PhD Programme

About The Role and Team

We are currently accepting applications for our PhD programme!

This is a unique opportunity to work at the cutting edge of technology development, developing new innovative circuits, devices and theoretical methods to tackle the engineering challenges of implementing a large-scale quantum computer in silicon. PhD students will gain research and industrial experience working with some of the brightest quantum engineers, IC engineers and quantum computing theoreticians in a fast-growing research and development environment.

We do not award PhDs, and any offer for a PhD will be done in conjunction with one of our partner universities.

Quantum Motion will support you and provide guidance on your university application. The successful candidate is expected to start in early 2026.

CV

1-page personal statement which describes your motivation for pursuing a PhD and explains which topics are of interest to you (in order of preference) and why.

If your application is successful, you will be invited to a 30-minute technical interview with the relevant team.

Since 2021 our team has been listed every year in the “Top 100 Startups worth watching” in the EE Times, and our technology breakthroughs have been featured in The Telegraph, BBC and the New Statesman. Our founders are internationally renowned researchers from UCL and Oxford University who have pioneered the development of qubits and quantum computing architectures. Our chairman is the co‑founder of Cadence and Synopsys, the two leading companies in the area of Electronic Design Automation.

We’re backed by a team of top‑tier investors including Bosch Ventures, Porsche SE, Sony Innovation Fund, Oxford Sciences Innovations, INKEF Capital and Octopus Ventures, and we have so far raised over £62 million in equity and grant funding.

We bring together the brightest quantum engineers, integrated circuit (IC) engineers, quantum computing theoreticians and software engineers to create a unique, world‑leading team, working together closely to maximise our combined expertise. Our collaborative and interdisciplinary culture is an ideal fit for anyone who thrives in a cutting‑edge research and development environment focused on tackling big challenges and contributing to the development of scalable quantum computers based on silicon technology.

Our team of 100+ is based across London, Oxford, Spain and Sydney, with our primary hub in Islington (London).

Quantum Hardware Team at Quantum Motion specialises in designing, validating and operating quantum processors based on silicon (CMOS) industrial technology. This PhD track is experimental in nature with laboratory based work. Silicon‑based approaches to quantum computing offer advantages such as high qubit density, record qubit coherence lifetimes for the solid state, and the ability to leverage the advanced nanofabrication methods of CMOS technologies.

Two‑qubit gate fidelities for spin qubits in silicon now exceed 99.5% and registers of up to 6 qubits have been made so far. By integrating CMOS quantum devices on‑chip with ‘classical’ digital and analogue electronics, arrays of up to 1024 quantum dots have been addressed and rapidly characterised in just 5 minutes. These advances open up many exciting research opportunities for spin‑qubits based on silicon MOS (metal‑oxide‑semiconductor) devices, fabricated using the same processes used routinely across the IC industry today.

Partner Universities:
University College London and University of Cambridge

Architectures and Applications Team at Quantum Motion specialises in quantum algorithms and computing architectures. The team considers how to optimise silicon qubit architectures in order to run particular quantum algorithms of interest. Building quantum computers means learning to control qubits. The first generation of quantum computers will be imperfect, by comparison to our reliable conventional technologies, but they will still have the potential to be vastly more powerful.

Therefore there is great interest in finding the potential useful applications of such systems. Theory projects will use both…