Impact case study database

The focus of the research was to provide the first ever Climate Change Risk Assessment for the Government of Cyprus. Dr Voulgarakis (representing Imperial) was the leading climate change expert in this work, based on his extensive experience in the area of regional climate change, and provided all the climate information that was then used by impact scientists in Greece and Cyprus (experts on agriculture, biodiversity, built environment, business, energy forestry, natural disasters, health, fisheries, transport, and water resources) in the different chapters of the Assessment Report [A, B].

The Government-appointed reviewer of the Climate Change Risk Assessment report and Associate Professor (and climate expert) at the Cyprus Institute in Nicosia states that “ *The climate change analysis carried out by Dr Voulgarakis and his team was critical in the success of the overall CY-CCRA Evidence Report. It provided the necessary data input for the impact sector studies that quantified the climate change driven risks in the environment society-economy spectrum of the country. The CY-CCRA outcome has importantly shaped the Cyprus Government’s Climate Change National Adaptation Plan.*” [C].

The major impact achieved is that our assessment was the main evidence that directly informed and shaped the first National Strategy for Adaptation to Climate Change that was successfully voted into legislation by the Parliament of Cyprus on the 18^th May 2017 [D]. There were two workshops between Government representatives and the project’s team which enabled the communication of information to the stakeholders. Our work provided the evidence for justifying and applying the National Strategy to Climate Change Adaptation (NSACC) (which involved a National Action Plan (NAP)), which was finalised by the Department of Environment in April 2017 and approved by the Council of Ministers of the Republic of Cyprus on 18 May 2017 [D]. The Cyprus Climate Change Impacts and Adaptation Observatory (CYCLADAPT) project directly addresses adaptation measures covering most of the NAP sectors and primarily agriculture, forest, biodiversity, soils, public health and water (submitted September 2018, T. Mesimeris, personal communication). The implementation of the NAP is expected to bring substantial benefits to the environment and society in the long-term, as it foresees a total of 57 measures [D]. The NSACC and NAP can be found (in Greek) in [E] and [F].

Beneficiaries include policy makers with Government of Cyprus, various sectors of industry, and the wider society of Cyprus. Specifically, the NAP addresses adaption in eleven key impact sectors: Water resources; Soils; Coastal areas; Biodiversity; Agriculture; Forest; Fisheries and aquaculture; Public health; Energy; Tourism; Infrastructure [D]. Example measures included in the NAP are the expansion of water use efficiency meters by the Agricultural Ministry, installation of new technologies in forests for the early detection of new climate-related diseases, the creation of new green spaces in cities, and many others. Broader implications of our work include influence on similar efforts that will be undertaken in the future in other countries and regions of the Eastern Mediterranean (e.g. Greece and countries of the Middle East). Our work also provided the evidence for follow-up international initiatives by the Government of Cyprus [D].

This research impacted the whole population of Cyprus, 1.1 million people, as well as the many visitors and tourists to the country. The impact concerns the whole population, as climate change impacts are ubiquitous and affect all sectors of society, e.g. through changes in weather leading to increased flooding and to changes in energy demand for cooling, increase in pollution, and impacts on health and agriculture due to increased average temperatures, all of which are areas covered in our report.

Given the expected indirect influence of our work on similar efforts in other nations of the Eastern Mediterranean (we know that currently there are similar assessments planned for different peripheries of Greece, which will be influenced by our work), we expect our research to influence tens of millions of people.

Monetisation of the risks has been discussed in the final session of the report, though a total value from all sectors was not provided. However, indicative estimates have been provided for individual sectors; for example, for the 2050s and under the moderate RCP4.5 scenario, we identified potential annual costs exceeding €1M in three impact metrics (properties exposed to flooding and insurance premiums; temperature morbidity) and exceeding €10M in other three (energy demand for cooling; people exposed to flooding; temperature mortality).

The Head of the Climate Action and Energy Unit at the Department of Environment highlights the influence this report had on the wider region. He says that “ The Cyprus Climate Change Risk Assessment evidence report was one of the contributing factors to the development of the “The Cyprus Government Initiative for Coordinating Climate Change Actions in the Eastern Mediterranean and Middle East (EMME)” launched by H.E. President Anastasiades in March 2019. The initiative aims at the development of a Regional Action Plan to address the specific needs and challenges counties are facing in the mitigation actions in accordance with the Paris Agreement” [D].

During the development and application of the robust wide-field time-gated FLIM technology, the Imperial Photonics team worked with industrial partners, including, AstraZeneca, De Beers, GE Healthcare, GSK, Karl Storz, Kentech Instruments, PerkinElmer and Pfizer, who directly co-funded the research through CASE PhD studentships, contributions to BBSRC (BB/M006786/1 IPA award, £508,815, 2015-2018) and EPSRC grants (EP/IO2770X/1, Healthcare Partnership award, £1,174,248, 2011-2015) and industry-focussed projects funded by a DTI Beacon Award (QCBB/C/012/0007C, £1,042,493, 2002-2006) and a DTI/TSB Technology award (CHBT/007/00030 (100297, £735,000, 2006-2011) for which we worked with GE Healthcare to build a prototype using the Fianium USS and Kentech GOI technology for automated multiwell plate assays.

This collaborative research and development resulted in prototype instruments and joint publications, impacting industry by informing their product development and marketing strategies and raising awareness of the potential of wide-field time-gated FLIM and its practical implementation. The Photonics team’s papers co-authored with industry include, e.g. https://doi.org/10.1364/OE.15.015656 ; https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-2133.2008.08577.x ; https://doi.org/10.1088/0022-3727/42/13/135103 ; https://doi.org/10.1002/cphc.201000874 ; https://doi.org/10.1002/jbio.201200185 ; https://doi.org/10.1063/1.4973917; https://doi.org/10.1088/2050-6120/ab4eac.

