Working in Photonics in Berlin 2019

This year’s “Working in Photonics in Berlin”, the optics and photonics career event for students, postdocs and young professionals, was held at the Max-Born-Institute on June 12th.

Many students and postdocs with an interest in optics and photonics are unsure about their career options or have a hard time making an informed career decision. This situation is fairly common and it is partially due to limited contact between young professionals in an academic environment and companies in related fields. As a consequence, many students and recent graduates are not aware of job opportunities opening in the very same city where they live.

The annual career event “Working in Photonics in Berlin” aims to provide a platform where students and postdocs with an interest in the field of optics and photonics can engage and connect with professionals from photonics industries and research institutions in the Berlin-Brandenburg area. Companies and institutes likewise have the opportunity to introduce themselves and attract potential new employees.

The event was started in 2016 by OSA ambassador Dr. Aline Dinkelaker from Humboldt University, and is organized by the BerlinOptik SPIE-OSA student chapter and the competence network OpTecBB. In 2019, the MBI joined the team and strongly supported the event: Several members of the institute were active in the event organization and the institute provided valuable infrastructure.

The event took place in the Max-Born-Saal. More than 80 students and young professionals affiliated to Humboldt University, Technical University, Free University and several other research institutions in Berlin and Brandenburg registered for the event. To make the participants aware of the large number of local companies and research institutes working with optics and photonics, the WISTA management provided a 1-hour guided tour through the Adlershof science park.

After the tour, all participants gathered in the Max-Born-Saal and the presentations began. To welcome and inspire the participants, the opening talk was given by Prof. Thomas Elsässer. He introduced the MBI with its different research fields as well as presenting career opportunities at MBI. This was followed by short 15 minute talks by speakers from local photonics companies and research institutes about their own career paths, personal career advice, their current jobs as well as job opportunities in their companies and institutes.

This year, the speakers came from MBI, Carl Zeiss Meditec, Alcon Wavelight, Fraunhofer HHI, Corning, Berliner Glas, First Sensor, FBH, Bruker Nano and Msquared. The presentations were followed by a “meet the experts” session with buffet and drinks, where the participants could actively engage with the representatives of the institutes and companies to find out more about job opportunities, how to apply or what to expect.

We hope that this event provided information and inspiration for students and postdocs as well as connections to photonics companies and research institutes.

  • OpTecBB
  • MBI
  • MBI
  • Carl Zeiss Meditec
  • Alcon Wavelight
  • FBH
  • Corning
  • Berliner Glas
  • First Sensor
  • Bruker Nano
  • M Squared
  • Fraunhofer HHI
  • Group Picture
  • Networking and Meet-the-Experts Session
  • OSA Ambassadors
  • Working in Photonics in Berlin 2019

Written by: Federico Furch (MBI) and Aline Dinkelaker (HU Berlin). Photos by Abdulla Aldoseri, Federico Furch and Christos Mourikis.

Here is the original event announcement:

Our annual event “Working in Photonics”, aims to provide a platform where companies/research institutes and physics students/recent graduates can meet, exchange information and connect.

The event consists of three parts: We will start with a guided tour with Wista at 14:00, followed by short talks by research institutes and companies at 15:00, and then will have an informal “Meet-the-Expert” session with time for questions and discussions in smaller groups from 17:40 onwards. The students will be able to talk to you -the experts- about possible career paths, about your job, your company etc. At the same time, you can talk to potential job applicants and get them interested in your work.

Registration is free and now open:

Click this link to register for Working in Photonics 2019

Here is a summary of the event details:

Location:

Max-Born-Saal at the Max-Born-Institut (MBI),

Max-Born-Str. 2a, 12489 Berlin (Adlershof)

Date:

Wednesday, 12. Juni 2019

Schedule:

14:00 – 14:50 Guided Tour with Wista

15:00 – 17:30 Presentations

17:40 – 19:00 Networking Session / “Meet the Experts”

If you would like to represent your company/institute with a talk or a poster/booth, please contact us.

To provide a balanced representation and better address female students during this event, we highly encourage company/institute representation by female speakers.

Sample presentation (10 minutes, ca. 5 slides in total):

1. Company/institute (e.g. 2 slides)

2. About the speaker (e.g. 2 slides: career path, current job description)

3. Jobs for physicists and open positions in the company/institute (e.g. 1 slides)

The talks and job descriptions should be aimed at recent and prospective graduates in the field of physics.

More information:

You can find more information as well as impression from last years’ events on the BerlinOptik Student Chapter website:

http://berlinoptik.de/working-in-photonics-in-berlin-2018/

Please contact us if you have any questions. We are looking forward to hearing from you.


Best regards

Aline Dinkelaker and Monica Pons,

and the Berlin Optik Student Chapter, OpTecBB, and MBI.