Lichtgedanken 04

Rubrik 9 04 | LICHT GEDANKEN dents into the doctoral programme each year sponsored by the state. We will also accept the same number of doctoral can- didates via associated partners of the school. After the start-up phase, there will be around 40 master students and 100 to 120 doctoral candidates. Will those who want to go to Jena for their master’s first attend the Abbe School of Photonics or go directly to the Max Planck School? The integrated master's programme is a key part of the new Max Planck School of Photonics. As part of the network, the universities in Karlsruhe, Erlangen and Jena, with their established and accredited master’s programmes, will provide the opportunity to obtain an international master’s in Photonics. The students apply at the Max Planck School of Photonics and, once accepted, can de- cide whether to study in Jena, Erlangen or Karlsruhe. There will be a reciprocal acknowledgement of assessed course- work and examinations within the part- ner universities. The programme will be supported by special lectures and general networking events organised by the Max Planck School of Photo­ nics to facilitate networking within the school between students at the various locations and with the researchers at the participating universities. Which topics will be researched at the Max Planck School of Photonics? The central question will focus on con- trolling light across all scales. It will be about developing methods and tech- nologies to control light across many wavelength ranges, from the X-ray range to the millimetre range, with very high outputs across all timescales. The development of optics is another field to span the range from the atomic scale to dimensions in the region of several metres. With this, we will be support- ing applications in the life sciences, in communications technology, in laser material processing and in fundamental research. What will be the focus in Jena? In Jena we will research questions of mi- cro-optics and nano-optics. We will also work in the laser development sector. The Max Planck School of Photonics will receive 15 million euros of fund­ ing from the state for the pilot phase. What will this money be used for? This money will actually be almost en- tirely used to pay for the personnel. During the master’s phase, the students will receive highly remunerative schol- arships and there will be full-time po- sitions for the doctorate phase. The re- search itself will have to be funded by the supervising scientists. Many institutions, which are compe­ titors on the national level, are now in the same boat. What do you need to be aware of in collaborations such as this one where competitors become part­ ners? Referring to my initial thoughts: science lives from cooperation and competition. In fact it is always about the people in- volved. It is great when you know each other and are in friendly competition, whilst also working together to move forward with a shared research interest. That is the basis for cooperation in the Max Planck School of Photonics, which we hope to establish over the coming years. It is vital that the network, which already exists between individuals and institutions in the sector of photonics, becomes even closer. That is the way to generate added value for the research- ers, which is then reflected in the re- search findings. Which conclusions should be drawn in five years after completing the first funding phase? We will have established the Max Planck School of Photonics, we will be receiving applications from the best students across the world, and we will be attracting the most qualified stu- dents to complete a doctorate in Ger- many. Thus, in terms of promoting early-career researchers, we will be in competition with the elite photonics institutions and will be able to provide our doctoral candidates with the most attractive education and research con- ditions in the world.  The Max Planck School of Photonics The Max Planck School of Photonics combines national and international graduate pro- grammes across seven locations in Germany . The aim is to transform photonics research into an interdisciplinary network that spans various locations and institutions. In addition to the Friedrich Alexander University Erlangen, the Friedrich Schiller University Jena and the Karlsruhe Institute for Technology, where it is possible to attain a master’s degree, part­ ners of the Max Planck School of Photonics include RWTH Aachen University, the University of Göttingen, the University of Hamburg and Ludwig-Maximilians-University (LMU) Munich. The Fraunhofer Institute for Applied Optics and Precision Engineering IOF and for Laser Technology, the Max Planck Institute for Biophysical Chemistry, the Physics of Light and for Quantum Op­ tics, the German Electron Synchrotron (DESY), the GSI Helmholtz Centre for Heavy Ion Research at Jena, and the Leibniz Institute of Photonic Technology are also involved.