The >65 papers and many international conference presentations (including ~145 invited talks/lectures) from the Photonics team helped raise awareness of FLIM, encouraging other laboratories to implement their own instruments based on our prototypes using products from Fianium and Kentech, which increased their commercial sales, most of which are outside the UK. For example, NKT Photonics (previously Fianium UK) report: “ … your work highlighting the potential of fibre-laser based supercontinuum sources for FLIM helped us establish ourselves as a leading provider of this technology” [A], and Kentech report: “ Your world-leading research pioneering the biological and medical applications of time-gated FLIM, [ … ], created significantly increased demand in our HRI products across our international market, with our customers frequently wanting to purchase HRI technology in order to do similar work” [B].

Fianium Ltd (now part of NKT Photonics) was founded in 2003 to sell fibre laser-based technology and USS rapidly became their main product. They note that our work “… had a significant influence on our product development resulting in a new generation of ‘WhiteLase’ supercontinuum lasers …” [A], reporting that this was Fianium’s most successful laser from its release in 2012 until the acquisition of Fianium by NKT Photonics in 2016. We demonstrated new applications of the Fianium USS technology – including wide-field and optically sectioned FLIM, hyperspectral FLIM, time-gated optical tomography and single point time-resolved spectrofluorometry – and NKT Photonics note that our publications stimulated global demand for their USS products, which are incorporated in other commercial FLIM microscopes (e.g. from Leica **[C]**) and are also sold for imaging and medical applications representing ~15% of their direct scientific sales , amounting to ~£15M in 2019 alone [A]. NKT Photonics note that “ Most of our customers reference the pioneering work undertaken at Imperial” and they use our work as a reference for potential customers, including on their website [D].

Since 2012, Kentech Instruments Ltd, who manufacture a range of specialised, custom-built electronics and imaging equipment, including GOI for FLIM [E], report [redacted from public version] sales of FLIM systems based on gated optical image intensifier technology since 2012 [D], most of which were through LaVision GmbH in Germany who incorporated the Kentech GOI in their “Picostar” product. The Photonics team collaborated continuously with Kentech from 2000, providing feedback on the performance of their GOI technology and discussing advances to increase its capability and impact. Kentech noted that the interaction with Imperial had directly led to improvements in their technology: “… such as the enhanced magnetic focussing and improved intensifier response - technologies that we developed specifically for your highly innovative research work” [D]. Kentech also note that “ The thorough characterisation and application of these developments in the novel FLIM technologies you have published have significantly contributed to our commercial success” [D] and go on to express their enthusiasm for the open source approach to FLIM being pioneered by the Photonics team.

Since 2013, and following the development of a prototype instrument with PerkinElmer/GE Healthcare, AstraZeneca, GSK and Kentech Instruments Ltd that was funded by the DTI/TSB (“ Ultrafast photonics for fluorescence imaging and time-resolved assays” £735,000, 2006-2010), CHBT/007/00030), it became clear that the major commercial market for FLIM technology was laboratories that would assemble their own instruments from commercially available components if they could access the appropriate software and know-how. Accordingly, supported by an internal EPSRC Impact Acceleration Account (“ Translating automated FLIM-HCA to drug discovery, systems biology and basic research”, £124,591, 2013-2015) the Photonics team developed complete open source FLIM instruments [F] based on wide-field time-gated imaging using the (Fianium) USS and (Kentech) GOI technologies that can be controlled using open source FLIM data acquisition software based on MicroManager that are available from the Photonics website with a downloadable list of hardware components [F] . These FLIM instruments can utilise the Photonics team’s world-leading open source FLIM analysis software ( http://www.flimfit.org/, (downloaded at least 3,964 times since 2016). For automated FLIM high content analysis (HCA), the Photonics team published a video guide ( http://www.jove.com/video/55119 ) to make it straightforward for other laboratories to implement their own FLIM HCA instrumentation, e.g. for FLIM/FRET assays, using the NKT Photonics and Kentech technologies.

The Photonics team recently extended this open source FLIM platform to a more general open (hardware and software) modular microscopy platform ( www.openscopes.com) [G] for industry and biomedicine as well as academic research, specifically intended to benefit scientists in ODA countries. In partnership with Cairn Research Ltd, we developed the openFrame microscope system [G] to enable industry to develop new products and academic laboratories to develop or implement advanced microscope modalities. An openScopes FLIM module based on Kentech technology is now commercially available via Cairn Research Ltd [H], establishing a new commercial channel for time-gated FLIM. For laboratories wishing to build their own FLIM instruments, the openScopes website links to the Photonics team’s FLIM open source resources [F].

In addition to the translation of the technology into industrial application and sales, this FLIM research at Imperial impacted industry, including at Base4, De Beers, Genentech, Rutherford Appleton Laboratories, Scientifica, Smiths Industries, Thorlabs (Sweden), and the NHS, via their recruitment of PhD students and research associates from the Photonics FLIM technology development programme. This includes De Beers, who are exploring the application of FLIM and ultrafast supercontinuum technologies to characterise luminescence from natural, treated and synthetic diamonds. De Beers have benefitted from access to the Photonics team’s expertise and ultrafast super-continuum/FLIM based instrumentation to characterise specific diamond samples and to develop internal projects. They note that one of our former PhD students trained in FLIM techniques “ provided a high level of technical ability in the area of applied optics and has played a pivotal role in the design and development of instrumentation based on a number of different approaches” [I] and note that “ *the use of fluorescence lifetime-based instruments could have a significant impact on the diamond gemstone market.*” [I]. And to “ quantify and map emission from defects in diamond-based quantum computing components (including for quality assurance) and for monitoring growth processes for synthetic diamond” [I].

