Completed Programme · 2019 to 2025
National Timing Centre R&D programme
NTC
An NPL-led programme to build a network of atomic clocks so that the UK relies less on satellite timing signals.
Role: Partner
Funding: £36m
Themes: Timing and navigation
University of Surrey
University · Guildford
A qubit made from superfluid helium-3 is the newest idea from the University of Surrey's Quantum Sciences Group: in September 2026 Priya Sharma and Eran Ginossar, with Northwestern's Jens Koch, published the SHOQ design in npj Quantum Information, predicting errors about 100 times lower than superconducting qubits. Later that month Sharma won a £1.3 million UKRI Future Leaders Fellowship. At its Ion Beam Centre, an EPSRC national facility, SIMPLE tools implant single impurity atoms with nanometre precision for donor spin qubits and single photon sources. Surrey also partnered in the Quantum Computing and Simulation Hub and hosted a node of NPL's National Timing Centre programme.
University of Surrey, in Guildford, appears in two UK quantum projects listed here. It appears as a partner in NTC and QCS.
Sources: University of Surrey: Superfluid-based qubit design could be key to scaling up quantum computers (7 September 2026) · University of Surrey: Surrey researchers awarded £2.7m Future Leaders Fellowships · University of Surrey: Quantum technology with deterministic ion implantation · Gateway to Research: Quantum Computing and Simulation Hub (EP/T001062/1) · NPL: National Timing Centre R&D end of programme report 2019 to 2025
Projects (2)
Partner in (2)
- Completed Hub · 2019 to 2024
UK Quantum Technology Hub in Quantum Computing and Simulation
QCS
The phase 2 national hub for quantum computing and simulation, led by the University of Oxford. It ran from 2019 to 2024.
Role: Partner
Funding: £27.3m
Themes: Computing, Software and algorithms
In the news
Recent articles from Quantum Zeitgeist that mention University of Surrey.
Leverhulme backs superfluid helium qubit design with £1.3M UKRI fellowship, read on Quantum Zeitgeist
Dr. Priya Sharma received £1.3M to develop the Superfluid Helium Oscillator Quantum (SHOQ) device, a novel approach using superfluid helium-3 for more stable qubits.
Image © Quantum Zeitgeist
University of Surrey designs superfluid helium qubit to cut errors by 100x, read on Quantum Zeitgeist
Researchers from the University of Surrey have introduced a conceptual design for a new type of qubit, using superfluid helium-3, that could be much less vulnerable to errors. The team’s calculations predict error rates around 100 times lower than conventional superconducting qubits.
Image © Quantum Zeitgeist
A micromechanical qubit might last a full second, read on Quantum Zeitgeist
Researchers propose a quantum device—a superfluid weak link with a mechanical element—that could function as a qubit, potentially achieving coherence times of up to one second.
Image © Quantum Zeitgeist
Researchers Map Nuclei Using Fewer Qubits with Quantum Algorithm, read on Quantum Zeitgeist
A 0. 21% error in calculating the ground state of boron-10 represents a new level of precision for this type of quantum simulation. This result, achieved using a specific qubit mapping strategy, outperforms alternative methods which yielded errors of 3.
Image © Quantum Zeitgeist
Partnerships (1)
Research, commercial and investment relationships, by year. Partners with a profile here are linked.
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NPL Research 2021
Recorded on NPL's profile.
Sources
- University of Surrey (surrey.ac.uk)
News from Quantum Zeitgeist.
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