Ian Walmsley

Professor Ian Walmsley is a leading figure in quantum optics and ultrafast photonics whose research centres on preparing, probing, and controlling quantum states of light and matter, with a particular emphasis on their application in quantum technologies.. He developed the SPIDER technique (Spectral Phase Interferometry for Direct Electric-field Reconstruction), enabling precise characterisation of femto- and attosecond light pulses. His group works on high-fidelity quantum sources, quantum memories and advanced detectors, combining photons and atoms to build large entangled states with applications in simulation, computation and machine learning. He has also led major quantum technology initiatives in the UK (e.g. NQIT) and serves on national advisory bodies shaping quantum strategy.  Professor Walmsley has been appointed Director of the Oxford Quantum Institute (OQI) and has also been named a member of the National Quantum Strategic Advisory Board (SAB)*, which advises the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology (DSIT). He also chairs the Strategic Advisory Committee of the National Quantum Computing Center.