University of Southampton Photonics Day 2005

Last Monday (19th Sept) the ORC hosted a day of presentations and discussions from the many groups within the University of Southampton working on photonics. Photonics is the study of light and its application, so this included presentations from several schools, including the ORC, Physics and Astronomy, ECS, Chemistry, Mathematics and Medicine.

“Southampton is a world leader in photonics, and many schools have activities in this area.” said Professor David Payne CBE FRS FREng, Director of the ORC. “It’s important that we meet up regularly to keep informed, share ideas and issues. Research at the ORC is greatly enriched by the close links we have with other schools, and we want them to be even closer.”

The talks during the day were designed to be accessible for those beyond the individual research groups, and ended with a series of quick-fire 2 minute ‘nanotalks’ giving an introduction to even more subjects and projects.

“I very much enjoyed seeing an overview of the vast range of work carried out within the University on this subject.” said Professor Alistair Fitt, Head of the School of Mathematics. “It’s exciting to see the beneficial effect these collaborations have on the individual schools and the University in general.”

The next Photonics Day is scheduled for September 2006.