A Career in Photonics

"I have known I wanted to do a PhD in Photonics since working with Pearl back in 2008 and I would say that I used my undergraduate degree as a stepping-stone to an academic career. However, during my undergraduate I knew I needed to widen my Photonics experience.

"During the third year of my degree I got a place working with Dr Matt Himsworth’s group for a summer placement. I loved doing the practical work, especially learning about optics in a professional research lab. With the experience gained in the labs, alongside the photonics skills I learnt during my degree, I decided to pursue a PhD at the Optoelectronics Research Centre (ORC) looking at the subject of hollow beam lasers. I am really enjoying my PhD so far and I know I would not have made it to this stage had it not been for the amazing support from the Physics and Astronomy department.

"I really would like to continue working in Photonics and I’m already networking with the many photonics companies that have spun out from the ORC. I am currently in talks with ‘Future Worlds’ about starting up my own spin out company.

"I feel confident and excited about my future, and I have no doubt that being immersed in such a world-leading environment will mean I come up with loads of great ideas for my company during the course of the PhD here."