Imperial academic co-leads launch of new UK Quantum Network

Professor Richard Curry and Professor Peter Haynes FREng at the M4QN launch event

Funded by the EPSRC, the Materials for Quantum Network is an initiative to bring together the UK's Materials and Quantum technologies communities.

Quantum mechanics played a crucial role in developing the digital technologies that transformed the economy and society in the 20th century. We are now on the cusp of a second revolution that could transform technologies across energy, construction, pharmaceuticals, defence, finance, security, telecommunications, and information technology. All of these technologies will rely on the development and application of materials.

Our launch event brought together a new group of people for the first time, spanning the materials and quantum technologies communities in the UK. Professor Peter Haynes FREng

The Materials for Quantum Network (M4QN) was successfully launched in Manchester on 16 and 17 January 2023. Co-led by Professor Peter Haynes FREng of Imperial College London and Professor Richard Curry of the University of Manchester, the event was well-attended, with over 200 individuals present and representation from 49 different institutions, including 26 researchers from Imperial College London. The primary goal of the launch event was to form a new interdisciplinary research community and identify new research topics within quantum technologies.

The event was a two-day conference that provided attendees with information about the UK National Quantum Technologies Programme and UK Quantum Hubs through presentations and breakout sessions. The breakout sessions, which focused on materials and thematic interest groups, provided a key opportunity for attendees to network with one another and discuss potential research opportunities.  

The event began with an opening talk by Professor Sir Peter Knight, who provided an overview of the UK National Quantum Technologies Programme. This was followed by presentations by Professor Peter Haynes and Professor Richard Curry, who discussed the network and its objectives. Additionally, there was an Industry Presentation by Mark Thompson from Psi Quantum.

Professor Peter Haynes commented: "Our launch event brought together a new group of people for the first time, spanning the materials and quantum technologies communities in the UK. There was a tangible sense of excitement about the prospect of working together.

Discussions from the interest groups generated some great ideas about how to take the Network forward, and I look forward to seeing those develop alongside centrally-coordinated initiatives for summer schools, lab exchanges, international visits and a forward-looking roadmap on materials for quantum technologies."

If you would like to know more about the Materials for Quantum Network, please visit their website. You can also sign up for regular email updates about upcoming events.

Imperial College London has a network of quantum researchers under QuEST (Quantum Engineering, Science & Technology). Quest is both a cross-disciplinary College Centre of Excellence and one of a select group of Academic Strategy Projects. As a Centre, it aims to bring together the complementary expertise of researchers across the College, along with our industry partners and external stakeholders, to translate discoveries in quantum science into transformative quantum technologies.