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Quantum Information Processing - Deciding the direction of research

August 16, 2002

Future developments in quantum information processing will radically change the way we store and process information.

Its basic aim is to understand how the fundamental laws of quantum physics can be harnessed for the manipulation, storage and communication of information, opening up new possibilities in information processing.

Research and development in this area could have a profound impact on fundamental science.

Over the next 5 years, with funding of £9M, the direction of a substantial amount of the research in this area in the UK will be shaped by Andrew Briggs, Professor of Materials at Oxford University.

Professor Briggs has been appointed as the Director of the Quantum Information Processing Interdisciplinary Research Collaboration (QIP IRC).

Funded by the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council the announcement that a QIP IRC was being set up was made in January 2002. The activities and structure of the IRC will be formulated over the coming year, with a view to setting an official start date within the next twelve months.

Quantum Information Processing is a cross-disciplinary field bringing together mathematics, theoretical and experimental physics, computer science, materials science, information theory and engineering. Its scope ranges from deep fundamental issues in physics to prospective commercial exploitation by the computing and communication industries.

Director General of the Research Councils Dr. John Taylor said, "I am pleased that EPSRC has secured Professor Andrew Briggs as the Director of this new and important IRC. Quantum Information Processing offers enormous opportunities both scientific and economic. I look forward to seeing the development of some exciting collaborations between academia and with industry."

The Chief Executive of EPSRC, Professor John O'Reilly said, "I am delighted that we have been able to attract a researcher of the calibre and standing of Professor Andrew Briggs. Various researchers in the UK, Professor Briggs amongst them, have made seminal contributions to this important and exciting emerging field. The development of this new IRC affords an opportunity to harness and support yet more effectively, and with a significant injection of additional investment, these research efforts to the benefit of science in the UK."

In his new role the first thing Professor Briggs will be doing is to ask the academic and industrial community to help him decide the focus of research in this area. Ideas can be submitted through the Oxford University website www.materials.ox.ac.uk/qipirc

Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC)

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