Annual Physics Schools Lecture: Where does all the quantum go?

Calling all STEM students from GCSE to A Level to university! Welcome to the first of our new series of Annual Physics Schools Lectures. Join us here at King's to explore the ever unfolding world of quantum science, and the amazing discoveries which will reshape our future forever. Delivering the 2025 Lecture is Director of King's Quantum Dr James Millen.

This event is aimed at those aged 16+, but younger students are welcome to attend.

Please note - you must pre-book a free ticket to attend this event. We are not able to book tickets on the door, or admit anyone without a pre-booked ticket.

Talk description
Quantum physics describes the world in a weird way - everything which happens depends on everything that could possibly happen. The consequence is quantum superposition - where until forced into certainty, reality hovers is a spread of possibilities, and quantum entanglement - where possibilities are shared between far-apart objects.

Quantum physics is also absolutely correct, and enables us to teleport messages around the world via satellites, and build wearable brain-scanners. Why don't we see superposition and entanglement in our everyday lives? Research at King's is aiming to bring the weird effects of quantum physics to the scale of the every-day and of living creatures, using the amazing power of levitation.

About the Speakers

Dr James Millen is an experimental quantum scientist at King's, and Director of King's Quantum, a multidisciplinary research initiative. He studies novel quantum technologies and fundamental physics at the nanoscale.

He completed his MSc in Physics at Imperial College London in 2007, and his PhD in experimental atomic physics at Durham University in 2011. In 2011 James moved to University College London, to work with Prof. Peter Barker in the new field of levitated optomechanics. In pioneering work, they used focussed laser beams and optical cavities to cool and control the motion of charged silica nanoparticles.

James was awarded a Marie Skłodowska-Curie Research Fellowship to work in the Quantum Nanophysics group of Prof. Markus Arndt at the University of Vienna between 2015-2018. While in Vienna, James pioneered the study of rotational optomechanics, developing the most frequency stable mechanical object ever created.

To complement his research, James has fostered a keen interest in Outreach, Public Engagement, and Science Communication, and is currently Lecturer in Quantum Theory to the Public at the Royal Institution. He runs The Quantum Workshop mobile experiment, has written for the Guardian and Physics World, and has acted as scientific advisor for two BBC documentaries.

Molly Message is a third year PhD student in the department of Natural Mathematical and Engineering Sciences at King's College London, studying under the supervision of Dr James Millen. Her research is focused on using electrically levitated microspheres to study thermodynamics at the microscale. Her main goals are to further our understanding on how microscopic systems behave differently to their macroscopic counterparts, and to build and experimentally verify new microscopic thermodynamic frameworks.

In 2021, she was awarded a bachelor’s degree in physics from the University of Sussex. Here, during her third-year project, she contributed to research by developing highly sensitive magnetometers which aided in the search for the neutron electric dipole moment. In 2022, she joined the Millen group at King's College London to complete her master’s degree. After, she continued her work in the same group – now as a PhD student.

Additional information

This event is aimed at those aged 16+. Younger attendees are welcome, but please note that attendees under the age of 14 must be accompanied by a responsible adult. For school groups, tickets are limited to 20 students per booking, to ensure a larger number of schools can attend. If you are aged 14–18 and booking for yourself, please check with a parent or guardian before booking your place.

Registration for this event will take place in reception in the main entrance. This is on the Strand, the opposite side of St Mary Le Strand Church from Bush House. Refreshments will be served in the Engineering Quad Labs and the Lecture will take place in the Edmond J. Safra Lecture Theatre.

This event is organised by the Department of Engineering at King’s College London, together with the Faculty Outreach Team. If you have any questions or would like any further details, please email [email protected].

For in-person events we operate a policy of overbooking, to help manage on the day drop-out rates. Please ensure you arrive in good time to avoid disappointment on the day.

Accessibility

This talk will take place in the Edmond J Safra Lecture Theatre, on the ground floor of the King's Building. The theatre is fully wheelchair accessible, with designated spaces for wheelchair users. There are accessible bathrooms on this floor. The refreshments are being served in the Engineering Quad Labs, on the -1 level of this building. Wheelchair access is via lift.

The nearest step-free underground station is Blackfriars, but a number of bus routes stop a short distance from the Strand Campus.

Photography and privacy notice

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