Commercial investment in PsiQuantum – General purpose silicon photonic quantum computing

Starting with the breakthrough result in 2005 at Imperial College London [1], Prof Rudolph has been the world leader in theoretical photonic quantum computing. Combined with hardware advances by the team at the Centre for Quantum Photonics in Bristol under Professors O’Brien and Thompson this culminated in them co-founding PsiQuantum in 2015 [A].

Rudolph joined with O'Brien and Thompson, who had experimentally pioneered using single photons in silicon photonics at Bristol, to seek resources to scale the small university lab scale technology to the millions of qubits required for building a universal, fault tolerant quantum computer. Since then there have been two rounds of investment in PsiQuantum ( www.psiquantum.com) by Venture Capitalists and by potential future users from the pharmaceutical, aerospace, high-performance computing and automotive industries.

The core of PsiQuantum’s architecture, known internally as “Fusion based quantum computing” (FBQC) is based Prof. Rudolph’s research on the fusion gates and protocols introduced in [1] and [6]. PsiQuantum is the only company with a fully simulated architecture (from hardware through to logical gates) capable of creating a million physical qubit machine capable of fault tolerant operation. This simulation took a team of more than 25 physicists at PsiQuantum over 2 years to implement. PsiQuantum are the only company with a technology that can be fully built within a Tier 1 semiconductor foundry, the same facilities which create the semiconductors found in all modern electrical devices such as laptops and mobile phones. This is in contrast to other quantum computing ventures which require far more custom manufacturing processes. PsiQuantum has partnered with one of these leading foundries, Global Foundries, who are committed to achieving the engineering specifications required [B]. Production of the early versions of these chips has begun [B].

IP impact: Imperial College London and Bristol University received a patent in 2015 on one feature of the silicon photonic architecture [C]. This patent was subsequently purchased by PsiQuantum. PsiQuantum now has more than 30 other patents [D].

The strengths of the photonic approach to quantum computing are briefly summarized in Sec 5.4 p.124 of this report by the US National Academy of Sciences [E]. They state the following:

“*Photons have a number of properties that make them an attractive technology for quantum computers: they are quantum particles that interact weakly with their environment and with each other. This natural isolation from the environment makes them an obvious approach to quantum communication.*”

Investment: PsiQuantum is still a stealth mode start-up, however, some investment information is public. In November 2019 completed a Later Stage Venture caption, Series C, funding raising and PsiQuantum has raised approximately $215 million building general purpose silicon photonic quantum computers [A,B]. This is one of the biggest investments to date in quantum computing. It included investment from former Google executive Andy Rubin’s Playground Global venture fund, Ballie Gifford, BlackRock, Founders Fund, Atomico and Microsoft’s M12 Ventures [A,B].

Employment and training: PsiQuantum has 130 employees (as of January 2020), including 13 Imperial College alumni (from Physics and Computer Science) and many other UK citizens have been employed by the company. Four UK physics students have done internships with the company [A].

[redacted from public version]

Wider economic and political importance of Quantum Computing:

The growth of companies such as PsiQuantum fits into a wider economic and political landscape of investing and developing the technologies of the future. Accenture consulting estimated that in 2016 $1 Billion was invested in quantum computing from public and private investment [G]. They also identified over 150 use cases for quantum computing with industries ranging from healthcare and manufacturing to financial services and resources [G].

Boston Consulting Group report “The Coming Quantum leap in computing” from 2018 states that: “the use of quantum computers to model physical systems has immediate applications in industries such as pharmaceuticals, chemicals, and energy. Algorithms using quantum math can unlock value by vastly speeding up data-intensive applications in such fields as search, cryptography, and machine learning.” […] “S everal such algorithms, in fields such as cryptography and machine learning, already exist. The processors are under active development, and announcements of increasingly capable processors come at an accelerating pace” [H]

Given the importance and wide-reaching implications of developing and producing quantum computers and technologies, national levels of investment and governmental policy are required to help create the conditions for this sector to flourish. To this end national governments are developing Quantum future strategies, for example, the US government report ‘National strategic Overview for Quantum Information Sciences’ states that: “ *Through developments in QIS [Quantum information science], the United States can improve its industrial base, create jobs, and provide economic and national security benefits.*” [I]

The UK government states that: “ *The UK already has a lead in some forms of quantum computing, and with the right environment we can benefit from developing the devices, exploiting their power and running the new quantum IT services that will follow.*” (page 48) [J]

The Quantum Age: technological opportunities report [J] (page 47) also highlights the important of photonic quantum computing in the UK Government’s priorities in developing Quantum technologies.

The pioneering work of John Pendry led to a new field of research and applications in metamaterials. He is widely credited as one of the inventors whose key concepts now allow their commercial use today [A, B] in highly disruptive technologies for a plethora of applications where control over electromagnetic radiation is key, including telecommunications, solar energy harvesting, biological imaging and sensing, medical diagnostics and many others. With David Smith, his collaborator who is developing an engineering platform based on the metamaterial concept, John Pendry’s research has been the major driving force behind the impact of these new concepts. Today most major technology companies have some internal ongoing metamaterials research, one such example is Netgear. They have used metamaterials in all consumer wireless routers since 2008 [C]. In addition, several of the many start-up companies devoted to metamaterials are already shipping products as outlined below.

Intellectual Ventures, a private equity company that centres on the development and licensing of intellectual property has set up 7 companies based on the fundamental research of Pendry and collaborators at Duke University, with 3 more who have developed products based on metamaterials and are approaching the external funding phase [D]. The first and largest of these companies Kymeta Corporation (Redmond, WA, USA), which specializes in satellite communications was formed in August 2012 and launched its first commercially available product in March 2017 [D, E, F]. Since August 2013, the following 6 companies have been also been formed by Intellectual Ventures; Evolv Technology (Waltham, MA, USA), with a focus on security screening applications; Echodyne (Redmond, WA, USA), a company commercializing metamaterial-based radar systems; Pivotal Commware (Kirkland, WA, USA), which develops metamaterial-based products for terrestrial communications; Carillon Technologies (Arlington, VA, USA), a start-up dedicated to military applications; Lumotive (Bellevue, WA, USA), a start-up dedicated to metamaterial-based LiDAR systems; and Metacept, a start-up designing and building complete electromagnetic systems. These seven start-ups target major industries where metamaterials have a highly likelihood of disruption [D] and have already attracted ~$534M of investment by the end of 2020 [D, E]. In doing so, they have helped create an entirely new market, the global metamaterial market, which is valued in the billions of dollars [D].

