Sir Peter Leonard Knight (born 12 August 1947) is a British physicist, professor of quantum optics and senior research investigator at Imperial College London, and principal of the Kavli Royal Society International Centre. He is a leading academic in the field of quantum optics and is the recipient of several major awards including the Royal Medal from the Royal Society and the Thomas Young Medal and Prize from the Institute of Physics. He is a former president of the Institute of Physics and the Optical Society of America, the first non North American-based person to take the position. He is described as "one of the UK’s most influential scientists and leaders of scientific policy" by his peers. Academic career Knight's work is concerned principally with theoretical quantum optics, strong field physics and especially quantum information science. He was educated at Bedford Modern School. When Knight began his University education he attended Sussex University to read chemistry, but soon realised physics interested him more. He received his first degree and D.Phil. from Sussex University and became research associate at the Department of Physics and Astronomy of the University of Rochester and at the Physics Department and SLAC, Stanford University (US). He spent three years doing post-doctoral research in the US in the group of Joseph Eberly which gave him experience of working with "incredibly gifted people". He was then SRC research fellow at Sussex University, and later visiting scientist at the Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, Maryland, US. He became Jubilee Research Fellow from 1976 to 1978 at Royal Holloway, University of London, followed by an SERC Advanced Fellowship from 1978 to 1983, first at RHC from 1978 to 1979, transferring in 1979 to Imperial College. He has remained at Imperial College ever since (apart from very frequent visits to the US), first as a lecturer 1983–1987, then reader 1987–1988 and professor since 1988. In addition, until 2010 he acted as deputy rector of Imperial College, having responsibility for the college's research. In his capacity as a leading figure in quantum optics, Knight works on several advisory boards, including the UK Quantum Technology Initiative Strategy Advisory Board, the Photonics EPSRC Innovative Manufacturing Centre, the Winton Programme for the Physics of Sustainability in Cambridge and for several year was Chair of the Defence Scientific Advisory Council at the Ministry of Defence. Knight has also spoken publicly about science funding in the UK, and