QuantERA Call 2025 Partner Search Tool

General Information

• Type: Partner looking for project
• Organisation: Munster Technological University
• Country: Ireland (IE)

Research area

• Call topics:
  • Applied Quantum Science
• Keywords:

  Cybersecurity; Quantum information security; Quantum communication; Cryptography; Software engineering

• Brief description of your expertise / expertise you are looking for:

  Have you considered cybersecurity in your QuantERA proposal? Cybersecurity is a foundational requirement for all new quantum communications and technologies. When the internet was built, security was treated as an afterthought, and we are still experiencing the negative consequences in the form of insecure systems and devices, and frequent cybersecurity incidents. For the quantum internet and future quantum technologies, security needs to be designed in from the very beginning. At Munster Technological University, our Quantum Information Security research group is a female-led team specialising in quantum information security. We bring expertise across quantum cryptography, penetration testing and software engineering. Our expertise spans theoretical physics, mathematics, engineering and computer science. We work at the interface between theory and practice and focus on how to realise secure, testable and auditable quantum systems. We are interested in partnering with existing or planned applications that would benefit from embedded quantum cybersecurity expertise, for example security work packages, secure protocol design, threat modelling, security testing and compliance with emerging EU cyber resilience requirements. Munster Technological University also hosts the Irish Quantum Cloud Computing Hub, which provides access to quantum computing for research groups across Ireland. We subsidise access to cloud-based quantum computers and operate a trusted research environment that supports national and international collaborations. This hub can be made available to the project, including building a platform with managed access controls for a multi-country consortium.

• Brief description of your project / the project you would like to join:

  Why might cybersecurity be important for your proposal? If you are developing new quantum technologies, forthcoming EU regulation on cyber resilience will require that new products and services include embedded cybersecurity in their design. Secure communication protocols, robust key management and systematic approaches to security engineering are therefore essential components of any future-facing quantum technology. If you are developing new quantum software or control stacks, quantum software engineering is an emerging discipline that is beginning to address how to specify, verify and test quantum software correctly. There are still many open research questions, particularly around security, robustness and reproducibility. We would like to join a consortium that is developing quantum communication, computing, networking, sensing or hybrid classical quantum systems, where we can contribute to: - Security and privacy by design for quantum architectures and protocols - Security analysis and threat modelling for quantum networks and devices - Design and testing of cryptographic and authentication mechanisms, including quantum enhanced approaches - Secure and reliable quantum software engineering, including testing methodologies and benchmarking We aim to help partners ensure that their quantum technologies are not only innovative, but also secure, compliant and ready for real-world deployment.

Hazel Murray

• Organisation: Munster Technological University
• Position: Chair of Cybersecurity
• E-mail: hazel.murray@mtu.ie