Accelerating Frontier Technologies Through Emerging Research Leaders.

Industry has identified a critical challenge: defining the silicon photonics platforms in the UK needed to enable scalable quantum communications and sensing technologies.

Solving this challenge demands fresh thinking at the intersection of disciplines, bringing together diverse expertise to unlock new possibilities. Yet many emerging researchers lack the networks, industry connections and leadership opportunities needed to turn ambitious ideas into transformative innovation.

C-PIC Future Leaders, delivered in partnership with the Integrated Quantum Networks Hub (IQN) and the Quantum Biomedical Sensing Hub (QBioMed), is designed to overcome these barriers, providing the funding and support to empower the next generation of research leaders to forge new collaborations and develop ambitious, industry-informed solutions using silicon photonics.

The Challenge

Silicon photonics has long been touted as a leading candidate for building scalable quantum systems. In 2026, the boom that silicon photonics has experienced in AI infrastructure has shone a brighter light on the ability of silicon photonics to deliver manufacturability and performance at scale.

But significant challenges remain; many of which are exaggerated in the quantum realm. For example, quantum technologies require minimising photon losses, both in waveguide propagation and in fibre-to-chip coupling. Many quantum applications could benefit from improved polarisation control, which is currently a significant design and fabrication challenge. Also, quantum technologies often require the use of wavelengths outside of the traditional telecoms bands, meaning alternative platforms to SOI are required.