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UK photonics already has substantial economic weight, but the panel at Photon2026 argued that research strength alone will not secure the sector’s future. The challenge is to turn discoveries into products and scaled businesses, build a workforce that includes technicians and engineers, and collaborate with European partners while protecting sensitive work.
What the Photon2026 panel debated
Photon2026, organized by the Institute of Physics at Newcastle University from 1 to 4 September 2026, brought together the UK and European optics and photonics community. Anne Crean of the IOP moderated a panel coordinated by Jolyon De Freitas of the IOP Optical Group with the European Optical Society. Participants included John Lincoln, Ruth Oulton, John Howell, Laura Young, Chris Johnson and Tom Grinyer. The discussion focused on how the UK and Europe can preserve and extend their position in photonics.
The sector’s scale is reflected in the Photonics Leadership Group’s 2025 report, which covers 2024: it estimates £18.5bn in UK output, £8.6bn in gross value added, 84,800 employees and more than 1,400 firms. The report also records more than 16% like-for-like revenue growth from 2022 to 2024. These figures describe an enabling industry whose technologies support activity across other sectors, rather than a single end market. Photonics Leadership Group
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Panelists described a gap between producing strong research and converting it into practical and economic impact. Laura Young argued that early medical-technology developments need to make it through to products that reach patients and deliver commercial or social value. Chris Johnson called for stronger routes for start-ups and spin-outs to grow beyond their earliest stage, drawing a comparison with the development of synthetic-biology companies. These were panel observations, not a measured assessment of every photonics business.
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The distinction matters: promising research does not automatically become a manufacturable device, a sustainable company or a widely adopted technology. The panel’s argument was that the ecosystem needs to support translation and company growth alongside research, so that ideas can move toward deployment and scale.
Skills must reach beyond PhD research
John Lincoln argued that workforce support should include the people who build, operate and manufacture photonics systems, not only doctoral researchers. He said: “One of the things we are calling for is to make sure that skills support goes beyond PhD to engineers and technicians,” as reported by Physics World.
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That call points to two complementary needs: specialist research expertise and a broad technical workforce able to turn designs into reliable equipment and production. Lincoln also urged researchers to explain how photonics enables areas such as AI, energy, quantum technology and connectivity, making its contribution clearer to policymakers and the public. Ruth Oulton similarly encouraged scientists to support the case for policy investment with evidence of success and international comparisons.
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UK agility and European scale
Oulton framed one strategic tension as a difference in strengths: the EU has scale and the ability to compete with the US and China, while the UK may be able to move more quickly in emerging fields. That is her characterization of the policy landscape, not a universal comparison of every programme or institution.
Panelists also emphasized the value of UK–EU collaboration. The Physics World report notes that the UK returned to Horizon funding in 2024. Tom Grinyer recalled the earlier exclusion: “In 2022 we were outside of the Horizon funding framework and it felt like we were staring through a window,” he said. Lincoln’s view was that collaboration benefits both sides: “Collaboration makes everyone better,” and, “Don’t think of it as us versus them, but look at it as how we can both win.”
The discussion also raised uncertainty around the next EU framework programme, FP10. The conference report described it as intended to run from 2028 to 2034 with a proposed €175bn budget; those are reported programme plans, not a guarantee of final terms or UK participation. Lincoln said EU photonics funding would be folded into the European Chips Act and argued that firms should adapt to photonics being treated as a semiconductor. These are his views as reported at the panel.
Collaboration must account for security
Photonics has civilian uses in areas including telecommunications, space, quantum technologies and environmental monitoring, as well as defence and security applications. Johnson linked the field to national security and raised the risk of industrial espionage. Panelists also discussed how technologies with both civilian and military uses can lead to greater scrutiny or limits on international work.
This creates a practical tension: cross-border research can broaden partnerships and help ideas scale, while some work may require safeguards for intellectual property or national security. The panel discussion does not establish that all photonics research is restricted; the concern is about specific dual-use risks and how they are managed.
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Access and public benefit beyond industry
John Howell argued that improving access to optics and photonics instrumentation in developing countries could support environmental and water monitoring, as well as disease detection. The conference report does not quantify the outcomes or identify particular instruments, so this is best understood as a proposed opportunity rather than a measured impact claim.
It reflects a broader point in the panel’s discussion: photonics can matter not only as an industrial capability, but also as infrastructure for addressing social and environmental needs when tools are accessible and deployed effectively.
What UK policy advice recommends
In advice to the Prime Minister published on 9 March 2026, the UK Council for Science and Technology described photonics as an enabling technology with implications for AI, quantum, autonomous vehicles and digital infrastructure. It recommended three actions: a national roadmap to provide long-term vision and coordination; use of public procurement to support domestic industries; and expanded international partnerships and exports. See the Council for Science and Technology advice on photonics.
The advice says a roadmap and targeted investment could help the UK reach a £50bn photonics sector value by 2035, with up to 150,000 additional jobs. These are possible outcomes presented by the council, not current sector figures or guaranteed forecasts. The policy proposals address different parts of the challenge: coordination, demand for domestic capability, and access to international markets and partners.
The central question for the sector
The panel’s debate was not simply about whether the UK has strong photonics research or companies; the industry figures show significant activity already exists. Its central question was how to connect those strengths more reliably to patient-facing technologies, growing firms, a workforce spanning research and technical deployment, and public benefit—while working with Europe and handling security risks proportionately.
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