New UK quantum research hubs

Announced on 26 July 2024, five new research hubs have been created to tackle the challenges in quantum technologies, as part of the Government's aim for the UK to play a key role in the global development of quantum computers.  Funding has been provided by industry collaboration and by EPSRC, UKRI Biotechnology and Biological Research Council, UKRI Medical Research Council and the National Institute for Health and Care Research.

Professor Jason Smith of this department is the Associate Director for the IQN hub whose ultimate goal is to create a quantum internet.  Led by Herriot-Watt University, Professor Smith's role will be vital for the work aiming to globally interlink quantum networks to multiple quantum computers to produce huge computational power.  The networks will be designed to ensure secure access to future quantum computing services, and to future-proof secure quantum communications and distributed quantum sensing applications.

As Professor Smith says:

"These new hubs will build on the UK's global leadership in bringing quantum technologies from university laboratories to commercial impact...  It is an exciting time, seeing the success of the programme so far and the new opportunities and application areas that are emerging, as well as the increasing prominence of Materials research in the continued advancement of quantum technology hardware.

In the IQN Hub we will be developing quantum communications systems to deliver secure communications and cloud-based quantum computing, with Oxford researchers focusing on memory devices that will form the basis of a new quantum internet".

Other hubs include QC13 (Quantum Computing via Integrated and Interconnected Implementations) led by Professor Ian Walmsley (Oxford Physics), and Q-BIOMED which will benefit from strong involvement by Professor Dame Molly Stevens (Oxford Engineering).  As Professor Charlotte Deane (Executive Chair of EPSRC) says: "Technologies harnessing quantum properties will provide unparalleled power and capacity for analysis at a molecular level, with truly revolutionary possibilities across everything from healthcare to infrastructure and computing".  

To find out more, read the full article by the University of Oxford: New Oxford quantum hub to tackle key challenges in quantum technologies.