Science and innovation

We will build on our recent report showing physics' role in key green technologies like nuclear, renewables, energy storage, hydrogen and clean fuels, and carbon capture use and storage (CCUS). Discussions with advisors in academia and business, along with Government Chief Scientific Advisors and other senior representatives are shaping the next phase of this work. Ideas being explored include developing roadmaps and impact pathways for enabling green technologies, or an exploration insights piece on disruptive technologies such as reversing global heating using geoengineering and superconductivity energy transmission.

With the launch of IOP Publishing’s (IOPP) Sustainability Science and Technology international open access journal, and Green Economy (phase two), we are continuing to work with the physics community to advance the net zero energy transition.  

One of our new focuses will be space technologies. In 2020/21, the UK space industry income grew by 5 per cent to £17.5bn, outpacing the growth of the global space industry. We plan to build on the strategic discussions that we’ve been having with the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology. In 2024, we will deliver an impact project to demonstrate the economic potential of space technologies, of which physics plays a critical role, to help create new markets and develop new projects and services. With the launch of the IOP’s new Space Special Interest Group, we have the opportunity to mobilise the physics community to help shape and inform national strategies that will drive further economic growth.

One-third of physics-powered businesses in the UK have said they face difficulties accessing finance that they need, especially at the scaleup phase. Venture capital (VC) investment is critical for helping such startups get products and services to market. Through the IOP’s Accelerator we provide affordable workspace to physics-powered businesses, along with business support. We also recognise excellence in business innovation through our Business Awards. 

And through this project, we will build on this work to elevate the opportunities for VC investment into physics-powered businesses and the issues faced by investors, to encourage more private investment across key markets.

We are currently asking for views to help inform a report out later in 2024.

The IOP set out the central role that physics innovation and physicists have played in realising the green economy of today, and the equally key part they will need to play in scaling up a sustainable, internationally competitive green economy in the UK and Ireland for the future – in particular as a ‘systems challenge’ how the skills that physicists have, and their way of thinking, is important in solving such a problem.

Targeted support for physics R&D, and business innovation, as part of a long-term systems approach to leadership, coordination and delivery to unlock more of the contribution physics can make, is vital to realising a thriving green economy in the UK and Ireland.

The IOP and the physics community are a partner in this grand challenge. We will conduct further work on this topic in 2024.

The IOP shaped the debate on quantum, engaging with experts in business, academia, finance and intermediaries to set the ambition for growth of the UK quantum sector.  

This resulted in our ‘Vision for Quantum Technologies in the UK’ report that called for a long-term approach, with innovation roadmaps.  Recommendations from the report included scaling up the UK quantum research and innovation community across business, academia and finance; investment in skills; and support for international partnerships.  

The impact of this work can clearly be seen in the National Quantum Strategy, which sets out a ten-year ambition for the UK to lead the world in quantum technologies, delivering jobs and opportunities in advanced manufacturing and engineering across both hardware and software, as well as applications across the economy. The strategy is supported by a commitment to invest £2.5 billion in the sector, with the aim of attracting significant additional private investment on top of that. 

Another legacy from this impact project has been the formation of a new IOP quantum Business Innovation and Growth Group (qBIG) for IOP members involved in quantum commercial applications. Find out more about the qBIG group.

The IOP, in partnership with the Royal Academy of Engineering, engaged semiconductor experts in business, academia and intermediaries around the key issues of access to skills and electronic design tools.   

The resulting report summarised their views to inform government strategy development, suggesting a number of solutions to the issues raised by the community, including addressing visa issues; funding for equitable internship schemes; funding for an information campaign to raise awareness of the semiconductor industry; a coordinated approach to skills challenges across technology areas with common needs; taking decisive action to break down stereotypes about physics, science and apprenticeships; and a new ‘semiconductor institute’ to provide a range of essential functions to support the sector.  

Following the report, the UK Government published a public invitation to tender for a feasibility study into the need for a set of new semiconductor infrastructure capabilities within the UK, including a strategic coordination function to provide institutional leadership for the sector’s academic and innovation ecosystem.

The Henry Royce Institute (Royce) for advanced materials, in collaboration with the IOP, convened the academic and industrial materials research communities to explore the increasingly critical role of novel materials and processes to deliver affordable, reliable and above all, green energy. The output was a series of detailed technology roadmaps that set out how UK materials science can contribute to the UK’s low carbon energy transition. 

This project brought together business leaders from large, medium and small companies from  different sectors, as well as innovators in academia, to articulate how photonics ties together their sectors and how physics can support industrial growth. The result was a report that recommended further research and investment in photonics and emphasised the role that physics will play in maintaining the UK’s status as a global leader in light-based technologies.

This impact work was driven by IOP members in collaboration with the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC), Innovate UK, Food and Drink Federation, and the Knowledge Transfer Network (KTN). It resulted in a report on the health of physics in food manufacturing, looking at the role of physics in enabling global competitiveness and productivity.  Report recommendations were discussed at the Parliamentary and Scientific Committee on 5 December 2017, and the output from the meeting included a letter to the BEIS Minister reinforcing the case to boost funding to research and innovation in food manufacturing.

Read IOP Food Physics Newsletter

This project, commissioned by the Science and Innovation Committee of the IOP, reviewed the health of UK academic astroparticle physics.  It reviewed, in an international context, the support for and progress of UK astroparticle physics over the past decade; assessed UK astroparticle physics in light of the scope of Research Councils UK (RCUK) and other funding sources; and recommended a broad strategy for UK astroparticle physics for the next 10 years.