Kymeta – Using metamaterials for always-on satellite connectivity

The most prominent of these companies is, Kymeta, a mature start up founded by Nathan Kundz, a metamaterial co-author with Pendry and Smith. Kymeta’s technology directly derive from fundamental research undertaken by Pendry and his close collaborations with Smith and Kundz at Duke University. Following Intellectual Ventures incubation of the research, Kymeta was spun out in August 2012 and by the end 2020 had attracted over $330M of investment and is valued at between $500M-$1B [E]. Kymeta state that the research performed by Sir John Pendry was key to the technology and products they are currently selling and developing. A Kymeta series of blogs published in June 2017 states [F]: " The cloak decisively demonstrated the power of transformation optics that Dr. Pendry had conceptualized, expanding the set of tools available for optical and electromagnetic design. Transformation optics and related techniques would later become part of the underlying tool set for Kymeta’s technology."

In January 2016 Toyota announced a partnership with Kymeta with an investment of $10M [G], with the plan to integrate Kymeta’s flat antenna technology into their future vehicles to allow for stable high bandwidth satellite communications on-board their vehicles, enabling autonomous vehicles. In March 2017, Kymeta launched the first commercially available, flat, electronic steering, metamaterials-based satellite antenna, the Kymeta mTennau7 which at wholesale costs $25,000 per terminal [A]. Using the properties of metamaterials, this flat antenna removes the requirement of a moving dish to maintain always on satellite communications - opening new possibilities for high-speed satellite data communications.

In October – December 2017 following the destruction of the Hurricane Maria, Puerto Rico was left without communications. Kymeta provided antennas to partners on the ground who visited 33 communities enabling 22,266 internet sessions that generated 813.44 GB of data usage and allowed residents to use temporary ATMs, file 2,504 Federal Emergency Management Agency applications and contact family and friends [H]. This rapid response was made possible by metamaterial-based technology. Furthermore, the technology enables emergency services to maintain communications during disaster response, especially in remote locations, continuous connectivity to marine and land vehicles [H]. At present Kymeta lists over 100 partners in 40 counties [I] with companies covering government, defence, media, maritime, mining, oil, and vehicle-based solutions.

Metamaterials in autonomous cars, 5G, and wireless charging

A key application area for metamaterials is in the autonomous driving marketplace, where significant investment has taken place from many of the major car manufacturers. Toyota and Hyundai have invested $10M in Metawave [J], founded in 2017 ( https://www.metawave.co/). The Metawave automotive radar system steers a highly-directive RF beam that can accurately determine the location and speed of all road objects - in all-weather conditions and cluttered environments.

Metawave also exploit metamaterial technology in 5G networks (which will be up to 1000 times the speed of 4G) utilizing a smart beam-forming approach that directs energy toward a specific user’s device to provide the bandwidth needed to support the desired online experience and minimize source power requirements.

In the UK, Metaboards ( https://www.metaboards.com/), founded in 2016 has recently secured $5M in funding to support the development of their metamaterials-based technology [K] to transmit and control magneto inductive waves. This is vital technology in the ability to remotely power electronic devices across large surfaces without the need for alignment and should have enormous implications in charging of consumer electronics.

Manipulating visible radiation using metamaterials

Metamaterial Technologies Inc. (http://www.metamaterial.com/\), one of the earliest metamaterials companies founded in 2013, has developed eyewear protection for pilots (metaAIR Aviation Eyewear, commercially available since 2019) to eliminate the ever increasing problem of laser light strikes on aircraft. Variations of this product will also have relevance to the defence marketplace. By using metamaterial technology to trap sunlight from coming from all angles, Metamaterial Technologies Inc have also manufactured thin solar films that have the ability to increase the efficiency of solar cells.

Influence on policy and investment surrounding metamaterials

Through the research led by Pendry, the emergence of metamaterials and their properties regarding electromagnetic radiation has led the field to attract interest from national governments and defence programmes. An example of this is with the direction and policy decisions taken by Dstl and the MoD. A Dstl Senior Fellow, states that due to the interest in metamaterials he was asked to form the Emerging Technology Programme, now the Futures Programme [L]. Furthermore, they write “ This programme now deploys more than £15M per annum to horizon scan and explore unfamiliar, uncertain game-changing science and technology to mitigate the risk of technological surprise; and this is now influencing right to the top of UK government to inform policy, strategy and legislation relating to the importance of emerging technology, including metamaterials. More specifically in relation to metamaterials, the MODs core research portfolio is comprised of 25 programmes, today some 8 of these programmes are funding research in metamaterials and relying on talent skilled in metamaterials both internally and in the supply chain; this highlights the diversity of technological and application relevance.”

More widely John Pendry’s research has led metamaterials being a focus for UK industry. The head of Materials for the Knowledge Transfer Network writes “ The area [metamaterials] *was featured strongly in this year’s Materials Research Exchange Showcase (MRE 2020) to get potential investors engaged and has led to the recent launch of the Metamaterials Innovation Network to work with the investment community and industry to exploit the opportunities offered by the extensive academic research.*” [M]

Such engagement with industry and policy makers has ensured that Metamaterials are recognised by the UK government as one of the key branches of advanced materials that would help to grow UK’s wealth and well-being [M].

