£1m award to support excellence
We’ve been awarded £1m from the Wolfson Foundation to support our work on quantum and nanotechnology, an area of international excellence at Glasgow and a key focus of our new Research Hub.
The key approach that distinguishes Glasgow’s research is the combination of artificial intelligence with novel quantum technologies that will be employed to create next-generation imaging devices. Quantum technologies allow researchers to create videos at a trillion frames per second, freezing light in motion and providing unprecedentedly detailed information of illuminated objects. This vast amount of information can then be used to inform artificial intelligence systems that can either make informed decisions or create images in situations where the human eye or a normal camera alone would never retrieve any information.
Our researchers are working with UK-based industry and end users to translate scientific excellence into commercial gain and societal benefit such as the ability to replace x-rays with light alone, to image in 3D through fog and smoke, or to visualise harmful and toxic gases.
Glasgow leads one of the UK’s four Quantum Technology Hubs, QuantIC; its researchers are collaborating on over 40 projects to revolutionise imaging across industrial and consumer markets and already have eight new products nearing market. Their continuing vision is to pioneer cameras operating across a range of wavelengths, timescales and length-scales that will transform society bringing paradigm changes to security, healthcare and transportation.
The £113m Advanced Research Centre, currently under construction as part of our £1bn campus development programme, will provide a cutting-edge environment where the quantum research team can interact, co-creating the next generation of imaging systems which will have the ability to transform security, healthcare and transportation.