Roberta Caruso
Roberta’s EPS journey began in 2010 when she subscribed to the society as an individual member to create the Naples YM section (now PONYS). Since then, she has worked to organize local and national events within the section, until November 2015, when she joined the YM Action Committee. At that point, Roberta decided to step back from the front row in the local section, and assist the new members from a certain distance. In May 2018, she became YM program chair and played this role until 2020. Along with the organization of joined sessions during conferences, Roberta worked towards strengthening the relations between YM and other EPS Divisions and Groups and paid a great deal of attention to promoting networking between the sections and the Action committee. During her term, the committee has also instituted a new grant program for student-organized conferences (YM Conference Award), and put the basis for a mentoring program for YM members. Right after the end of her term as YM chair, she joined the EPS Executive Committee, where Roberta plans to continue working with YM towards the implementation of the mentoring project and towards the engagement of the physics community in the International Year for Basic Sciences for Sustainable Development.
Perceived usefulness: how the Young Minds program influenced my career
I am currently a research associate in the US, as well as being a member of the Executive Committee of the European Physical Society. It took some time and some effort to get there, and my career path is still uphill, but sometimes it is useful to stop and look back, analyze failures and celebrate milestones. This is what I will do during this lecture, in an effort to share my experience and make things easier for the new generations of Physics students. I will not provide a recipe for success, because each and every person is different and so will be their paths, but hopefully, I can give some warnings so that you will be able to avoid some very common mistakes.
Jakub Bogusławski
Jakub Bogusławski is an assistant professor at Wrocław University of Science and Technology and a postdoctoral researcher in the International Centre for Translational Eye Research in Warsaw. His studies focus on femtosecond fiber laser and their practical applications in biophotonics, especially in eye research and diagnostics. During several stays abroad and scholarships, he had an opportunity to work in Helmholtz-Zentrum Dresden-Rossendorf (Germany), Royal Institute of Technology (Sweden), Aalto University (Finland), and University of California Irvine (USA).
Biophotonic applications of femtosecond fiber lasers
Because of their unique temporal and spectral properties, femtosecond lasers have many useful applications, including biological and medical sciences. Currently, Ti: sapphire lasers are most commonly used to generate ultrashort pulses. Despite excellent pulse properties, they have some disadvantages, like high cost and large footprint, demanding maintenance, and difficulty in outside-the-lab applications. The use of femtosecond fiber lasers can address those issues. In this talk, I will show some basic fiber laser designs in different spectral regions, examples of their application in biophotonics, and how they can solve many problems in this field.
Michał Jachura
Michał Jachura defended his Ph.D. in Quantum Optics at the University of Warsaw in 2018. From July 2018 to June 2019 he was employed as an Optical R&D engineer in the Danish company 3Shape – a world leader in medical CAD/CAM technologies. Currently, he works as a Senior Scientist in the Centre for Optical Quantum Technologies. His interests include single-photon level optical communication and continuous-variable quantum key distribution. He is a co-author of 12 scientific articles including high-profile optical journals such as Nature Photonics, Optics Letters, etc.
From quantum cryptography to microsatellite constellations: optics in secure optical communication
In my talk, I will discuss the physical aspects of secure communication with a special focus on free-space and fiber-optics quantum cryptography. I will also give a brief overview of the booming field of satellite optical communication. Finally, I will present ongoing European initiatives dedicated to quantum communication technologies such as EuroQCI and HydRON
Jan Chwedeńczuk
Jan Chwedeńczuk is an Assistant Professor in the Faculty of Physics of the University of Warsaw. His research interests are quantum metrology. Concretely, he works on Bell inequalities and entanglement, matter-wave interferometry with Bose-Einstein condensates, detection of entanglement in many-body systems and on many other themes. Jan Chwedeńczuk also participated in a research project called QUANTERA in collaboration with research groups from Paris and Florence. He is also highly active as a populariser. He regularly gives talks at various outreach events. Besides, he participated in recording of a couple of podcasts.
Entanglement and its applications
Entanglement, Einstein-Podolsky-Rosen steering, and Bell nonlocality are the triad of quantum mechanical phenomena that distinguish them from any known classical theory. I will discuss the reasons why they are considered exotic and if they can serve practical purposes. I will also argue that almost all physical objects are mutually entangled. But is this ubiquitous type of correlation of any use or physical meaning?
Magdalena Osial
During her Ph.D. in Physical Chemistry, she completed an internship at Brookhaven National Laboratory and Adelphi University. After her Ph.D. defence in 2014, she participated in the TOP 500 Innovators program at Cambridge and Oxford universities; then she did a postdoctoral fellowship at the Université Libre de Bruxelles. During the day, dr Osial teaches students at the Faculty of Chemistry and explores the secrets of electrochemistry, and in the remaining time….well, she is: a founder and project manager of „Manufacture of Scientists”, a finalist of the national Competition for the Popularizer of Science in 2016 in the “Animator” category and member of the jury since then; a Science Educator at AlphaCamp – Radek Brzózka’s science camps; a science teacher at the Ronald McDonald Foundation organizing chemical workshops for young patients, a co-founder of Science Embassy creating popular science articles (“written by a team of people who love science”) and many, many other things. At our conference, dr Magdalena Osial will lead workshops on soft skills and self-presentation.
VIGO System representatives: Jędrzej Mijas and Jan Sobieski
VIGO System S.A. is a world-leading manufacturer of uncooled infrared photon detectors. In the 1980s, a team led by Professor Józef Piotrowski, Ph.D., developed at the Military University of Technology in Warsaw, Poland a special technique for manufacturing detectors operating without cryocooling, which was subsequently implemented at the Company.
The Company’s unique position on the market is confirmed by the status of an official supplier of subassemblies for NASA. As a result of that cooperation, detectors developed and manufactured by VIGO System have been installed on the Curiosity rover exploring the surface of Mars. A particularly important asset of the company is its ability to combine R&D works in the field of IR technology with manufacturing activity, all in close cooperation with the customer. VIGO System S.A. remembers about its roots – for many years it has been conducting advanced research on new types of IR detectors together with scientists from the Military University of Technology and from other domestic and foreign research institutions, at a common, continuously expanded laboratory.
Infrared photodetectors
An overview of the physical phenomena behind IR photodetectors will be presented. Basic principles of device operation will be introduced to show how to tailor the best photodetector for specific applications. This will show Vigo’s contribution to great experiments such as LIGO or space exploration (NASA and ESA).