Liz Kendall is right to warn that the UK must not let quantum computing talent slip through its fingers (UK must learn lessons from AI race and retain its quantum computing talent, says minister, 17 March).
However, UK Research and Innovation’s current funding decisions risk doing exactly that.
The government has announced £1bn for quantum computing, but it is cutting support for fundamental research in particle physics, astronomy and nuclear physics (PPAN). These are not separate issues. It is precisely the kind of blue-sky research funded through PPAN that trains the scientists and develops the ideas that underpin emerging technologies like quantum computing. The UK is trying to build a quantum ecosystem while hollowing out the academic pipeline that produces the talent.
I am an early-career researcher working at the interface of quantum computing and quantum field theory. Due to proposed cuts and delays to PPAN funding, the only opportunities available to me are now in countries with more stable and predictable investment in research. Many others face similar decisions. Early-career researchers are the first to absorb funding uncertainty and are internationally mobile. Given the cuts to PPAN science, the very people who the minister claims to want to retain are leaving the country.
Ambition in quantum is welcome, but it cannot succeed without sustained investment in people and fundamental science. If the UK wants to lead in the technologies of the future, it must also protect the research base that makes them possible.
Dr Simon Williams
Institute for Particle Physics Phenomenology, University of Durham
• Have an opinion on anything you’ve read in the Guardian today? Please email us your letter and it will be considered for publication in our letters section.
