Case studies – discovery science to applied science and impact
Gravitational Wave Discovery Science not only advances knowledge in the study of the cosmos – it underpins work to improve lives and drive growth.
The Gravitational Waves (GW) field has an outstanding track record of delivering across both discovery science and building on the knowledge, analytical and computing skills and cutting-edge technology developed to advance knowledge, improve lives and drive growth. Our work on underpinning discovery science is the source of a skills base taking forward ideas to improve health, security and the environment, working with our collaborative partners both in academia and industry.
Case study 1: Gravity sensors for applications in defence & security, environmental monitoring and inertial navigation. (G. Hammond, Glasgow). Spinning off from STFC GW suspension technology, the activity was recently incorporated as a new spinout company Quantrologee.
Case study 2: Quantum algorithms targeting challenges for large-scale signal processing and Bayesian inference, with relevance to emerging quantum computing platforms (C. Messenger, Glasgow). This programme has leveraged GW research into significant follow-on investment supporting the development of transferable quantum algorithmic frameworks.
Case Study 3: Machine learning and analysis for Healthcare and Energy (I Heng, Glasgow). GW analysis search techniques have been translated and implemented in the field leading Optos ophthalmoscopes to enhance quality assurance during the manufacturing, leading to improved production efficiency and recurrent cost savings.
Case Study 4: Application of novel construction of optical systems to solve problems in Advanced Manufacturing and Quantum Technologies. (S. Webster, Glasgow). Spinoffs from the novel jointing technique developed for GW hardware work addressed a persistent problem in the manufacture of lasers.
Case Study 5: Extreme Performance in Optical Coatings (S. Reid, Strathclyde, I. Martin, Glasgow, D. Gibson, UWS). Research for GW detectors was crucial in leveraging funding to establish EPOC (the Extreme Performance in Optical Coatings testbed) which has provided the UK with the strategic sovereign capability to manufacture world-class optical coatings; design and development of coatings for use in extreme environments (high T, high radiation etc) with applications in fusion, hypersonic flight, healthcare.
Contact: sheila.rowan@glasgow.ac.uk
Gravity sensors for applications in defence & security, environmental monitoring and inertial navigation
Contact: Giles.Hammond@glasgow.ac.uk
Spinning off from STFC GW suspension technology, the activity was recently incorporated as a new spinout company Quantrologee.
Prof. Hammond is developing ultrasensitive MEMS (MicroElectroMechanicalSystems) gravity sensors for applications in defence & security, environmental monitoring and inertial navigation.
Since 2014, his team have pioneered the development of the Wee-g MEMS gravimeter (https://wee-g.com/) which has the potential to reduce the size/weight/power/cost of gravimeters and open up a disruptive market in array-based gravity monitoring, able to map underground density anomalies with high precision. This work is a direct spin-off from the fused silica suspensions delivered by the Institute for Gravitational Research, University of Glasgow for the advanced LIGO detectors and their subsequent upgrades.
Over the last decade his team has attracted funding through a combination of UKRI support (STFC commercialisation awards, three phases of the EPSRC National Quantum Technology Programme and NERC awards), H2020 FET-OPEN and direct industry funding (DSTL, GCHQ, QinetiQ, Schlumberger, BP). The technology is mature at TRL 7 and has been deployed in field trials including Mt Etna (Italy), Mt Garibaldi (Canada) and the Poas (Costa Rica) active volcanoes, in addition to water table monitoring in the UK and South Africa.
The activity was recently incorporated as a new spinout company (Quantrologee) in partnership with a magnetometer sensing activity from the University of Strathclyde. Quantrologee, a quantum metrology company, is aimed at delivering complimentary sensing technologies for gravity and magnetic mapping.
