National Physical Laboratory

5 minute read In telecoms, timing has always been essential. Yet for most of the industry's history, it has also been largely invisible. When everything works as expected, accurate time stays in the background, quietly enabling synchronisation, network operations and billing. But from our conversations with industry partners, technology vendors and communications service providers, it is becoming increasingly clear that this is changing. Time is no longer just a utility.

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Josh Schofield shares his experiences of the Kamal Hossain Secondment Award: Blog 2. 4 minute read I’m Josh Schofield, a Higher Engineer in the Optical Radiometric Metrology at NPL. It's not every day you get the opportunity to swap your southwest London commute for the sunshine of Perth, Western Australia. But that's what happened to me in September 2025 when I arrived at Curtin University to begin a secondment as the 2025 recipient of the Kamal Hossain Secondment Award.

Skip to main content All Locations Teddington, United Kingdom All Locations is a required field All Departments Human Resources All Departments is a required field Starting from £37,600 Vacancy Type Fixed Term Contract This is an exciting time to join NPL as the organisation embraces the mission and opportunity to provide the measurement capability that underpins the UK's prosperity and quality of life.

4 minute read. Researchers from the National Physical Laboratory (NPL), Heidelberg University Hospital and the German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ) have published new findings that improve understanding of secondary neutron exposure during paediatric ion beam therapy, an important area of study for enhancing the safety of advanced cancer treatments for children.

Neutron Users' Club meeting 2026 Join the neutron user community at NPL, Teddington, for a day of expert talks, networking and exhibition. Hear the latest on neutron field production, applications and metrology, and get updates on NPL’s new particle accelerator, our evolving neutron services, and future collaboration opportunities for instrument manufacturers and end users.

Join us at NPL for Discovery Day, recommended for students in Years 7-13, an inspiring introduction to the world of measurement, SI units and STEM at a world-class scientific institution. We’re offering a morning session and a repeat afternoon session. Students will rotate around four engaging, hands‑on STEM activities and interactive talks designed to spark curiosity and bring classroom learning to life.

3 minute read In this first blog, I want to introduce myself and explain what I'm doing on secondment Who am I? I'm a Higher Engineer in NPL’s Optical Radiometric Metrology group. I joined NPL in 2016 as an engineering apprentice and recently, I was a core member of the team delivering the NPL & RAL Space Small Satellite Calibration Facility and supported the pre-launch calibration of the CNES/UKSA MicroCarb mission.

4 minute read Scientists at NPL have demonstrated the best reported laser frequency stability achieved with an optical reference cavity operating at room temperature, marking a major advance in ultrastable laser technology. The team’s results have been published today (24 June) in Optica. Ultrastable lasers produce light of exceptional spectral purity and are a critical enabling technology for optical atomic clocks.

3 minute Over the last two days (16 – 17 June), leaders from industry, research establishments, regulators and government have gathered at NPL for a symposium on engineering and generative biology. Engineering and generative biology are not single disciplines or areas of research.