in the Network Café. The programme ends on Thursday after lunch with a cool-down back at the Network Café.
The agenda is almost complete. However, we will gradually concretise it, fill free slots and, above all, add workshop agendas and prerequisites.
Please note: Participation in AFQC 2026 is only possible with prior registration and confirmation of participation. We will send out the confirmation of participation in good time before the event. Register here for the AFQC 2026.
Agenda
This agenda is regularly updated and expanded.
Wednesday, 27. May 2026
| Time | Stage | Salon | Workshop | Business Case | Pitch Deck |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 08:00 | Doors open | ||||
| 09:00 | Open Quantum Café Networking 150 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 60 min | Coding Workshop Quantum Programming made easy: Eclipse Qrisp for Real-World Applications Colin Becker, DLR QCI & Sebastian Bock, Fraunhofer FOKUS 60 min | Lessons Learned Balancing Quantum Advantage and Business Needs Corey O'Meara, E.ON 60 min | Impact Workshop AFQC 2026 – Tag 1 – From Theoretical Promise to Industrial Relevance: Assessing Practical Speedups Shawn Skelton, Uni Hannover 60 min | |
| 13:00 | Lunchbreak & Meet-ups Business Lunch Meetups: QCI Connect users · HPC+QC+Hybrid · Quantum State Initiatives · Communication Specialists · Quantum Fellowship Program 60 min | ||||
| 14:00 | Salon Talk Providing Infrastructure for Deep Tech Start-ups Christoph Gehlen, Technologie Zentrum Dortmund × Alain Pierrot, DLR QCI 60 min | Workshop Quantum Chemistry Between VQE and Fault Tolerant Birger Horstmann, DLR TT 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 Legal Challenges (tbd.) Jana Jentzsch, 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 | Best practice From Lab to Product: Crossing the Valley of Death in Deep Tech Anja Bräuning & Christian Piltz, EleQtron 60 min | Pitches & Ideas Quantum Chemistry Oumarou Oumarou & Christian Gogolin, Covestro 60 min | |
| 16:00 | Welcome Address State Minister Ina Brandes Ina Brandes, Ministry of Culture and Science of NRW 10 min | ||||
| 16:30 | Salon Talk The Next Challenge in Quantum Chemistry (tbc.) Christian Gogolin, Covestro × Birger Horstmann, DLR TT × tba. 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, Commutator Studios 60 min | |
| 17:30 | Break Cooldown 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 15 min | ||||
| 19:45 | Networking, Pub Quiz, Error Bar Party Party! Party! 195 min | ||||
| 23:00 | Doors close | ||||
08:00
09:00
11:30
12:00
13:00
14:00
15:00
16:00
16:30
17:30
18:30
19:30
19:45
23:00
Thursday, 28. May 2026
| Time | Stage | Salon | Workshop | Business Case | Pitch Deck |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 08:00 | Doors open | ||||
| 08:30 | Open Quantum Café Networking 60 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: Innovation, Security, Development Rebecca Mossop, DLR MI × Matthias C. Kettemann, Uni Innsbruck · UNESCO × Zeki Seskir, KIT-EDU × 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 60 min | |
| 11:00 | Salon Talk Challenge China (tba.) tba. 60 min | Workshop Application-driven Benchmarking: What Is Quantum Good For? Benedikt Poggel, 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 Mona Neubaur, Ministry of Economic Affairs, Industry, Climate Protection and Energy NRW 10 min | ||||
| 12:10 | All Hands Outro Robert Axmann, DLR QCI × Daniel Stadler, EIN Quantum NRW 20 min | ||||
| 12:30 | Lunch Break 60 min | ||||
| 13:00 | Open Quantum Café Meet-ups Meetups: QCI Connect users · HPC QC Hybrid · Quantum State Initiatives · Communication Specialists · Quantum Fellowship Program 150 min | ||||
| 15:30 | Doors close | ||||
08:00
08:30
09:45
10:00
11:00
12:00
12:10
12:30
13:00
15:30
How the AFQC 2026 works
AFQC 2026 is designed entirely for participation. To this end, we have created spaces in which various types of collaboration are possible:
– Workshop & Business Case are designed entirely for workshops. Here we code or tackle specific joint challenges.
– The Salon brings two hosts and their audience into dialogue in a Salon Talk: This is where we want to twist and turn the big questions.
– The Pitch Deck is the place to present big ideas, pitch companies and services or present research approaches. Please register here.
From AFQC 2025 to AFQC 2026
We learnt a lot at the last AFQC 2025 in Munich: We have challenges in common that we can only successfully tackle together; there is great interest in not only naming these challenges, but also developing concrete solutions for them. And: it takes more than a white paper to bring all of this together and move it forward.
After taking a bird’s eye view of the ecosystem at AFQC 2025, we are therefore going deeper at AFQC 2026 and bringing experts from the entire ecosystem into direct dialogue: in a wide range of workshops, salon talks and meet-ups designed to exchange knowledge, build bridges and get to the root of the problems.
This is no trivial task for an event that wants to address and involve the entire ecosystem. That’s why we made three decisions:
1
AFQC 2026 focuses even more strongly on participation. We are achieving this with a programme that is both broader and more specialised and with a concept that is more focused on collaboration. With meet-ups during the breaks, we are also bringing existing communities together and creating docking points. Instead of keynotes and panel talks, there will be workshops by experts for experts.
2
One day for AFQC 2026 is not enough. By spreading the programme over two days, we bring more breadth and depth to the programme and, above all, enable more in-depth exchange between the participants. By spreading out the morning of the first day and the afternoon of the second day, we are making it easier to travel to and from the event on both days. AFQC 2026 starts on Wednesday at 11 a.m. and ends on Thursday after lunch. However, if you arrive earlier or stay longer, you are welcome to join us in our networking café (which is also a good place to work at any time).
3
The evening programme of AFQC 2026 has to pop. Simply opening a bar after a day full of exertion (workshops) and deprivation (lunch portion sizes) is not enough. That’s why we’re creating new good reasons to celebrate with us with programme items in the evening. And by integrating the local network of Digitale Stadt Düsseldorf, we are bringing even more relevant people to the AFQC, even from outside the network.