Quantum algorithms targeting challenges for large-scale signal processing and Bayesian inference, with relevance to emerging quantum computing platforms
Contact: Christopher.Messenger@glasgow.ac.uk
Dr. Chris Messenger (Glasgow) in collaboration with the Quantum Theory Group at the Glasgow (notably Prof. Sarah Croke), is working on the development of quantum algorithms for gravitational-wave data analysis that provide a clear pathway from STFC-funded core science to wider applied research and innovation. Gravitational-wave inference presents extreme computational challenges in weak-signal detection, high-dimensional optimisation, and real-time data analysis, making it an ideal test-bed for the development of quantum algorithms with broader applicability. This work has led to the development of quantum algorithms for matched filtering and likelihood evaluation, with results published in Physical Review Research and related follow-on work.
This activity has leveraged STFC-funded research into additional investment, including support via an EPSRC-funded Quantum Technology Hub, an EPSRC grant (“Quantum Algorithms for Gravitational Wave Data Analysis”, and via ISPF support to establish an international collaboration with colleagues at the University of Rhode Island. The resulting quantum algorithms target generic challenges in large-scale signal processing and Bayesian inference, with relevance to emerging quantum computing platforms.
There is a clear opportunity to expand this activity through targeted translational support to mature these algorithms into deployable software, benchmarking tools, and industry-facing demonstrators, providing a credible pathway towards future commercialisation or spin-out activity as quantum hardware capabilities mature.
Machine learning and analysis for Healthcare and Energy
Contact: ik.heng@glasgow.ac.uk
Prof. Ik Siong Heng’s (Glasgow) long standing collaboration with Optos PLC: Optos PLC develop and manufacture wide-field retinal scanning devices that support detection and management of eye conditions as well as some systemic diseases at early stages. Optos’ high-street partnership with Boots Opticians enable broad access to advanced retinal scanning for patients nationwide. Heng and his team translated gravitational wave analysis search techniques to enhance quality assurance procedures during the manufacturing of Optos ophthalmoscopes, leading to improved efficiency during production and cost savings. Heng’s research on machine learning was also adapted to develop an automated retinal image post-processing routine which, when deployed into Optos devices, led to a 10-fold reduction in operator burden for Optos ophthalmoscopes and eliminated errors in image labelling.
Glass Bonding for Photonics and Quantum Technologies
Contact: Stephen.Webster@glasgow.ac.uk
Research at the Institute for Gravitational Research (IGR) has translated expertise in hydroxide catalysis bonding (HCB), originally developed for NASA’s Gravity Probe B mission (Everitt, C. W. F. et al., CQG, 224001 (2015) and later adopted and adapted by us for core instrumentation in terrestrial and space-based gravitational wave detectors such as LIGO (Aston, S. M., et al.," CQG, 29(23), 235004 (2012) and the LISA Pathfinder mission (Robertson, D. I. et al., "CQG 30 085006 (2013)), into practical applications in photonics and quantum technologies.
Through an STFC-funded Impact Accelerator Account project, this technique has been applied to a key challenge in laser manufacturing, demonstrating its effectiveness within an industrially relevant environment.
The work highlights the broader potential of glass bonding to create monolithic optical assemblies that are highly stable and robust under demanding conditions, with applications across advanced manufacturing, defence, environmental sensing, and space science. As modern technologies increasingly rely on complex optical systems that are often points of vulnerability, HCB offers a route to improved reliability and reduced downtime. Building on proven capability from space-qualified optical systems, ongoing research is extending towards the development of compact, glass-bonded optical modules for quantum technologies through collaboration with industry partners.
The Extreme Performance in Optical Coatings testbed (EPOC)
Contact: stuart.reid@strath.ac.uk; Iain.Martin@glasgow.ac.uk; Des.gibson@UWS.ac.uk; Iain.Martin@glasgow.ac.uk
STFC investment in fundamental gravitational-wave research has built a UK sovereign optical-coating capability with relevance across six national-strategic sectors: defence, quantum technologies, life sciences, advanced manufacturing, clean energy, and frontier technologies / space. The Extreme Performance in Optical Coatings (EPOC) testbed, jointly hosted by the Universities of Strathclyde, Glasgow, and the West of Scotland in the Advanced Manufacturing Innovation District Scotland (AMIDS), manufactures world-class optical coatings with unprecedented uniformity over apertures up to 62 cm. EPOC – Extreme Performance in Optical Coatings - Scotland. EPOC is a direct output from STFC-funded research into the materials physics of ultra-low-loss optical coatings and is currently the only UK-based facility of its type, with a focus on the demanding specifications now being sought by aspects of the UK optical supply chain.