Dr van Sebille applied his fundamental physics-based oceanography research to consider the challenges of plastic pollution in the ocean, beginning in 2015, and leading to scientific publications on ocean microplastics that built an evidence base that identifies microplastic sources and sinks and focusses on how best to reduce the negative impact of plastic waste in the ocean. His work also highlighted the role of the UK on marine plastic pollution in the Arctic Ocean.

Informing policy

Based on the body of research on marine plastics the Grantham Institute and Dr. Eric van Sebille submitted written evidence to the House of Parliament’s Environmental Audit Committee on microplastic pollution (May 2016) [A]. As a result, Dr van Sebille was invited to give oral evidence [B]. In July 2016 the Environmental Audit Committee published a report on the “Environment impact of microplastic”. Dr van Sebille’s evidence, research or quotes are on pages: 7, 9, 10, 21, 27 and 29 [C]. This report concluded with the recommendation to ban microbeads. The UK government accepted this and announced plans to ban microbeads in November 2016. This led to Dr. van Sebille’s research informing DEFRA policy surrounding the UK ban on microplastics. The Head of Ocean Climate Science at DEFRA and science lead on the ban policy writes “ they [Dr van Sebille and the Grantham Institute] provided key information to the Department and met with us on many occasions to discuss the main areas and gaps in the evidence on marine litter and microplastics in the ocean. Their openness and extensive knowledge were a valuable contribution to what was one of the key environmental policies of the UK Government and led to, what is still described as, the World’s toughest ban on microbeads.” [D]. In addition, during the parliamentary debates of the ban, the Committee report was highlighted as a key piece of evidence for supporting the ban [E]. In December 2017 the ban was approved and came into force in January 2018.

During 2016 the Grantham Institute and Dr van Sebille delivered a wide range of engagement activities targeting both policy makers and society at large. Based on the launch of the policy paper [6], a regular dialogue with key contacts was established to kick start joint projects. The team met with many external stakeholders over this period, including Government Office for Science foresight team: Future of the Sea, Defra, WWF UK, ZSL, Coca Cola, IEEP, Green Alliance, Greenpeace UK, Galapagos Conservation Trust, the then UK Chief Scientific Advisor, Prof Sir Mark Walport and MPs Calum Kerr and Daniel Zeichner. This led to Dr van Sebille presenting his research at Greenpeace UK events during 2016 [F]. Following his first presentation, Greenpeace UK noted that “ *Erik’s presentation was fundamental in cementing the concept of marine litter as a truly global issue that we need to tackle at both a government policy and corporate level.*” [F]. Following this, later in 2016 Greenpeace UK organised a lobbying event with MPs, retailers such as Marks & Spencer and Tesco and other key stakeholders. The event featured Dr van Sebille’s research on the impacts on plastics and microplastics once in ocean flows. The event was well received and “ the audience at the event came away with the knowledge that Greenpeace’s lobbying efforts are steeped in scientific evidence, that prevention really is better than cure when it comes to plastic pollution and that we must turn off the plastic tap at source. We were very grateful for this opportunity to platform Erik’s research” [F].

Press coverage of Dr van Sebille’s research [G] highlighted the issue of UK marine plastic waste to the public. As public opinion shifted the UK government, all major UK supermarkets and high-profile organisations such as the BBC pledged to ban all single-use plastics in April 2018. Following this, on 17^th May 2018 the research from the Grantham Briefing paper and research by Dr Erik van Sebille was directly referred to during an UK parliamentary debate on “Plastic Bottles and Coffee Cups” in relation to Environmental Audit Committee (EAC) reports and single-use plastics. In the opening of the debate by Mary Creagh MP, she stated, “ *Research by Dr Erik van Sebille at Imperial College London shows that most of the UK’s marine plastic pollution ends up in the Arctic, so the UK has a particular responsibility to clean up our act and protect the Arctic.*” [H]. During the same inquiry the ZSL collaborated with Dr Erik van Sebille to include his research and the Grantham Institute briefing paper to form their written and oral evidence. The Project manager for ZSL writes “ The evidence we provided informed EAC recommendations to the government in-line with our asks around single-use plastic water bottle reduction targets across the UK and an increase in freely available refill points – a big success for the #OneLess project. This collaboration Dr Erik van Sebille and his team helped us to run a successful, evidence-lead campaign.” [I] In May 2019 the UK government confirmed the ban of single use plastics. This came into force on the 1^st October 2020 after being delayed from April 2020 due to the Covid-19 pandemic [J]. This ban should reduce plastic in the oceans, as well as stimulating a growth in reuse and recycling [J].

Beyond UK policy, information directly from our body of work [6] was included in the European Commission report 'A circular economy for plastics – Insights from research and innovation to inform policy and funding decisions' (March 2019, see Table 3, Page 37) [K] this informed the EU’s decision to ban on single-use plastics in May 2019, this will come into force in 2021 [L].

Public engagement

In addition to working with policymakers the Grantham institute led a public outreach programme, centred around the Imperial College public festival of science in May 2016 (15,000 attendees) and a Royal Society Science Exhibition in July 2016 (14,371 attendees). The activities were designed to appeal to a wide range of ages and groups. The high-quality exhibition included a touch-screen interactive ocean model to track the path of plastic litter from different locations, a game linking common plastic litter items with what they become when broken down by simulated wave action, cards gathering solutions for the ocean plastic problem (categorised as better materials, community action, clean-up projects) and a twitter wall displaying live suggestions. Special outreach activities were developed for young people included a research paper written especially for use in secondary schools (750 hard copies distributed). During summer 2016 plasticadrift.org website: 13,000 views, Video on RS website & YouTube: 1,241 views (#3 most viewed of all 23 RS stands). Since mid-2016 the Ocean plastic pollution web page had 13,469 unique views. Dr. van Sebille and his team also presented at the BlueDot Festival (45,000 attendees over 3 days), Being Human Festival and at the Royal Geographic Society.

