Quantum Science and Technology Hub
The first quantum revolution brought a completely new understanding of the physics behind everything we observe and the nature itself of our universe.
Phenomena like quantum superposition (the ability of a particle to be in two states at the same time), entanglement between two particles (the ability to instantaneously change the state of one particle by measuring its entangled counterpart, even at large distances) and quantum interference (in which particles interfere as waves) have been puzzling scientists around the world ever since – including Einstein.
With the advent of the second quantum revolution, these counterintuitive quantum phenomena have continued to trigger a global development of quantum technologies, with the capability of providing strategic benefits to the security, health and wellbeing of our society.
There's a rising global demand for faster computing power, more secure communication protocols, and high-precision metrological schemes for use in medical, environmental, and engineering settings, and this is stimulating a parallel demand for highly-skilled, knowledgable and capable quantum scientists, engineers, and AI, computing and biomedical experts.
And it's this need – along with the necessity to find industrial partners to take the growing quantum technological revolution forward – which has led to the creation of the Quantum Science and Technology Hub (QSTH), under the direction of Dr. Vincenzo Tamma.
The QSTH connects the University's core quantum science and technology staff with experts in related departments across the University – such as artificial intelligent (AI), biomedical engineering, medicine, computing, environmental science and gravitation – and with external collaborators on four continents.
Through the QSTH, we're working to achieve a deeper understanding of quantum science, to develop novel quantum technologies, and to boost the industrial use of quantum technologies at the crossover between different disciplines.
The QSTH aims to
- Develop high-precision quantum sensors for medical and environmental applications, remote sensing, infrastructure planning and development (e.g. railway transport, autonomous cars), high precision navigation, testing fundamental laws in the universe
- Develop a new generation of quantum simulators for medical and environmental applications
- Secure long distance quantum communication
- Develop superfast quantum computing devices
- Explore the interface between AI, data-intensive science and quantum physics techniques to benchmark quantum technologies and quantum machine learning for next generation quantum processors
- Further the study of quantum phenomena within the fields of quantum optics, matter waves, atom interferometry and the interface between quantum physics and gravity.
Core members
Dr. Vincenzo Tamma
- Job Title Reader in Physics
- Email Address vincenzo.tamma@port.ac.uk
- Department School of Mathematics and Physics
- Faculty Faculty of Technology
Dr. Arseni Goussev
- Job Title Senior Lecturer
- Email Address Arseni.Goussev@port.ac.uk
- Department School of Mathematics and Physics
- Faculty Faculty of Technology
Dr. Jae Woo Joo
- Job Title Senior Lecturer
- Email Address Jaewoo.Joo@port.ac.uk
- Department School of Mathematics and Physics
- Faculty Faculty of Technology
Dr. Esmaeil Namvar
- Job Title Teaching Fellow
- Email Address Esmaeil.Namvar@port.ac.uk
- Department School of Mathematics and Physics
- Faculty Faculty of Technology
Visiting research fellow
University experts across related fields
Gordon Blunn, Professor of Bioengineering
Alexander Gegov, Reader in Computational Intelligence
Adrian Hopgood, Professor of Intelligent Systems
Mohammad Hoque, Senior lecturer in Hydrogeology
Andrew Lundgren, Reader in Gravitational Wave physics
Djamila Ouelhadj, Professor of Operational Research
Marta Roldo, Senior lecturer in Pharmaceutics
Gianluca Tozzi, Reader in Bioengineering
Hui Yu, Professor of Visual Computing
International collaborators
Prof. Paolo Facchi, University of Bari, Italy
Elizabeth Goldschmidt, University of Illinois, US
Prof. Michał Karpiński, University of Warsaw, Poland
Prof. Yoon-Ho Kim, Pohang University of Science and Technology, South Korea
Prof. Alberto Marino, University of Oklahoma, US
Prof. Frank Narducci, Naval Postgraduate School, Monterey, U.S
Prof. Janwei Pan, University of Science and Technology of China
Prof. Ernst Rasel, Leibniz University, Hannover, Germany
Prof. Wolfgang P. Schleich, University of Ulm, Germany
Prof. Yanhua Shih, University of Maryland, Baltimore
Prof. Andrew White, University of Queensland, Australia
Funding
The QSTH has secured funding for quantum sensing technologies from the US Department of Defence and is also currently engaging with UK funding agencies and institutions.
Partnerships and links
We have links with a range of business and organisations in industry, and with other academic institutions, including:
- Quantum Technology Enterprise Centre (QTEC) at the University of Bristol
- Nabla Ventures and its portfolio companies in quantum technologies – including QLM Technology, Nu Quantum, IBM, and HPE
- Quantum Engineering Center for Doctoral Training at the University of Bristol
- Erasmus partnerships with the University of Bari and the University of Palermo
Strategic alignment
The work of the centre engages with the University's overall Strategy and with four of the University's Research Themes – Future & Emerging Technologies; Health & Wellbeing; Security & Risk, and Sustainability & Environment. Our work also aligns with the UK Government's Industrial Strategy [PDF] – in which Quantum Technology plays a major role – and responds to the predicted growth of the worldwide quantum technology market ($13.3B investment predicted by 2023).
The work of the QSTH overlaps with many of the University's research areas of expertise – including the two areas listed below within our Physics research.
News and events
- Portsmouth Workshop Series: The Quantum Industry
19-22 November 2019 – Facilitated by Dr. Andrew Collins, Enterprise Developer for the Quantum Technology Enterprise Centre (QTEC)
- International Workshop on High-Precision Quantum Metrology
17-20 March 2020 – organised in conjunction with the Institute of Cosmology and Gravitation (ICG)
- Quantum Science and Technology Hub (QSTH) official launch event
17 March 2020
In February 2019, we also hosted a cross-theme course on Quantum Metrology – featuring invited speaker Dr. Antonella De Pasquale from Scuola Normale Superiore, Pisa – and an international cross-theme workshop on Quantum Sensing Technologies at the University in March 2019.