Many applications share the requirements that drove gravitational-wave detector mirror development: high uniformity, low optical losses, and resilience to high optical intensity. These are now critical for miniaturised consumer photonics, high-power lasers for industry, defence systems, and beyond. Other applications, including in life sciences, benefit from the same expertise in designing, manufacturing, and characterising dense and functional thin-film materials e.g. for biomedical applications. Selected examples follow.
Durable coatings for extreme environments
An STFC Early-Stage R&D grant to Professor S. Reid, and Dr M. Fazio (Strathclyde) and Dr I. Martin (Glasgow) enabled development of coatings with a crystalline cap layer on top of a traditional sputtered stack. The concept, first proposed in a gravitational-waves paper led by a member of the EPOC team (Steinlechner & Martin, Phys. Rev. D, 2016), has wide applications: optimising gravitational-wave detector coatings; reducing optical intensity in the lower part of high-power laser coating stacks to raise laser-damage threshold; and forming hard, durable protective layers for remote-sensing, climate-monitoring, and space-based optical systems.
Quantum clocks and quantum communications
EPOC provides the underpinning manufacturing infrastructure and expertise to support future UK quantum-clock and quantum-communications exploitation and has provided design and manufacturing consultancy to local industry on space-to-ground quantum-encrypted communications.
Nanosecond pulsed laser-induced damage
Funded by an SU2P seed grant, SU2P – SU Squared Partnership – Connecting Scottish and Stanford Innovation in Photonics a joint study between EPOC researchers and Helia Photonics examined the effects of optical absorption on the laser-induced damage threshold of optical coatings in the nanosecond regime (Clark et al, Coatings, 2016), demonstrating the potential of coatings developed by the process now used at EPOC for increased performance compared to other technologies available in the market
Optical coating materials for integrated photonics & quantum technology
STFC-funded EPOC partner UWS has established a testbed for characterisation of various plasma source technologies relevant to assisted deposition of optical coatings for high precision mirrors utilised in gravitational wave detection (GWD). This includes plasma physics theoretical modelling and mechanical design for optimum deployment into EPOC based large scale ion beam deposition systems. Optimisation of plasma assisted deposition processes are also underway at UWS for subsequent deployment into large scale deposition systems – a recent example is microwave plasma assisted deposition of stoichiometric silicon nitride as a cryogenic compatible optical coating material for GWD mirrors and also application as an optical coating material in integrated photonics & quantum technology (Lindsay, Applied Optics, 2026).
EPOC academic partner UWS activity, sponsored by industrial partner Gooch & Housego plc, has developed an ultradurable hydrogenated carbon-based optical coating for protection of front element chalcogenide glass used in extreme environments for commercial infrared optical systems (Pomfret et al,. Applied Optics, 2026). Commercialisation of the ultradurable infrared coating technology is being progressed with Gooch & Housego plc and Dundee based Umicore Coating Services Ltd.
Further spin-offs include:
Stem-cell mechanobiology: Nanovibration (“nanokicking”) techniques to control stem-cell behaviour (Nikukar et al., ACS Nano, 2013) were enabled by precision-measurement methods developed within the STFC gravitational-wave research community, working in collaboration with colleagues working in STEM-cell biology. STFC-established facilities at Strathclyde remain core to NHS clinical investigation of the technology, including planned surgical implants of bone cells produced by the technique. The EPSRC MAINSTREAM stem-cell manufacturing hub draws directly on these STFC-enabled capabilities, and the first clinical investigation of wearable nanokicking to treat disuse osteoporosis following spinal-cord injury was led by Reid through an STFC CLASP award in collaboration with the Queen Elizabeth University Hospital, Glasgow (Williams et al., ACS Nano, 2025). Reid serves as Co-director for the Centre for the Cellular Microenvironment (CeMi) between the Universities of Glasgow and Strathclyde, which now hosts that largest funding portfolio in Europe within the emerging field of mechanobiology.