Research informing Government

Knight’s influential research and international status in quantum optics, in particular his advances in, and advocacy of, quantum technology, resulted in his extensive participation in numerous UK panels and committees. The Chief Scientific Adviser to the MoD has worked closely with Knight. They write “ As a result of his international standing and underpinning research, Professor Knight has acted widely as an adviser to government, in diverse roles, serving on and chairing numerous committees, such as the Defence Scientific Advisory Committee and the MOD’s Research and Development Board” [A]. His research has informed the direction of policy; “ Since 2000, Professor Knight’s research outputs have had a particular focus on quantum information theory and his fundamental studies of photonic gates has underpinned research on practical realisations of quantum computers, which is a key aspect of the UK National Quantum Technologies Programme” [A]. Using these positions Knight’s campaigning has led to the UK Government’s adoption of Quantum Technologies for potentially extensive commercial exploitation.

As a precursor of the National Programme, Knight (as a member of MoD’s ISTA Register and MoD DSAC Chair) was instrumental in persuading the MoD to invest in a pilot programme, run through the Centre for Defence Enterprise (CDE, now DASA) on Atomic Clocks and Sensors with a call to pull together academia and industry on proof of concept technologies. This was widely regarded in government as the “toe in the water” test of appetite to deliver novel engineering capabilities based on quantum technologies. The Chief Scientific Adviser recalls that “ Professor Knight had also originally persuaded the MOD to invest in a pilot programme” [A] . This is also confirmed by Dstl, who states that Knight’s work and advice on Quantum Technologies to the MoD and other government departments has “given the UK a world leading position in the global quantum technology race, ensured the MoD recognised the game changing opportunities of the new technologies and began investing in R&D in 2013 to develop quantum clocks and other quantum sensors for early adopter advantage”. In addition stating of Knight’s work, “ influencing UK Government policy, resulting in a focus on quantum technologies, has had a transformative impact on quantum technology R&D in the UK.” [B].*

Influencing UK Government policy and the National Quantum Technology Programme

Following the CDE call, Knight, briefed David Willetts, the then Science Minister (who was developing the concept of the 8 Great Technologies) on quantum technologies and helped his Private Office to arrange ministerial briefings from the community which shaped the Phase 1 NQTP announcement of the initial £270M investment in the 2013 Autumn statement [A]. “ Through his [Knight’s] direct lobbying at Cabinet level, he convinced the UK government of the importance of his research and to recognise the enormous potential of quantum technologies” [A].

Creation of the National Programme

The creation of NQTP Phase 1 from 2014-2019 led to the establishment of an RCUK/BIS (as it was then) Strategic Advisory Board, with Knight as the leading scientific expert as a member.  Knight was the lead author of the UK Government Office of Science, Blackett Review “The Quantum Age” in November 2016, acknowledged as the main driver that led to the second 5-year tranche of funding for the programme [C]. Sir Mark Walport, the Government Chief Scientific Adviser at the time, highlighted Knight’s role stating “ I would like to thank the many contributors for the support they have provided to this review, and especially Professor Sir Peter Knight for his leadership on this project.” As a result of the success of the Report, Mark Walport, UKRI CEO asked Knight to write the “Vision Piece” for UKRI for Phase 2 of the NQTP which resulted in HMT funding of a second 5 years support for the Programme [D]. Also, in June 2018, Knight gave oral evidence to the Science and Technology Committee [E]. The Government’s response to this committee’s report and the 2016 Blackett report on Quantum Technologies was to fund phase 2 of the NQTP taking the level of investment in the programme over £800M and to create an Executive Board to oversee the second phase. This board was a recommendation from the 2016 Blackett report [F].

Knight also put together industrially led consortia to deliver prototype demonstrators of commercial relevance in quantum sensing, communication and imaging. Following this success, Knight was invited to be the lead technical author of the ISCF Quantum Challenge “Wave 2” which secured £153M of support from BEIS and £205M matching commitment from industry to accelerate industry led implementation projects. Announced in June 2019, it is an important element of the national programme strategy to engage with industry and support the commercialising of quantum technologies [G] . In addition, Knight worked with UKRI to refresh the QT Research Hubs for Phase 2, helping to lead community workshops on new opportunities and to identify and bring on board new members to the Hub teams. To date, government funding for Quantum Technologies has exceeded £1 billion [A].

On the award of the Faraday Medal of the Institute of Engineering and Technology to Knight for his formative work on engineering aspects of quantum technology, the citation included “…. for his outstanding contribution in the field of quantum engineering. His pivotal role in conceiving, designing and delivering the National Quantum Technologies Programme has put the UK quantum science and engineering at the front of the global race to establish the second information revolution” [H].

Knight was lead technical author of the Business Case for BEIS for the National Quantum Computing Centre at Harwell, announced in the 2018 Budget with a purse of nearly £100M over 5 years included in the additional £235m for the NQTP [A]. He is now a member of the Project Board for UKRI to build the new Centre.  He has also chaired in 2019-2020 the Quantum Expert Group Technical Road mapping for BEIS on future opportunities in Quantum Computing as part of the work for the Comprehensive Spending Review [I]. Knight is now Chair of the NQTP Phase 2 SAB and is Technical Advisor to Innovate UK on Quantum Technology and the accelerating industrial exploitation of the area.

