£100 Million Announced for Five UK Quantum Technology Hubs

The UK Government has announced the UK’s quantum technologies sector will receive a £100 million boost through the creation of five hubs designed to have a transformative effect on areas including healthcare, computing, national security and critical infrastructure.

The hubs were announced by Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, Peter Kyle, who stated the ambition to ‘create a culture of accelerated innovation’ with the hubs helping to ‘bridge the gap between brilliant ideas and practical solutions.’

The hubs are being delivered by the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC), with a £106 million investment from EPSRC, the Biotechnology and Biological Research Council (BBSRC), Medical Research Council (MRC), and the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR). This will be complemented by cash and in-kind contributions worth more than £54 million from industry partners.

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The five hubs are as follows:

  • The UK Quantum Biomedical Sensing Research Hub (Q-BIOMED), led by: Professor Rachel McKendry, UCL and Professor Mete Atatüre, University of Cambridge – Host university and partner support (cash and in-kind): £10.8 million. Q-BIOMED aims to transform the future of early disease diagnosis by exploiting emerging advances in quantum sensors capable of detecting cells and molecules, potentially orders of magnitude more sensitively than traditional diagnostic tests. Other research will include quantum-enhanced MRI scans, heart scanners and surgical and treatment interventions for early-stage and hard-to-treat cancers.
  • UK Quantum Technology Hub in Sensing, Imaging and Timing (QuSIT), led by: Professor Michael Holynski, University of Birmingham – Host university and partner support (cash and in-kind): £27.5 million – QuSIT aims to overcome the key research barriers to quantum sensing, imaging and timing being used at scale. This will enable researchers to see the invisible, with demonstrations in sectors including healthcare, infrastructure, transport and security. QuSIT will create a pathway to widespread use and manufacture of quantum technologies, accelerating economic and societal benefits.
  • Integrated Quantum Networks (IQN) Quantum Technology Research Hub, led by: Professor Gerald Buller, Heriot-Watt University – Host university and partner support (cash and in-kind): £31.7 million – The IQN hub will undertake research towards the ultimate goal of a ‘quantum internet’, globally interlinked quantum networks connecting multiple quantum computers to produce enormous computational power. The networks will harness the unique properties of quantum physics such as entanglement and quantum memory.
  • QCI3: Hub for Quantum Computing via Integrated and Interconnected Implementations, led by: Professor Dominic O’Brien, University of Oxford – Host university and partner support (cash and in-kind): £22.4 million – QCI3 aims to develop the technologies needed for the UK to play a key role in the development of quantum computers. The researchers will work closely with industry partners to identify and develop real-world applications of quantum computing, including focusing on design for new materials, chemicals, fluid simulation techniques and machine learning.
  • The UK Hub for Quantum Enabled Position, Navigation and Timing (QEPNT), led by: Professor Douglas Paul, University of Glasgow – Host university and partner support (cash and in-kind): £21.9 million – QEPNT aims to develop quantum technologies that will be key for national security and critical infrastructure and sectors such as aerospace, connected and autonomous vehicles, finance, maritime and agriculture. These include atomic clocks and LiDAR sensors that use light to measure range. They will provide resilient positioning, navigation and timing.

EPSRC Executive Chair Professor Charlotte Deane said:

‘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.

‘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.’

The announcement can be read in full at the UKRI website.

(This Bulletin article was the subject of a ResearchConnect news alert.)