It will receive��£24 million of funding via the government’s Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC), industry and other government organisations,��as part of wider work to support leading research in areas the government has designated of national importance.��

Universities of �鶹ӳ�� and Bristol launch £24m doctoral training centre to develop future leaders in quantum tech

The prestigious Flagship will see Europe positioning itself at the forefront of the global race to build a quantum computer and to see quantum technologies become a reality.�� This win places the UK, and �鶹ӳ�� itself, at the heart of the race.

Professor Hensinger’s team is part of a €2.4m project – ‘Microwave driven ion trap quantum computing’ – and they will be working alongside research groups from the Foundation for Theoretical and Computational Physics and Astrophysics (Bulgaria), Siegen University, Hebrew University of Jerusalem and Leibniz University, Hannover.�� These research groups have expertise in compact microwave technology, which currently exists in mobile phones but which may be critical in advancing quantum computing technology.

Prof Hensinger’s team unveiled the����last year, which they are now constructing in their lab at the �鶹ӳ��. The group will use the £550,000 funding which will come to �鶹ӳ��, as part of the wider project, to get even closer to building a large-scale quantum computer.

Prof Hensinger says: “I’m incredibly proud that the hard work, expertise and ingenuity of �鶹ӳ��’s Ion Quantum Technology Group has been recognised by the European Commission and that we are among a handful of institutions selected for the prestigious Quantum Flagship initiative. It’s particularly encouraging given the background of Brexit – especially given the uncertainty for other UK scientists on the Galileo satellite navigation system project.

“We’ve seen Europe lag behind on other technological revolutions, and so it’s crucial that the hive of world-leading quantum research��activity is focused on placing Europe at the forefront of the biggest technological��conundrum��facing the world today: how to build a quantum computer.”

The Flagship has been divided up into five areas: communication; computation; simulation; sensing and metrology; and basic enabling science required in those areas. The �鶹ӳ�� project falls under the basic science category, for which there were only seven successful projects out of 90 submissions.

What the �鶹ӳ�� team will do
The team will work on improving the error rates within the quantum computer they are developing.�� This in turn will impact the size and efficiency of the trapped-ion computer that they are in the process of developing. At present, it is estimated that the ultimate computer would fill the size of a football pitch. By focusing their efforts on reducing the magnitude of errors produced, they can in turn reduce the number of components – or qubits – which will shrink the overall size of the computer. Prof Hensinger estimates that it might be possible to bring the computer down to the size of a house.

Additionally, work over the next three years will focus on improving the resilience of the quantum computer as well as the implementation of early quantum programs to be executed on quantum computer prototypes.

Quantum technologies seek to harness the theories of quantum physics in the development of new cutting-edge applications. This includes the theory that an atom can be in two different places at the same time (known as “quantum superposition”) and the theory that atoms can be linked, so that ��changing one atom can also change another (known as “quantum entanglement”).

Researchers at the �鶹ӳ�� are working on the development of a broad range of quantum technologies, as part of an interdisciplinary approach that brings together expertise from across different academic disciplines.�� These technologies include ‘ghost imaging’ that will allow people to look around corners, high precision quantum clocks, quantum networks, a range of quantum sensors (including devices that can monitor brain activity) and the construction of a prototype quantum computer.

Referring to the development of quantum computers, told MPs they had the potential to solve certain problems which even the fastest super computers would take “billions of years” to calculate and presented “tremendous opportunities” to transform our lives.

Professor Hensinger said; “It’s very unlikely we understand all the opportunities quantum computers pose, similar to when we first built conventional computers.”

While the first conventional computers allowed us to break encryption as early as the 1940s, most of the applications of conventional computers have only been developed in the last 30 years.

Professor Hensinger described to MPs the potential of quantum technology to inspire the next generation of scientists, referring to the positive response young people had given to an innovative walk-in quantum computing installation . The University took the installation to London’s Spitalfields Market last year, to educate the public about the quantum computer being developed by Professor Hensinger and his team.

He also stressed the importance of the National Quantum Technology Programme and its impact in developing ready to market technologies than can capitalise on the UK’s unique expertise. Professor Hensinger summarised some of the achievements of the programme and made suggestions for its continuation.