Impact of the National Quantum Technologies Programme

The NQTP has generated substantial industrial commitment, with approximately 100 companies involved in associated industry-led Industrial Strategy Challenge Fund activities. The ISCF Challenge Director, states that “ The creation of the Quantum Hubs enabled some 100 companies to become involved with the Programme. The ISCF programmes now have secured over £170M of public funding which is expected to attract over £200M of industrial funding. 177 businesses and 44 research organisations have applied for funding to date and - in round figures - 40 projects (involving 90 companies and 30 research organisations) have been launched.” He goes on to say, “ The high levels of industry engagement and commitment to date indicate that your [Peter Knight’s] research and personal contribution have taken us well down this road and have laid the foundations for an ambitious large scale world leading public and privately funded programme.” [J]

Quantum technology related start-ups in the UK now exceed 32, with over 170 new employees and private investment of over £70M; current estimates by BEIS show this is growing rapidly. For example, the Networked Quantum Information Technologies hub, one of four in the NQTP, collaborated and partnered with over 140 companies, 34 industry-partnered projects, and at least 5 spinouts.

One such example is, Teledyne e2v, a world leader in the design and manufacture of specialist electronic components and subsystems. The CTO & Head of Quantum Technologies, Space & Quantum at Teledyne e2v writes “ *Over the last 6 years they have invested over £10M of company funds in developing a new technology platform and businesses in Quantum Technologies.*[…] *the Teledyne e2v activity has grown to over 40 people and is close to launching its first products. Our investment has without doubt been accelerated by the innovative National Quantum Technology Programme where during Phase 1 Teledyne e2v was the largest industrial investor and CR&D partner in the whole programme leading supply chain developments in multiple projects, of total value >£25M across c. 30 partners.*” [K]. Knight’s fundamental research and leadership in Quantum Technologies has been foundational to this national success - “[…] without Knight I very much doubt that we would have a joined up National QT Programme in the UK at all, and certainly not a £1Bn scale one.” [K].

The UK had an early lead in QT but other countries since have proposed similar programmes, including the USA’s major National Quantum Initiative launched in 2018 by the White House (Knight was one of only 3 non-Americans present at the White House launch; the European Union Quantum Flagship is of similar size and both follow exactly the focus identified by Knight for the UK programme: Imaging, Sensors and Timing, Communication and Quantum information Processing. “ The reach and significance of his fundamental studies has resulted in major programmes in quantum technology being instigated in Germany and the United States of America, while the European Union Quantum Flagship has closely followed the UK’s model both in content and funding levels.” [A].

Mahama Refugee Camp, the largest in Rwanda, is home to approximately 60,000 refugees fleeing conflict in Burundi. The camp opened in 2015, and later in 2017 gained a health facility. At the time of this opening Seraphine Mukantabana, the minister for disaster management and refugee affairs highlighted the need for electricity to the camp in her statement [A] . The UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) and the Rwandan Government oversee camp administration, with primary healthcare services provided by Alight, an NGO who serve 56,000 refugees quarterly [B]. Previously electricity provision in Mahama was typical of the five other camps in Rwanda: a diesel minigrid operated by Alight supplied a restricted number of users including the health clinic and camp offices. The system had an estimated annual fuel consumption of 6,800 litres, at a cost of approximately $6,000 and with high GHG emissions (13,500 kgCO₂), as well as air and noise pollution throughout the night. Other users were not permitted and refugee businesspeople in the marketplace had little access to modern energy sources.

MeshPower engaged with Alight to install a hybrid solar, diesel and battery system to reduce fuel consumption and were fundraising for and designing a system to meet the needs of the health clinic, the primary source of healthcare in the camp, and potentially extend it to the refugee marketplace [B, C, D]. Based on our longstanding relationship, including collaborative impact-focused energy modelling projects since 2015, we identified an opportunity to apply our knowledge of energy system design in humanitarian settings [1, 2, 3], with MeshPower’s planned installation, supported by their high-resolution remote monitoring capabilities which we used in previous projects.

MeshPower installed the largest amount of solar and storage capacity based on the funds available but lacked the capability to investigate the operational control strategy of the diesel generators. They also needed to justify to Alight and UNHCR the number of businesses it would be possible to connect to the system without significantly affecting its performance or increasing fuel use and costs. We collaborated to navigate relationships with camp authorities to permit extension of the infrastructure to the marketplace and, post-installation, inform how the operation of the system could improve its performance and provide greater benefits [C].

Our research contributed to the impact of the system by investigating:

1. The electricity load to be met by a) analysing monitored data of the main institutional and health centre loads to predict future usage, and b) by transferring our research from rural businesses to quantify the potential electricity demand of different numbers and types of refugee enterprises which could be connected. Our research also helped MeshPower to *“better understand the growing needs of the health centre, whose recent expansion with maternity facilities and increasing energy demands such as for air conditioning and refrigeration.*” [C]

2. The predicted performance of the system using CLOVER over several years to a) set a baseline for its performance, b) evaluate its operation and potential benefits under a range of different usage strategies, and c) the impacts of connecting refugee businesses to the system.

Using our findings, MeshPower presented to Alight the cost, fuel and emissions savings of the new hybrid system, including scenarios we proposed for connecting different numbers of refugee businesses to the minigrid [C]. MeshPower used “Imperial’s analysis of productive energy use” to “support of Alight and UNHRC to connect 25 refugee businesses, *once access to the camp is available again, with more businesses connected in further phases in the future. This will increase the opportunities in the camp for refugees to start businesses and hire employees themselves.*” [C]. Our research “ has been valuable in supporting the work in Mahama” and it has “ helped to quantify the benefits of solar energy, identify potential cost savings, and to understand the impacts of providing electricity to businesses in the marketplace” [B]. This is all supporting UNHCR’s refugee livelihood objectives.

