An internationally renowned summer school in physics has returned to Heriot-Watt this month, enabling early-career researchers working at the forefront of physics to gain expertise in cutting-edge topics at the frontier of their field.
Founded in 1960, Scottish Universities Summer Schools in Physics (SUSSP) is the Scottish charity behind a regular series of advanced summer schools that allow talented post-graduate and post-doctoral researchers to interact with leading physicists invited from around the world.
This year's school €“ SUSSP66 €“ is hosting 110 students from 28 countries, and is focused on ultrafast lasers, which generate pulses of light lasting for less than one millionth of a millionth of a second. In addition to leading academic research, Scotland's contribution to this field includes a manufacturing activity that has generated £250m of exports in the last decade.
At an industry-focused evening lecture to recognise and celebrate the commercialisation of ultrafast lasers, held in the Postgraduate Centre, a keynote address was given by scientist, entrepreneur and industry leader, Dr Thomas Baer of Stanford University and former President of the Optical Society of America. The event was supported by leading UK laser companies, including Selex-Galileo, Laser Quantum, Coherent Scotland and M Squared.
Previous SUSSP summer schools have triggered multinational research collaborations and created professional alliances and long term associations across Europe, America and Asia over the past 50 years.
Visit the SUSSP66 website to find out more.