£106m for five UK quantum hubs
The UK government has confirmed the funding for five research hubs to develop practical use of quantum technology in areas such as medical scanners, the quantum Internet and secure positioning systems.
The five quantum research hubs are backed by £106m over the next five years and will be based in Glasgow, Edinburgh, Birmingham, Oxford and London. This is part of the ongoing UK National Quantum Technologies Programme (NQTP) that was set up in 2014 with a target funding of £1.5bn over the next ten years and the hubs were confirmed last year.
The University of Glasgow will lead the Quantum Enabled Position, Navigation and Timing (QEPNT) hub developing quantum technologies for resilient position, navigation and timing systems in national security and critical national infrastructure. This technology can offer enhanced accuracy and reliability in sectors including aerospace, autonomous vehicles, finance, maritime, and agriculture. The hub will also develop smaller, lighter devices.
“Much of the UK’s critical infrastructure relies on the accurate measurements of time, direction and speed which enable us to stay in constant contact with communications satellites. Currently, those connections are vulnerable to disruption through technical problems or deliberate malicious actions like signal-jamming,” said Professor Douglas Paul, Project Lead for the QEPNT Hub (above).
”If those connections are lost for any reason, it would have a huge impact on key industries like energy, finance, communications and transport, causing an estimated economic loss of a billion pounds a day until service is restored.”
“This new hub will support the development of new and improved forms of atomic clocks, quantum gyroscopes and quantum accelerometers. Those technologies, integrated into portable and affordable future devices, will help reduce our reliance on satellites by providing new ways to locally measure position, navigation and timing. Unlike current technologies, they will work indoors, underground and in all weathers, helping to bolster the UK’s national security and offering new applications for industry.”
QEPNT will be supported by researchers from Imperial College London and the Universities of Bristol, Cambridge, Edinburgh, Loughborough, Strathclyde, Heriot-Watt, Queen’s University Belfast and Warwick.
The Integrated Quantum Networks (IQN) hub at Heriot-Watt University, also in Glasgow, is developing technologies for a future UK-wide quantum internet with cybersecurity and distributed quantum computing.
“The Integrated Quantum Networks Hub will provide the underpinning research required towards the establishment of a UK-wide quantum network,” said Professor Gerald Buller, Director of the IQN Hub. “It will deliver quantum networks at different scales, from local data centres to inter-city links and up to global satellite connections. Establishing a widescale quantum internet could have impact across all sectors, predominantly allowing future-proof security for data communications, as well as linking up quantum computers and sensors with benefits ranging from healthcare to materials research, artificial intelligence and many others.”
The Sensing, Imaging and Timing (QuSIT) hub at the University of Birmingham will focus on the development of quantum sensing for practical applications – brain scanners for dementia, cancer diagnostics, and advanced security and infrastructure monitoring.
It will include researchers from Glasgow, Bristol, Durham, Heriot-Watt, Imperial, Nottingham, Southampton and Strathclyde, as well as the British Geological Survey and NPL.
The Hub for Quantum Computing via Integrated and Interconnected Implementations at the University of Oxford is developing technologies for building quantum computers across both hardware and software. The university has already spun out several quantum startups such as Oxford Ionics for ion trap quantum processors and Oxford Quantum Circuits (OQC). UK quantum computer pioneer Rigetti has also installed a quantum computer system close to the city.
The fifth hub is the Quantum Biomedical Sensing Research Hub at University College London and University of Cambridge. This is looking at quantum sensors for ultra-sensitive disease diagnosis, including rapid blood tests, and biomedical scanners for earlier diagnosis and treatment of diseases such as cancer and Alzheimer’s disease.
“This isn’t just about research; it’s about putting that research to work. These hubs will bridge the gap between brilliant ideas and practical solutions. They will not only transform sectors like healthcare and security, but also create a culture of accelerated innovation that helps to grow our economy,” said the new UK Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, Peter Kyle.
The hubs will be delivered by the UKRI Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC), with a £106 million investment from EPSRC, the UKRI Biotechnology and Biological Research Council, UKRI Medical Research Council, and the National Institute for Health and Care Research.
“The five Quantum Technology Hubs announced today will harness the UK’s expertise to foster innovation, support growth and ensure that we capitalise on the profound opportunities of this transformative technology,” said EPSRC Executive Chair Professor Charlotte Deane.
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