Background
The QIP IRC came about as a result of an initiative by the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) to set up a coordinated effort in the UK in the area of quantum information processing. As a first step, in Aug 2002, EPSRC appointed a Director (Andrew Briggs, from Oxford University). After consulting with the UK research community and an international advisory group, he then produced a research proposal for EPSRC. That proposal was accepted in September 2003 and as a result two grants were awarded: one to Oxford University (acting on behalf of the other participants) for the main bulk of the IRC’s work, and one to Bristol University for underpinning theoretical studies.
The project started on 1 April 2004 and the funding level is approximately £10M over five years. The IRC is supported mainly by the EPSRC, which is one of the UK’s research councils. Its funding in turn comes from the government, through the Department for Innovation, Univerities and Skills (DIUS), formerly the Office of Science and Technology. The IRC also has some support from the UK Ministry of Defence under the joint grants scheme.
In the first half of 2007 the QIP IRC successfully passed a mid-term review by EPSRC and a distinguished panel of experts in the field and will therefore continue until 2009.