This master’s degree has been awarded the new distinction as an International Master’s Programme (IMP) by the Government of Catalonia.

The field of optics and photonics is at the forefront of many highly useful technological applications in a wide range of subject matters including everything from information technology and telecommunications and applications in medicine and in industry to metrology and detection and advanced research. That is why it is important to train good researchers and professionals in this field.

This Master’s degree prepares to become a valuable and recognised professional with the ability to develop your skills in R&D departments belonging to the optical, laser, communications or optoelectronics sector, or research institutes.

More information: www.photonicsbcn.eu

Contact information: master.photonics@etsetb.upc.edu

GoPhoton!, ECOP’s FP7 project that aimed at making of Photonics a household word, makes available to anybody interested in it, the outreach materials as well as the guidelines to implement some of the project’s activities. These can be found in GoPhoton!’s website, are freely available to anyone, and include:

• PHOTONICS Exhibition: It was created by ICFO in English and translated into local languages by the partners. It has been exposed across Europe where it has been visited by almost 400,00 people. The exhibition is composed by an array of posters that have been conceptualized, designed and created to be displayed for public viewing in order to illustrate the impact of Photonics in science and technology and its applications, including industrial applications. Posters are showcased in a set of eye-catching printed displays, each distinctively describing a particular use of Photonics.

• PHOTONICS Apps: ECOP parter NUI has developed two open-code applications: GoPhoton! Heart Rate and GoPhoton! Colours for smartphones. These are applications that use the light source, camera and processor on the smart phone.
  • GoPhoton! Heart Rate: it uses the camera phone, allowing to measure the heart rate by analysing the changes in absorption of light by the blood as the heart beats
  • GoPhoton! Colours: this app, using the camera phone, allows to examine the individual red, green and blue intensities of light and gives some examples of applications.

• Guidelines to LIGHTtalks: GoPhotoN! makes available the guidelines to implement LIGHttalks, a series of TEDx-like events with inspirational talks targeting different audiences.  LIGHTtalks consist of an array of live presenters from the scientific, entrepreneurial and industry communities speaking about different aspects of photonics. The aim of these talks is to promote the importance of photonic technologies to the public, especially students, potential entrepreneurs, entrepreneurs and industry. GoPhoton! has created two series, one directed to university students (Careers in Photonics), and one directed to entrepreneurs (Lighting the Future).

• PHOTONICS INNOVATOR toolkit: VUB has developed a collection of hands-on experimentsorganized in toolkits composed of different modules targeting young minds, high-achieving, gifted and talented youngsters, and the industry. Partners have translated the manuals into the local languages and have tested the different modules and collected feedback.
  • Module 1 targets young minds between the ages of 10-18 years, providing sufficient experimental material for small groups of students to work together and experience the fascination of hands-on optics while enhancing their creativity and nurturing their enthusiasm for science.
  • Module 2 targets high-achieving, gifted and talented youngsters encouraging them to build basic Photonics systems that form the basis of Photonics technologies, including optical communication systems with fibres and LEDs.
  • Module 3 targets industry staff and entrepreneurs to convey the role of and possibilities created by Photonics, while hosting team-building activities and showcasing their technologies.

• Over 40 POSTERS: presented during the Young Photonics Congress organized by ICFO within GoPhoton!. Close to 100 students aged 10-18 presented research projects related to photonics. This translated into more than 40 posters simulating the most professional scientific meetings. The projects presented during the congress spanned a wide range of photonics themes; that is from learning how to measure the speed of light using an egg, as explained by a 12 year old student, and determining Planck’s constant using LEDs as performed by a group of secondary school students, to showing that more information can be gathered when observing an image vertically or horizontally than diagonally, as demonstrated by a student that built a low cost Eye Tracker DIY, or even learning how to synthesize nanomaterials or explaining the STORM  technique and applications. .

Please go to the this link to access the downloadable materials. Should you need a higher resolution of the materials, contact us.

GoPhoton!, ECOP’s FP7 initiative to make of photonics a house held word, ended in February with a very positive balance: over 200 activities attended by 450,000 people and that have impacted over 2,000,000 people.

The mission of GoPhoton! was to make a significant contribution to raising awareness about the importance of Photonics, aiming at having impact on young minds, entrepreneurs and society as a whole. GoPhoton! aimed to transmit a critical message across Europe: Photonics is ubiquitous and pervasive, it is a key enabler of the European economy and job creation, and it offers outstanding career and business opportunities. The project addressed these challenges through a series of actions that were developed through ECOP.

The consortium was composed by: ICFO (coordinator), FBH, VUB, IC, POLIMI, IOTA, NUIG and ILC. It spanned two years, being 2014 dedicated to define the activities, create materials and content and plan the Photonic Splashes, and 2015 to implement the activities. Monitoring of previously defined key performance indicators was done throughout the entire project. Furthermore, GoPhoton! strongly involved relevant European stakeholders, seeking synergies with Photonics21, industrial clusters and educational networks, and the International Year of Light in 2015 as well as other EU funded photonics outreach projects.

The GoPhoton! activities happened in Photonics Splashes, periods of intense photonics outreach activity that included all type of activities. These actions aimed to emphasize different aspects of photonics in a way that each one addressed a different set of audiences. These activities included, photonics exhibitions, talks and workshops, congresses for young people, open days, and photonics shows. The Photonics Splashes started in one of the partner cities, and it replicated sub-sequentially throughout 2015 in all other partner cities.