To ask the Secretary of State for Innovation, Universities and Skills what UK research and development projects are being undertaken into (a) quantum crypto-graphics and (b) electro-optics; how much funding such projects are planned to receive from the public purse in (i) 2008-09, (ii) 2009-10 and (iii) 2010-11; and if he will make a statement. (225376)

The Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) and the Technology Strategy Board (TSB), funded through the Science and Innovation Budgets, support a portfolio of research grants in these areas.

In addition, EPSRC is currently funding 69 grants totalling £53,093,462 in the area of optoelectronics which is a separate but related branch of technology to electro-optics. Information on individual grants funded by EPSRC is available from ‘EPSRC Grants on the Web’ at

http://gov.epsrc.ac.uk/.

From 2004 to 2008, the Technology Strategy Board contributed £3,903,712 to projects that explicitly mention electro optics or optoelectronics in their title or abstract under the Key Technology Area of Electronics, Photonics and Electrical Systems.

The Technology Strategy Board has not identified any projects containing the words ‘quantum crypto-graphics’ in the title or abstract.