360 Photonics Career Launch Programs

As in other Deep Tech areas, there is a shortage of qualified professionals in the field.

This shortage is due to lack of education and training programs, unawareness of the career opportunities that the field poses, a rapidly evolving technology, and unfamiliarity with the different professional paths that the photonics ecosystems offers, among other.CARLA, the awarded project for the previous call, took on the challenge of promoting careers in photonics among students and researchers through the CARLA camps, photonics career camps. 360 CARLA seeks to build on the momentum created by the successful CARLA project, retain and increase the interest that the CARLA participants have acquired and expand the impact to more and more diverse university students and early-stage researchers.

For that, we will create round up programs around photonics applications or markets, that we call verticals: 1) Health: Biotech and Medical Photonics; 2) Quantum Technologies/ Communications 3) Energy, Environment and Sustainability; and 4) Manufacturing/ Industry 4.0.

These round up, cohesive programs will integrate career symposiums, mentorship, innovation and entrepreneurship experience and trainings.This will:- Increase the number of students and researchers interested in pursuing careers in photonics.- Appeal to additional STEM students and researchers attracted by the photonics application topic.- Provide participants with a round up, overall understanding of the landscape of the photonics ecosystem surrounding the corresponding vertical, supported by a network of contacts and mentors, experiences in photonics innovation and entrepreneurship and training.In addition, 360 CARLA will collaborate with other EU initiatives in the photonics space, working towards growing and better preparing the future workforce, or around the verticals, so that can leverage each other through sharing strategies, activities, content and dissemination channels.