New applied quantum initiative to advance research translation at Cambridge

Quantum technology research at the Cavendish Laboratory will benefit from a new collaboration with FormationQ, an independent platform for quantum adoption and application, to help speed translation of the University of Cambridge’s frontier research into real-world applications.

“Progress in quantum technologies requires strong collaborations and a constant dialogue between industry and academic research.”

Mete Atatüre

The collaboration brings together the Cavendish Laboratory’s scientific leadership and FormationQ’s institutional and operational capabilities, powered by quantum technologies from the world’s leading quantum platform company, IonQ, its state-of-the-art trapped ion quantum systems, world-record gate fidelity and all-to-all connectivity.

The Cavendish provides the scientific foundation, while FormationQ serves as the enabling platform and long-term operator, building the institutional pathways, governance, and continuity required to translate research into sustained real-world deployment. The program will leverage IonQ’s quantum technologies spanning computing, networking, sensing, and secure systems. IonQ’s platforms provide participating researchers and teams with access to high-fidelity, scalable quantum hardware, enabling applied experimentation and system development by building on laboratory demonstrations.

Quantum technologies are increasingly recognised as critical to science, security, medicine, and global systems. At the Cavendish Laboratory, frontier quantum research comprises no fewer than four of its ten key research themes, covering quantum information and control, applied quantum physics and devices, fundamental physics of quantum matter and synthetic quantum systems.

Yet despite rapid advances in research, adoption remains constrained by gaps in institutional readiness, business model innovation, workforce capability, and coordination across the broader quantum landscape. This partnership is intended to address those challenges by focusing on building the connective tissue—programmatic and organisational—that allows quantum technologies to move from laboratory discovery into credible, sustained use to address grand societal challenges.

Professor Mete Atatüre, Head of the Cavendish Laboratory said: “Progress in quantum technologies requires strong collaborations and a constant dialogue between industry and academic research. This initiative, enabled by IonQ’s advanced quantum systems, is a fantastic step in this direction and will help turn our quantum research into practical solutions by bringing the community together.”

“Quantum’s bottleneck isn’t science—it’s the ecosystem,” said Nada Hosking, Founder and CEO of FormationQ. “Adoption demands scalable talent pipelines, interoperable institutions, and shared stewardship for long-term deployment. By uniting the Cavendish Laboratory’s scientific excellence, FormationQ’s operational backbone, and IonQ’s industry-leading quantum technologies, we’re finally constructing the bridges that turn today’s quantum discoveries into tomorrow’s practical revolutions.”

A generous gift of £1,675,000 from FormationQ, which includes the provision of quantum computing resources using IonQ’s world-leading technology, will enable the launch of the Quantum Technologies Accelerated Alignment Initiative, a two-year applied program designed to help turn quantum research into practical solutions while supporting coordination across the quantum ecosystem.

The initiative will concentrate on three areas:

• improving how quantum systems can be used reliably outside the lab,
• building and testing connected quantum technologies for communications and sensing,
• preparing industry and society to work with emerging quantum capabilities.

Each area will be led by an academic expert and supported by interdisciplinary research teams, pairing clearly defined challenges with open, collaborative project development to ensure research efforts are aligned with real-world needs.

By combining the Cavendish Laboratory’s depth of scientific leadership and the expertise across departments of the University of Cambridge with FormationQ’s operational and institutional approach, and leveraging IonQ’s quantum technologies as applied tools, the partnership aims to support long-term impact across research translation, workforce readiness, and applied deployment.

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