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An experimental physicist at Heriot-Watt University who has been researching quantum technologies for more than 15 years has collected a prestigious scientific prize.
Professor Mehul Malik has been named a Finalist in the Physical Sciences & Engineering category of the 2024 Blavatnik Awards for Young Scientists in the UK.
It is the first time Heriot-Watt University has been honoured in the awards, which recognise outstanding scientific talent and research that is transforming medicine, technology and our understanding of the world across three categories: Chemical Sciences, Physical Sciences & Engineering and Life Sciences.
It is a great honour to receive this award and to have my team's research recognised.
Professor Malik is Professor of Physics and Royal Academy of Engineering Chair in Emerging Technologies at Heriot-Watt University, where his research focuses on quantum communication – a technology based on using particles of light to carry data.
His work has also included ground-breaking research into the phenomenon known as quantum entanglement. This is when two or more particles – such as photons of light – remain connected even when they’re separated by vast distances.
Professor Malik collected his Finalist medal and a £30,000 prize at the Blavatnik Awards Ceremony Gala and Symposium in Whitehall in London this week. As part of the event, he also delivered a public lecture on his research.
Professor Malik said: “It is a great honour to receive this award and to have my team's research recognised. Quantum communication is a technology that is still in its infancy, but holds great promise for the future of human society. This includes unprecedented levels of information security and more powerful computing systems. We are excited to be leading advances in this field through our work at Heriot-Watt University.”
The Blavatnik Awards for Young Scientists in the UK are administered by The New York Academy of Sciences, a professional society dedicated to advancing scientific research, and funded by philanthropic organisation the Blavatnik Family Foundation, which has contributed more than $1 billion to more than 250 organizations over the last ten years.
Since they were founded in 2007, the Blavatnik Awards for Young Scientists have awarded more than $17 million in prizes and have recognised more than 400 young scientists and engineers from 54 countries.
In the UK, the Awards have donated £3.3 million to scientists and are the largest unrestricted prizes available to scientists aged 42 or younger.
The Blavatnik Family Foundation supports world-renowned educational, scientific, cultural, and charitable institutions in the United States, the UK, Israel, and worldwide. It is led by philanthropist and businessman Sir Leonard Blavatnik, the founder and chairman of Access Industries, a global investment firm headquartered in New York.
Sir Leonard said: “Providing recognition and funding early in a scientist’s career can make the difference between discoveries that remain in the lab and those that make transformative scientific breakthroughs.
“We are proud that the Awards have promoted both UK science and the careers of many brilliant young scientists and we look forward to their additional discoveries in the years ahead.”
The New York Academy of Sciences is an independent, not-for-profit organisation that was founded in 1817 to advance science for the benefit of society. It has more than 20,000 members in 100 countries.
Professor Malik has published more than 53 papers in the field of quantum optics and quantum information, where his research interests including quantum entanglement, quantum imaging, quantum information, and high-dimensional quantum states of light.
Quantum technology involves harnessing the physics of quantum particles of light and matter to develop ultra-high performance applications including more powerful computing, unconditionally secure communications and more reliable navigation systems.
At Heriot-Watt, Professor Malik leads the experimental quantum photonics research group, Beyond Binary Quantum Information Lab. Before moving to the UK in 2018, he held postdoctoral positions at the University of Vienna in Austria and the Institute of Quantum Optics and Quantum Information (IQOQI) in Vienna. He has a PhD from the University of Rochester, New York and a Bachelors in Physics from Colgate University, New York.
Professor Malik is one of nine scientists receiving grants totalling £480,000 in the 2024 Blavatnik Awards for Young Scientists in the UK.