The School
KSOP provides a multidisciplinary environment for first-class research and education as well as for the generation of knowledge and innovation in Optics & Photonics.
The Karlsruhe School of Optics & Photonics was founded under the German Excellence Initiative that was launched to support world-class research and education at German universities. The excellence status of KSOP was renewed after a successful evaluation by international experts in 2012.
In 2021, KSOP became sustainably funded through the KIT by the Federal Ministry of Research and Education (BMBF) and the State of Baden-Württemberg.
KSOP offers a Master and a Ph.D. program in English.
The educational concept is designed to qualify graduates for accelerated careers at world leading academic institutions and in high-technology industries. The Research Areas are: Photonic Materials and Devices, Quantum Optics & Spectroscopy, Biomedical Photonics, Optical Systems and Solar Energy.
By now, almost 900 Master, doctoral researchers and alumni from 70 different countries are part of KSOP.
Mission & Philosophy
The mission of the Karlsruhe School of Optics & Photonics (KSOP) is to provide the best possible environment for first-class research and education as well as for the generation of knowledge and innovation in Optics & Photonics.
The KSOP educational concept is designed to qualify our graduates for accelerated careers at the world’s best academic institutions and in high-technology industries. We actively promote thesis work of our doctoral researchers by dedicated supervision, mentoring, networking as well as by scientific and technical training. Concomitantly, we enhance the professional skills of our graduates by tailored personal and management training. A strong pillar of the KSOP concept is the individual coaching of doctoral researchers by one mentor for each Research Area.
Building on this excellent basis, the KSOP aims on remaining a world-leading institution for education, research, and innovation in optics & photonics.
Funding
Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG): In meeting its responsibilities as a research funding organisation, the DFG must remain abreast of current developments in higher education. In doing so, the DFG is able to address challenges such as the need to provide sustainable support for young researchers, the interdisciplinarisation of the sciences and humanities, and support for networking in the field of research.
