Photonics is now widely recognised as a major innovation-enabling discipline for the 21st century. It can be defined as the field of science and technology where the fundamental properties of light and its interaction with matter are studied and applied. For several decades now, photonics has been finding its way into more and more applications and household appliances. At the moment, photonics is a key discipline in industrial sectors such as tele- and data communication, display and camera industry, biotechnology, solar energy, medical instrumentation, laser material processing, etc. The European Master of Science in Photonics is a multidisciplinary programme covering basic physics, material technologies, electronics and applications in different fields. Students will be trained to become specialists in the field. Key features of this programme are the extensive student mobility opportunities and the multidisciplinary engineering modules in Electronics & Information Technology, Physics & Materials or Life Sciences.

The European Master of Science in Photonics is a two-year (120 credits) English-taught programme, based on four cornerstones: a strong backbone of core photonics course units, specialisation in a broad spectrum of advanced photonics course units, a secondary specialisation in a related field (multidisciplinary engineering modules) and a Master’s dissertation. During the first year, the focus is on course units covering the fundamentals of photonics: light propagation in complex media, basic understanding of the properties of optical materials and lasers. In that context, we address theoretical knowledge as well as practical skills. Students have the option to take the first Master’s year in an online track. During the second year there is room for advanced photonics electives, multidisciplinary engineering course units, and the Master’s dissertation..

Engineering Modules
As photonics engineers mostly work in multidisciplinary environments where the knowledge and skills in other engineering domains are important assets, students can, besides further taking up specialised photonics electives, broaden their horizon by taking up one of the Engineering Modules. The modules on offer are: Electronics & Information Technology, Physics & Materials, Life Sciences and Business Engineering & Entrepreneurship.

Mobility Opportunities
Students have a broad range of options for engaging in international mobility: taking course units (30 credits) at a partner institution; carrying out their Master’s dissertation fully or partly at a partner institution (30 credits); course units (30 credits) and the Master’s dissertation (30 credits) at a partner institution; carrying out a long work placement (>10 weeks, 10 credits) at a company or research institute abroad.

About our partnes
The programme has set up collaborations with a number of European universities and research institutes offering high-quality Photonics programmes. Some of these partner institutions offer a full programme (course units + dissertation) while others offer only course units or only a dissertation. For the partner institutions offering course units, the programme board has preselected a number of specialised photonics course units and multidisciplinary course units, from which the student can easily compile a curriculum that meets the requirements. The partner institutions are located all across Europe. They each have their own specific profile allowing the student to specialise in virtually any subdiscipline of photonics. More details about the partner institutes can be found on our programme website (www.masterphotonics.be). At the end of the Master’s programme, we organise a summer symposium, bringing together all students at a single location. At this symposium the graduating students present their Master’s dissertation, and leading international experts in photonics hold guest lectures.

Master's Dissertation
The Master's dissertation is an original piece of work on a specific topic in photonics. In general it consists of a literature review combined with practical work in the form of simulation, modelling, fabrication and/or measurements of photonic components. The completion of the Master's dissertation is a requirement to obtain the degree of Master of Science in Photonics Engineering.

The aim of this Master’s programme is to deliver engineers and scientists with solid basic knowledge in the field of photonics, and with the skills to apply this knowledge to the design, realisation and the management of photonic systems for a broad range of application domains. Furthermore, graduates will have the opportunity to broaden their knowledge and skills in other domains such as ICT, biosciences, physics and chemistry of materials, industrial management etc. For these reasons, our graduates can expect a broad range of future opportunities, including: research at high-technology companies, in particular photonics-related companies; research in academic laboratories and research institutes (possibly in a PhD context); development of new photonic products in the industry; technical support in a company for its products or services; technical marketing and sales.