Munich Quantum Software Forum 2026
The fourth Munich Quantum Software Forum brought together the quantum software community for two days of talks, pitches, and meet-ups — co-organized by MQSC and TUM, with a clear signal from the field: the community is ready for real software engineering.
The Munich Quantum Software Forum (MQSF) returned for its fourth edition — bigger than ever, and with a sharper focus than before. Co-organized by MQSC and the Chair for Design Automation at TUM, with support from Munich Quantum Valley, the event once again brought together the full breadth of the quantum software community: computer scientists, physicists, engineers, and mathematicians; academics and industry professionals; newcomers and veterans alike.
From Research to Practice
MQSC’s presence at the forum went beyond organizing. In his keynote “System Software for Quantum Computing: From the Metal to the User,” Lukas Burgholzer (CTO, MQSC) presented the full scope of MQSC’s work — from device interfaces and compilers to HPC integration — showing how these pieces are coming together into a coherent software stack.
What the Community Is Telling Us
Also interesting: Prior to the event, we ran a survey among attendees to get a clearer picture of where the quantum software community stands — and the results paint a compelling picture of a field that is maturing fast.
Interest in Development Environments, Verification & Debugging, and Error Correction is on the rise, while Quantum Algorithms — long the centerpiece of the field — saw a notable shift in focus. When asked where external support would be most valuable, the top answers were Software/HPC Integration, Performance Optimization, and Testing & Benchmarking. And when it comes to what matters most in quantum software, the community’s priorities were clear: Correctness & Reliability, Ease of Use & Documentation, and Performance & Scalability.
The message is clear: the community is no longer asking whether quantum algorithms can run. It is asking whether they can run reliably, at scale, and with software that can actually be trusted. Quick hacks and standalone scripts are no longer enough — the field wants real software engineering.
These are exactly the challenges MQSC was built to address.
Thank You
A heartfelt thank you to everyone who attended, presented, participated in the survey, and helped make MQSF 2026 what it was. Events like this only work because of the people who show up, engage, and push the conversation forward. We are proud to help build this community — and already looking forward to the next edition.