Image depicting Quantum

The Australian Government announced round 2 of the $36 million Critical Technologies Challenge Program (CTCP).  

CTCP invites applicants to form consortia and address some of Australia’s most significant national challenges using quantum technology.

There are 4 challenges in round 2:

  • Improve biosecurity outcomes by enhancing the detection of invasive pests or diseases, and cargo inspection processes. 
  • Improve life expectancy, health outcomes and access to health technology for First Nations peoples. 
  • Optimise transport routes, logistics and supply chain operations. 
  • Optimise the performance, sustainability, and security of energy networks. 

Round 2 supports businesses to partner with Australian research organisations, technology end-users and other interested parties. It aims to accelerate commercialisation for quantum technologies from early-stage, when private capital is hard to secure.

Transcript

[Black panel appears with white writing: Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander viewers are advised that the following video may contain images of people who have died.]

[Music starts. The opening page shows a purple panel with the title in the lower left corner: Dr Cathy Foley AO, Australia’s Chief Scientist, Jan 2021 to Dec 2024.]

Dr Foley is speaking to the camera:  The Australian Government has set 4 Quantum Challenges for round 2 of the Critical Technologies Challenge Program.

[A white panel with a faint grey striped pattern near the edges appears. Text appears:

Priority areas:

  • Biosecurity (graphic of a purple cargo ship over 2 wavy red lines appears above text)
  • Energy (graphic of 2 purple high voltage towers appears above text with connecting red power lines with a small yellow lightning bolt on each tower)
  • Transport (4 graphics appear above the text connected by purple lines moving in a circle, clockwise; red location pinpoint, purple and red cargo ship, red plane, and purple and red truck)
  • First Nations Health (graphic of a purple heart with a white lifeline in the middle appears above text)]

Dr Foley says: Challenges fall in priority areas of biosecurity, energy, transport and health outcomes for First Nations peoples.

[An image appears of Dr Foley with a purple background. She is speaking to the camera]

Dr Foley: I encourage industry and research partners to team up and apply for up to half a million dollars to test the feasibility of your quantum solution.

[A white panel with a faint grey striped pattern near the edges appears. Text appears: Apply for up to $500k feasibility funding to test your quantum solution.]

[Image moves back to Dr Foley speaking to the camera with a purple background]

Dr Foley: If your feasibility project is successful, I'm advised you will be invited to apply for up to $5 million in demonstrator funding to help progress your quantum solution to market.

[A white panel with a faint grey striped pattern near the edges appears. Text appears: Successful applicants will be invited to apply for up to $5m demonstrator funding.]

[An image appears of Dr Foley with a purple background. She is speaking to the camera]

Dr Foley: This is more than just a call for ideas. It's about turning concepts into commercial solutions for adoption by innovative Australian businesses, their customers and the community.

[A white panel with a faint grey striped pattern near the edges appears. A purple graphic of a person appears turning their head from the left side to front with a thin red line circling around them once and disappears. More graphics appear including from top left clockwise. These are a heart with a white lifeline in the middle; red location pinpoint, purple and red cargo ship, red plane, and purple and red truck; microscope; electricity towers; tractor; stethoscope; 3 people above a world globe; brain; bacteria, and a cargo ship over 2 wavy lines.]

Dr Foley says: This is more than just a call for ideas. It's about turning concepts into commercial solutions for adoption by innovative Australian businesses, their customers and the community. Quantum technology will transform the way we live and work and solve some of our most significant national challenges. It's a great time to get involved and help capitalise on Australia's world leading research to grow our quantum industry and benefit all Australians.

While Dr Foley is speaking these clips appear:

  • 2 quantum computers rotating against a black background
  • machine with interchanging red and green lasers
  • motorway with blue laser lines connecting moving vehicles
  • 2 scientists in white lab coats and face masks looking through microscopes. Behind them sits another scientist in a white lab coat
  • a doctor in a white lab coat presses a button, moving a person lying down into an MRI machine 
  • amber bottles moving clockwise on a quick automation bottle-filling machine
  • a white truck driving on a highway surrounded by open fields at sunset, with 2 round blue glowing circles moving outwards from it
  • a man and woman smile while holding a baby together, standing in a corner with white walls behind them
  • a man and woman hugging and smiling with a bush background
  • wind turbines rotating with green grassy fields and mountains behind
  • 2 large cargo ships docked at a busy port, surrounded by stacks of colourful shipping containers and a red crane, with the ocean and coastline in the background
  • a tractor spraying crops in a green field, surrounded by glowing green circles with a forest in the background
  • a man and woman wearing white hardhats with illuminated lines appearing around them 
  • a row of connected high voltage towers with glowing red and blue lights travelling along the lines, set against trees and a sunrise.

[An image appears of Dr Foley with a purple background. She is speaking to the camera]

Dr Foley: Get ready to apply for funding to test the feasibility of your solution through the Critical Technologies Challenge Program. Applications will open soon.

[A white panel with a purple shape in the top left corner appears with the text: The Australian Government, Department of Industry, Science and Resources grey crest and logo appear in stack format to the left. Purple text appears to the right of this logo: Critical Technologies Challenge Program.]

[A white panel with a faint grey striped pattern near the edges appears with the text: Access the full grant guidelines and learn more at business.gov.au/CTCP2]

End of transcript

Join the CTCP round 2 Contacts Directory

You must form a consortium to apply. Use our Contacts Directory to find potential partners. You do not need to use the directory to apply for this grant.

Read the CTCP round 2 grant guidelines on business.gov.au

This round will open for applications on 15 January 2025.

More about the program

CTCP is a commitment of the Australian Government’s National Quantum Strategy. It builds on previous quantum investments, including:

  • funding for the creation of Quantum Australia, Australia’s centre for quantum growth
  • investments in Silicon Quantum Computing
  • a partnership with the Queensland Government and PsiQuantum to secure the world’s first fault-tolerant quantum computer in Australia. 

Round 1 challenges drove collaboration between researchers, start-ups, industry and the wider economy with 14 projects receiving feasibility funding totalling $5.2 million.