What skills do you use every day in your job?

Right now, I spend 95% of my time being a dean, and in that job the skill I use every day is problem-solving. That’s one of the first things we learn as physicists: it’s not enough just to know the technical background, you have to be able to apply it. I find myself looking at everything as systems of equations – this person wants this, this thing needs to go there, we need money to do that thing – and thinking about how to put them together. We do a really good job in physics of teaching people how to think, so they can take a broad look at things and make them work.

What do you like best and least about your job?

The thing I like best is the opportunity to have a wide impact, not just on the faculty who are doing amazing research, but also on students – our next generation of scientific leaders – and people in the wider community. We do a lot of public service outreach at UChicago PME. Outreach has had a big impact on me so it’s incredibly satisfying that, as dean, I can provide those opportunities at various levels for others.

The thing I like least is that because we have so much to do, figuring out who can do what, and how – within what are always limited resources – often feels like trying to solve a giant jigsaw puzzle. Half the time, it feels like the puzzle board is bigger than the number of pieces, so I’m figuring out how to make things work in ways that sometimes stretch people thin, which can be very frustrating for everybody. We all want to do the best job we can, but we need to understand that we sometimes have limits.

What do you know today that you wish you’d known at the start of your career?

I feel a little guilty saying this because I’m going to label myself as a true “in the lab” scientist, but I wish I’d known how much relationships matter. Early on, when I was a junior faculty member, I was focused on research; focused on training my students; focused on just getting the work done. But it didn’t take long for me to realize that of course, students aren’t just workers. They are twenty-somethings with lives and aspirations and goals.

Thankfully, I figured that out pretty quickly, but at every step along the way, as I try to focus on the problem to solve, I have to remind myself that people aren’t problems. People are people, and you have to work with them to solve problems in ways that work for everybody. I sometimes wish there was more personnel training for faculty, rather than a narrow focus on papers and products, because it really is about people at the end of the day.

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What skills do you use every day in your job?

Being sociable, switching topics in an instant and making judgements.

Being sociable may sound trivial, but collaboration has been vital in all the roles I have had, especially now that I work in such a large and complex organization. No single person has the answer to the challenges we face (although occasionally you meet people who think they do). By working together, humans accomplish amazing things.

A key feature of seniority – managerial seniority anyway – is juggling multiple topics each day; from the bogs and bike sheds; to finance; to investment decisions; to technical review; to people – it has few limits. With the fast pace of our work, especially with a new government coming in, we need to quickly adapt and reprioritize. I have several teams reporting to me at any one time, so it’s important to allocate time and focus effectively – this is a core skill I’m constantly working on.

What do you like best and least about your job?

Even though I am officially part of the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology (DSIT), as the national technology adviser, I love that my work spans all government departments. We have a fantastic network of departmental chief scientific advisers (CSAs), led by Dame Angela McLean, the government’s chief scientific adviser. This network lets me see the amazing work my colleagues are doing. Anyone who has worked in government knows how tricky it can sometimes be to work through the barriers between departments. But the CSA network is open, allowing us to have honest and productive conversations, which is crucial for effective collaboration.

I’m also incredibly lucky to have a wonderful, efficient and supportive private office. They help me connect with the right people across government to push our key projects forward.

What do you know today, that you wish you knew when you were starting out in your career?

I don’t spend time on regrets, but I do try to learn. Learning is part of the journey and the joy, so I am not sure that I would give my younger self any advice. There have been big highs and deep lows but it has turned out ok so far. I have had three career plans in my life; they made me feel secure, but  I didn’t complete any of them because something more interesting cropped up. Since then, I have stopped having plans.

I would say two things to others, however. The first is advice that was given to me, which is to do the right things to make yourself useful in the first half of your career, then the second half will look after itself – don’t chase glory, just get good. The second is that whilst some might dismiss diversity as a buzzword, I see it as crucial to success, so value a wide range of views and skills when forming teams.

