ColOpt is an European Training Network (ETN) funded by the Innovative Training Network scheme H2020-MSCA-ITN-2016 of the Marie Skłodowska Curie Actions (MSCA). ColOpt will train fifteen Early-Stage Researchers (ESR) in fundamental science and applications in the areas of cold atom and quantum physics, optical technologies and complexity science. The aim is to promote European competitiveness in emergent quantum technologies. Our network partners include nine academic nodes and three companies from six European countries, supported by two partners in Brazil and the USA, five further non-academic partners and one public-private partnership. ColOpt’s research programme focuses on the collective interactions of structured light with laser-cooled cold and quantum-degenerate matter. Building on this interdisciplinary relevance, a particular novelty of ColOpt is the integration of classical and quantum self-organization. ColOpt combines cutting-edge science with training in complex instrumentation and methods to the highest level of technical expertise, both experimentally and theoretically; fostering the development of the next generation of researchers in the areas of cold atom and quantum physics, optical technologies and complexity science.