Eclipse Qrisp wins the Quantum Effects Award 2026 for quantum programming

[Blue Fraction]

Eclipse Qrisp, an open source, high level quantum programming framework started by Fraunhofer FOKUS, has won the Quantum Effects Award 2026 for Quantum Computing Software and Algorithms, according to an Eclipse Foundation release. The award was presented at the Quantum Effects trade fair and conference in Stuttgart. An international jury judged entries on innovation, application potential, feasibility and collaboration between research and industry

Qrisp is built on Python and lets developers write quantum algorithms using familiar ideas like variables, functions and control flow, which it then compiles into optimised quantum circuits. It has typed quantum variables and automatic memory management, supports hybrid computing through JAX and is being integrated with Nvidia's CUDA-Q. In plain terms, it tries to make programming a quantum computer feel more like normal programming

Michael Plagge of the Eclipse Foundation said: "Eclipse Qrisp raises the level of abstraction, enabling developers to focus on the algorithm." He added that the award is "tremendous recognition for Fraunhofer FOKUS and the Eclipse Qrisp community." The first Eclipse Qrisp Community Day is on 29 October at Fraunhofer FOKUS in Berlin. The framework also contributes to a Horizon Europe project called SecQDevOps

Most quantum programming today still works close to the level of individual gates, a bit like writing assembly language in the early days of classical computing. Higher level languages could open quantum programming to many more developers. There are several competing approaches, including IBM's Qiskit, Google's Cirq and Microsoft's Q#. Qrisp's open source, vendor neutral approach is a good fit for European efforts to avoid dependence on any single company

Do quantum computers need easier programming languages to take off? And which quantum programming tool would you recommend to a beginner?

Eclipse Qrisp Wins Quantum Effects Award 2026 For Advancing Quantum Software Developmentwww.globenewswire.com

[Natalie]

Higher level languages are essential. Most developers will never want to think about individual gates

Classical computing took off when people could write in languages that hid the hardware details. Nobody writes web apps in machine code

[Hannah_12]

CUDA-Q integration is a smart move. Nvidia is pushing hard into hybrid quantum and classical computing, so working well with their tools makes sense

Nvidia will be at the centre of hybrid computing whatever happens, so compatibility is essential. Their software is already everywhere in AI research

[Western Depot]

Open source and vendor neutral is the right approach for a European project. Nobody wants to be locked into one American company's tools. The Eclipse Foundation also gives it long term stability, since it does not depend on one company's funding. Openness also helps with security reviews

[ScarletWrench]

Automatic memory management for qubits is clever. Qubits are scarce, so reusing them efficiently matters

Having the compiler handle it saves programmers a lot of headaches. Uncomputing temporary qubits correctly is notoriously fiddly by hand. It is the sort of feature that saves hours of debugging

[Freya_27]

That comparison with assembly language is spot on. We are still in the early days of quantum software

Abstractions will come as the hardware matures. Give it ten years and today's quantum code will look primitive. Every computing field goes through that stage

[Connor97]

For beginners, Qiskit still has the most tutorials and community support. But Qrisp's Python first approach sounds friendly

Worth a look. IBM's free courses on their learning site are excellent too

They pair well with Qiskit. Starting with simple circuits and building up is the best way in