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Described as “the Glastonbury of quantum events” by one speaker, the UK National Quantum Technologies Showcase 2024 last week was the first time I have ever queued for a physics event. Essentially a quantum trade show, the showcase has been running for a decade, and in that time its attendance has grown from 100 to nearly 2000. It’s run by Innovate UK in collaboration with the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) and the UK National Quantum Technologies Programme (NQTP).

Nearly 100 quantum companies exhibited and there were talks and panels throughout the day. The mood was triumphant – last year the UK government announced the next phase of the NQTP, backed by a £2.5 billion 10-year quantum strategy, and in September, five quantum hubs were launched at British universities (with some overlap with the four previous hubs). However, for a sector that’s still finding its feet, the increasing focus on commercialization and industry creates some interesting tensions.

Commitment to quantum

Most of the funding for quantum technologies research in the UK comes from the public sector, and in the wake of the election of a new government, the organizers clearly felt a need to assuage post-election jitters.

The first speaker was Dave Smith, the UK’s national technology adviser, who gave an ambitious outline of the next decade of the government’s quantum strategy, which he expects to “grow the economy and make people’s lives better”. To do this, the UK quantum sector needs two things: talent and money. Smith’s speech focussed on the need to attract overseas talent, train apprentices and PhD students, and encourage private investors to dip their toes into quantum.

“We’ve gone from the preserve of academia to real-world applications” said Stella Peace, the recently appointed interim executive chair of Innovate UK, who spoke next. Her address made similar points to Smith, emphasizing that as well as funding quantum directly, Innovate UK aims to create connections between academia and industry that will grow the sector.

One senior figure with experience of the industry, government and academia aspects of quantum technology is the physicist Peter Knight from Imperial College London, who has been involved in the NQTP since it started and is now the chair of its strategic advisory board. Knight gave an insightful first-hand account of the last decade of the UK’s quantum programme. He said he was reassured that the new government is committed to quantum technology, but as with anything involving billions of pounds, making this a priority hasn’t been easy and Knight’s work is far from over. He described the researchers who led the first quantum hubs as “heroes” but added that “you can be heroic and fail”. According to Knight, to realize the potential of quantum technologies, “we need more than heroes, we need money”.

I spent the rest of the day alternating between the exhibition area and the talks. I saw established companies like Toshiba and British Telecom (BT) that are branching into quantum, as well as start-ups including Phasecraft and Quantum Dice.

A lively panel event on quantum skills was a particular highlight. The quantum sector faces a shortage of engineers, and the panellists debated whether quantum science should be integrated into existing engineering degrees and apprenticeships. A dissenting voice came from Rhys Morgan, the director of engineering and education at the Royal Academy of Engineering. “I’m not sure I agree with the need for a quantum apprenticeship,” he said, arguing that quantum companies should be training engineers on the job rather than expecting them to specialize during their degree.

Quantum at the crossroads

The UK government plans to invest £2.5bn in quantum technologies over the next decade and wants to attract an additional £1bn from private investment. The goal is to achieve a “quantum-enabled economy” by 2033. “Over the next 10 years,” states the National Quantum Strategy, “quantum technologies will revolutionize many aspects of life in the UK and bring enormous benefits to the UK economy, society and the way we can protect our planet.”

This is a bold statement. It sounds like the government expects to start getting a return on its quantum investment in the near future. But is that realistic?

“Quantum technologies” is an imprecise term, but where it refers to computing and communications, it’s still firmly in the research phase of research and development. Even quantum sensing start-ups like Cerca Magnetics and Delta G are just starting to move towards commercialization. Quantum research has made huge strides but scientists and companies should be realistic about its current capabilities and advocate for space and time to explore work that might not come to fruition in the next decade.

This was summed up in the final address from Roger Mckinley, the quantum technologies challenge director at UK Research and Innovation (UKRI). His message to the government was that quantum commercialization is going to happen, but that they need to ask themselves: “How much do you want this to happen in the UK?”

Whatever you think about the hype over quantum technologies, researchers in the UK can celebrate the last decade, in which the country has punched above its weight in terms of quantum investment and research. However, there’s a lot of work still to do. If quantum researchers are serious about bringing these technologies to the real world, they should be prepared to keep fighting for them.

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