Comparing the original diesel-only system to the current usage we estimate that fuel costs have decreased by 32% and emissions by 4,300 kg CO₂ per year. This is whilst both increasing the electricity use in the health centre (expanding the services, installing a vaccine fridge, and powering a new maternity centre), providing connections to additional offices, and increasing the security of the camp by providing street lighting and connecting the camp police station. Using our analysis of the optimum diesel generator usage, we expect that MeshPower will be able to get 34% more usage from the solar and battery system, saving a further $900 and 2,000 kg CO₂ annually [C], in the years to come – with 47% lower fuel usage than the original system. As a direct result of the work in Mahama MeshPower have an agreement with Alight to replicate the system in three further camps in Rwanda, which cumulatively host 43,000 refugees, subject to funding [C].

This project contributes to UNHCR’s global goals, encouraging the use of renewable energy for more sustainable operations [E], and the policies of the Government of Rwanda (and many other countries) to support the economic integration of refugees through productive livelihoods [F]. In addition, our research is “ directly relevant to the UNHCR Clean Energy Challenge, which aims to provide cleaner and safer energy to displaced people worldwide, and so the work in Mahama Refugee Camp will serve as a valuable example of private sector delivery supported by academic research” [E]. As one of the first systems of its kind in the world, our project has received much attention [G, H]. UNITAR, who coordinate global humanitarian energy implementation, invited us to present this project as an example of the value of research applied to energy in humanitarian settings in September 2020 at an event attended by UN agencies, NGOs, academics and the private sector from around the world [E]. We are now engaging with UNITAR to explore opportunities to apply this work to their projects in Djibouti [E].

The primary impact of the underpinning research is its validation of the reported emissions of CO₂ from fossil fuel burning in California, the accurate reporting of CO₂ emissions was critical to California’s climate change mitigation policies including the “Global Warming Solutions Act *(*AB ) 32)”. The significance of this impact is that by providing independent assessment of California’s emissions, the research enables California’s government and citizens to have confidence in its action to reduce climate change. Corroborating statements from beneficiaries at the California Air Resources Board, the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) and the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather forecasting provide evidence of the impact.

California is currently implementing ambitious reduction strategies to reduce Short Lived Climate Pollutants. Dr Graven’s research directly supports California’s program by addressing a key challenge; the evaluation of fossil fuel CO₂ emissions and the separation of fossil and natural CO₂ by using radiocarbon measurements. Dr Graven’s study has had an impact in California by helping to provide confidence in the CO₂ emissions reported in the greenhouse gas emissions inventory. The Chief of Research Planning, Administration, & Emission Mitigation for the California Air Resources Board writes

“With Assembly Bill (AB) 32 requiring a sharp reduction of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, California set the stage for its transition to a sustainable, low-carbon future. […] . The study led by Dr Heather Graven of the CO₂ emissions from fossil fuels in California (Graven et al. Environ. Res. Lett., 2018) investigates regional CO₂ emissions trends throughout the state, and thus provides an important validation of the CO₂ emissions in the California greenhouse gas inventory” [A].

The impact has a broader reach because the research is being used as a model for other emissions assessment systems, such as the one being developed by the European Copernicus Service. The Deputy Director of the Copernicus Atmosphere Monitoring Service says

“The study led by Dr Heather Graven of the CO₂ emissions from fossil fuels in California (Graven et al. Environ. Res. Lett., 2018) provides an important model for the development of our EU system. It is the only study to date that validates fossil fuel CO₂ emissions on the scale of a political state using a network of atmospheric observation sites. […] Dr Graven is a member of the CHE External Expert Group and her work and expertise has been a very important contribution to our discussions on how to provide policy relevant monitoring of fossil fuel CO₂ emissions in Europe.” [B]

Our research has been featured in the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change conference and it is influencing plans for evaluation of the international efforts to address climate change under the Paris Agreement [C]. The Lead Officer for Research and Systematic Observation for the UNFCCC, writes

“Dr Graven was invited to present her work at the research dialogue in 2016 on the validation of CO₂ emissions from fossil fuels in California (Graven et al., Environ. Res. Lett., 2018). *Her work demonstrated an important new method that can be used to support national efforts for greenhouse gas emissions mitigation contributing to the Paris Agreement. It supports enhanced transparency of action, which is a key focus for the implementation of the Paris Agreement. The development of methods for Parties to be able to independently validate reported greenhouse gas emissions using atmospheric measurements has an impact on international policy by enhancing confidence and trust between Parties.*” [C, D]

Dr Graven formulated the idea for the project, wrote the proposal, gathered collaborators and led the project. Collaborators provided support on field campaigns (UCSD, LBNL, Caltech, Sandia, NOAA, CARB), measurements of samples (UCSD, LLNL) and atmospheric modelling and analysis (LBNL). Two publications were led by Imperial ( **[1, 3]**) and two by LBNL ( **[2, 4]**).

Direct beneficiaries are the citizens of California (39.5M) and the government of California, specifically the Air Resources Board which is the government agency leading the implementation of California’s “Global Warming Solutions Act” to mitigate greenhouse gas emissions. The independent validation by H. Graven’s team provides confidence in the methods used by the Air Resources Board to calculate California’s emissions and how accurately they can monitor the success of California’s climate change mitigation policies. Other political entities such as the European Commission and the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change benefit by the demonstration of the method for validating emissions. The European Commission is developing such a system through its Copernicus Services programme.

To disseminate the research to beneficiaries, Dr Graven and her research team were in direct contact with staff at the California Air Resources Board through 2013-18 and communicated the research to them via email and presentations. Dr Graven gave an invited presentation to United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change Research Dialogue in 2016. Dr Graven gave an invited presentation to the EU project “CO₂ Human Emissions”, a new initiative to develop a European system to monitor human activity-related CO₂ emissions across the world, in 2018. Conference presentations to scientists and governmental officials occurred in 2016 and 2017, at the Global Climate Observing System conference and the American Geophysical Union conferences. To communicate with citizens, a press release was put out in 2018 upon publication of [1] and the research was included in news stories from 11 different news outlets including BBC News. The article has an Altmetric score of 106, in the top 5% of all research outputs [E, F, G, H].