The Quantum Engineering CDT has an extensive network of world-class industrial partners who dramatically enhance the training and student experience by providing knowledge, skills and opportunities well beyond that typically available in a PhD programme.

There are many benefits of becoming a partner of the CDT, and we offer a number of different mechanisms to engage with our programme. Examples of these include:

-          Sponsoring or co-sponsoring a QE-CDT PhD studentship

Sponsoring or co-sponsoring a PhD studentship and defining the nature of the project is a cost-effective way for companies to drive forward research tailored to their challenges. By sponsoring a studentship, you’ll be contributing to the sustainability of the quantum skills ecosystem, and work with a student who will benefit from the enhanced skills training offered by the CDT.  

As there are different options and entry points for sponsoring a studentship, we are happy to work with our industrial partners to develop a bespoke arrangement. If you are interested in exploring this opportunity, please use the contact details at the side of this page.

Previous PhD sponsors include: Thales ∙ Dstl ∙ Phasecraft

-          Hosting an internship

The CDT provides funding for our students to undertake 3-month internships with industrial companies in the latter stages of their PhD.

These internships provide an invaluable experience for our students, and are of great benefit to hosting companies due to the level of experience our students have by this point. Internships have also acted as an excellent opportunity for future recruitment.

We are happy to discuss longer internship options if preferred.

Previous internship hosts include: PsiQuantum ∙ Duality ∙ Wave Photonics ∙ Phasecraft ∙ Riverlane ∙ Quandela

-          Collaborative short-projects

Our 1^st year PhD candidates undertake two 12-week projects alongside their taught course and we encourage our industrial partners to use these as a mechanism to undertake exploratory work. Calls for three-month project proposals are made in December and May each year, with work commencing in February and June respectively.

These short-projects are an ideal entry route for engaging with the CDT, and can form the basis of a sponsored PhD studentship in the future.

To receive the call these short-projects, please sign up to our mailing list.

-          Examples of our existing partners

Our industry partners cover a broad range of quantum technologies and play different roles in enhancing the training offered at the QE-CDT. They include:

Airbus ∙ BT ∙ Dstl ∙ Google ∙ HP ∙ ID Quantique ∙ KETS ∙ Microsoft ∙ NPL ∙ PhaseCraft ∙ PsiQuantum ∙ QLM ∙ RedWave ∙ Rigetti ∙ Riverlane ∙ Thales ∙ Toshiba ∙ Xanadu ∙

-          Collaborating with Bristol’s unique quantum ecosystem as a QE-CDT industry partner

By becoming an industrial partner of the QE-CDT, companies will become part of the unique quantum ecosystem here at the University of Bristol where there are many opportunities for collaborative R&D.

The QE-CDT itself sits within Bristol’s Quantum Information Institute which boasts a current research community of over 100 researchers across the Schools of Physics, Electrical and Electronic Engineering, and Mathematics, and contributes to 3 out of the 4 Quantum Technology Hubs.