Photonics and Quantum Accelerator

**About PQA** The Photonics & Quantum Accelerator (PQA) is a £4.7M [Place Based Impact Acceleration Account](https://www.ukri.org/opportunity/place-based-impact-acceleration-account/) funded by UKRI via the [Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council](https://www.ukri.org/councils/epsrc/) (EPSRC). PQA brings together researchers from the Universities of [Glasgow](https://www.gla.ac.uk/), [Heriot-Watt](https://www.hw.ac.uk/), [St Andrews](https://www.st-andrews.ac.uk/) and [Strathclyde](https://www.strath.ac.uk/), and a number of local authorities and industry bodies to advance the growth of the photonics sector in Scotland’s Central Belt. ****Photonic technologies**** Photonic technologies came of age in the final decades of the 20th century, and together with electronics and information technology, underpin the economic prosperity and well-being of modern society. Much of photonics is hidden to the user but plays an essential and ubiquitous role, for example in: - high-speed optical communication - fabrication of integrated circuits - flat panel displays - photonic sensing and manufacture - a myriad of applications in medicine and the life sciences. The global market for photonic technologies reached $722bn in 2021 and the UK photonics industry has a turnover of £14.5bn and employs 77,000 people. Photonics technologies is the only sector in the UK to have maintained growth during the Covid-19 pandemic.