SPIE and the University of Glasgow have established a $1 million programme to support graduate students in the field of quantum photonics.
The SPIE Early Career Researcher Accelerator Fund in Quantum Photonics is made up of a $500,000 gift from the SPIE Endowment Matching Programme, which is matched by the University.
The fund will create two new initiatives at the University. An annual SPIE Early Career Researcher in Quantum Photonics Scholarship will be awarded to an outstanding University of Glasgow graduate student who is in the process of completing their studies.
In addition, the SPIE Global Early Career Research programme will support outgoing and incoming placements at and from the University as part of its ongoing collaboration with leading quantum-photonics research groups across the globe. Each year, the programme will pair several University early-career researchers with counterparts from outside laboratories for six-month-long shared projects.
‘The interactive placements will offer transformative opportunities the university's academic and industry-based researchers, and, together with the annual scholarship, will develop well-prepared, knowledgeable early-career researchers who will drive the future of the quantum industry,’ said SPIE President John Greivenkamp.
Professor Sir Anton Muscatelli, principal and vice-chancellor of the University of Glasgow, added: ‘This additional funding will help the University train a new generation of graduate students to make valuable contributions to academia and industry and inspire them to make their own amazing research breakthroughs.’
The SPIE Endowment Matching Program, established in 2019, is a $2.5 million, five-year, educational-funding initiative designed to increase international capacity in the teaching and research of optics and photonics.
