Winners of UK Government’s £15 million Quantum competition announced

• £15 million Quantum Catalyst Fund will accelerate the adoption of quantum solutions by the public sector

• Quantum technology could revolutionise work across Government, including transport, space, health and net zero

• 30 projects have been chosen to take part in phase 1 of the competition

The first winners of a £15 million competition to explore the benefits of using quantum technologies in the Government’s work across areas like health, transport and net zero have been announced today (7 September).

The Quantum Catalyst Fund aims to accelerate the adoption of quantum solutions by the public sector and hopes to ensure the UK Government is well-placed to fully harness the benefits of using these technologies across a range of policy areas.

Quantum technologies – one of the Government’s five critical technologies – are devices and systems using quantum mechanics to provide capabilities that ‘classical’ machines like binary computers cannot.

Over the next ten years, quantum technologies are expected to revolutionise many aspects of life in the UK and bring enormous benefits such as helping to grow the economy and create well-paid jobs across the country.

The first round of feasibility studies under the new fund will explore how this technology can provide new capabilities in public services, such as quantum-enabled brain imaging in healthcare to tackle epilepsy, concussion, and dementia, or quantum computing that can solve optimisation problems in energy grids, helping us to reach net zero.

Says George Freeman, UK Minister of State for the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology:

“The Quantum revolution is set to be as transformational as the rise of classical computing, and is now starting to open up whole new fields from superfast computing to navigation, allowing us to do things that were previously impossible. We can use our scientific leadership in quantum to build exciting new career paths, businesses and even whole sectors here in the UK, boosting economic growth.

“We are determined to continue to invest and lead from the front in quantum infrastructure, regulation, standards and skills to fully exploit it’s potential to drive new economic opportunities. Our Quantum Catalyst Fund will help to push the boundaries of this technology’s development, and use public sector procurement to help nurture new companies and deliver benefits for citizens in public services to benefit us all.”

The competition is being delivered by Innovate UK in conjunction with the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology (DSIT). It is part of the UK’s National Quantum Technologies Programme which has been running since 2014 to put the UK at the forefront of quantum technologies globally.

A full list of those receiving funding can be found below: