UPCOMING
PAST EVENTS
14-03-2024
Photonics Industry Event
Photonics Master and PhD students interact with researchers and engineers in industry. Details will follow soon.
15 December 2023
Board Game Night
Get your Christmas outfit ready and join us for the PSG Board Game Night at the Vrolijke Viking! All Photonics PhD/Masters students are welcome.
11 December 2023
Light Night
A night devoted to light.
November 2023
Movie Night
Join us to watch together the movie of your choice. Details and voting form will be shared soon!
23 November 2023
IEEE Benelux Symposium - PhD Student Event
The Photonics Society Ghent (PSG) organizes a student event at the start of the IEEE Benelux Conference.
November 2023
Master in Photonics Engineering Kickoff
A fun kick-off event for master students in the Photonics Engineering programme with speed dating and team-building games.
05 October 2023
High Tech Exchange
Photonics Society Ghent goes to TU Eindhoven in the Netherlands for a tech visit.
29 September 2023
bePOM
PSG prepares to screen Belgian Photonics Meetup (bePOM) to showcase ongoing research topics in the Belgian photonics research groups.
Check out: https://www.bepom.org/ for more details.
13 September 2023
Team building event
Join us for drinks after work to discuss the future of our society in a fun, informal setting.
Location: TBD
February 2023
Movie Night
The movie night was joined by a few master students and PhD students to watch the Hollywood movie "In Bruges" which was filmed in Bruges, a beautiful and touristy city in Belgium.
December 9th, 2022
Hub Meetup 1.0
Our first of many to come hub meetups was a great evening featuring interesting conversations, lots of pizza, and football world cup that kept watchers on the edge of their seats. Stay tuned for our next meetups!
October 27th, 2022
Light Night 2022
This year's night light was themed around quantum physics and told the entangled quantum story behind the 2022 Nobel prize in physics. The event, co-organized with NB Photonics, hosted around 200 attendees where Prof. Frank Verstraete took us through the basic arguments and successes of the quest to demonstrate that the weirdness of quantum physics is real.
September 29th, 2022
UGent hub bePOM
PSG organized a get-together for attending the remote sessions of bePOM2022 at iGent hub on 29th September. bePOM is a free hybrid conference that joins together all Belgian photonics research groups and creates an opportunity to network. Refreshments and snacks were provided which gave students a chance to network with their colleagues after the talks
June 30th, 2022
Photonics Summer Event
To celebrate the graduation of a new batch of photonics engineers and to start the summer holidays in a fun way, the PSG organized a summer get-together with a pasta foodtruck and drinks for all its members and all colleagues from the photonics related research groups (PRG, LCP, CMST).
May 12th, 2022
Company visit BelGaN
On May 12th, a student excursion to BelGaN was organized in the context of the course 'Physics of semiconductor technologies and devices'. BelGaN is automotive qualified leading GaN foundry and is based in Oudenaarde (former OnSemi site). After the excursion, a walking pizza dinner was organized at iGent.
March 30th, 2022
Photonics Industry Event
The Photonics Industry Event gives M.S. and PhD students in photonics the opportunity to interact with researchers and engineers from a number of photonics companies through workshops provided by the participating companies. This year, Huawei, Spectricity, Com&Sens, FBGS, OIP Sensor Systems, OIP Space Instruments, QustomDot and Nokia Bell Labs participated. The event was followed by an informal reception on the 12th floor of the iGent building with a view of the city.
March 8th, 2022
Sidewalk astronomy workshop
On Tuesday March 8th at 19:00, sidewalk astronomer and M.S. photonics student Bill Green gave an inspiring talk about astronomy and light pollution. After the talk, participants had the unique opportunity to admire the universe with Bill's telescope. The event was followed by an informal reception in the iGent tower.
November 18th, 2021
Light Night
On Thursday November 18th, we organized the first "Light Night" of the academic year 2021-2022. The Light Night is an informal event for Master and PhD students in photonics, but open to anyone who is interested. This year, co-founder and CTO Thijs Spuesens talked about the technology behind the silicon photonics spin-off Sentea and his experiences with founding this high-tech startup.
October 11th, 2019
Master welcoming program
To welcome the new master students, we organized together with the professors an introductory event where the students got information about the program, international mobility, student chapters of different organizations etc. The event ended with a reception and a walking tour through the city center of Ghent.
June 27th, 2019
Photonics Summer BBQ
To celebrate the graduation of a new batch of photonics engineers and to start the summer holidays in an appropriate way, PSG organized a BBQ for all its members and all colleagues from the photonics related research groups (PRG, LCP). We briefly introduced ourselves and invited everyone to step up to join us in the coming academic year. In September, more formal election will take place when the new Master students arrive.
May 19th, 2019
International Day of Light Event
To bring light, photonics and its applications into the spotlight, PSG built a photophone and took it to the streets! We organized a small exhibit in the city center with the photophone and explanatory posters. Everybody passing by that day has seen it and heard it! Big hit!
March 20th, 2019
Photonics Industry Event
This event, organized for the students in the European Master of Photonics, gives our members the opportunity to attend two 45 minute long practical sessions provided by one of the participating companies. It iss followed by an informal reception on the 12th floor of iGent tower with a view to the city. The participating companies were Melexis, Luximprint, Brolis Semiconductors and Esterline.
February 14th, 2019
PSG Movie Night
Classic movie night with snacks and drinks. What else do you need?
November 28th, 2018
Light Night: Nobel Prize edition
On Wednesday November 28th, at 18h30, we organize the first "Light Night" of this academic year in collabolation with VVN (Vereniging Voor Natuurkunde). The Light Night is an informal event for Master and PhD students in photonics, but open to anyone who is interested. The central theme of this edition will be this year's Nobel Prize in Physics, which was awarded to Gérard Mourou, Donna Strickland and Arthur Ashkin "for groundbreaking inventions in the field of laser physics". We invited two of our own professors with experience in these topics to shed some light on the impact of the awarded work on our lives.
You are all kindly invited to register.
september 21th, 2018
Optical spectroscopy workshop
Upcoming spectroscopy event on 21st September organised by nb-photonics with international keynote speakers. For example Martin Roth, a very eloquent speaker from innoFSPEC, Germany will give a talk on modern astrophysics in the morning. The afternoon sessions are more industry oriented. The whole event will be interesting both for your academic and professional career.
June 26 2018
BBQ + elections
Yearly bbq together with seleting the candidate officers for the next year!
November 9th 2017
Light Night
For the first Light Night of the year, we welcome Prof. Brian Culshaw (University of Strathclyde), who will be giving the talk 'Photonics-what is it and where might it lead'.
October 19th 2017
Welcome BBQ
As the first social event of the year, we invited members to our Welcome BBQ on the grass of the Technologiepark Zwijnaarde! New and old students could get to know each other better and we enjoyed a remarkably warm and sunny October night.
June 29th 2017
Summer BBQ
After the exams in June we organised a BBQ for our members. This was the perfect opportunity for everyone to relax and stop worrying about schoolwork. For many of our members this was also the last social event since they left Belgium after graduating. All the more reason to make it a memorable evening! The election of the officers for the year 2017-2018 were also elected at this event.
March 30th 2017
ASML visit and GOS BBQ
On the 30th of March we visited the company ASML in Veldhoven, where their corporate headquarter is located. It is also the location for research, development, manufacturing and assembly. The company employs over 15.000 people and is currently the largest supplier of photolithography systems for the semiconductor industry in the world.
The visit started with a talk introducing the company. Since the company only specializes in one tool (EUV-DUV lithography), and their audience consisted of engineering physics students, they were able to delve really deep into how the tool functions. After the introduction to the company we had a talk from a master student about his experiences during his graduation project at ASML, he emphasized the importance of having a good network and the willingness of people around to help. After the talks we had a visit of their experience centre, which consisted of some videos explaining most of the advanced things they are using in their tool, e.g. how they produced their EUV. A small tour around the campus followed. Only the nearby Cleanroom and some stockrooms were visited, since their campus is really big! After running around we were really hungry and we went for lunch. After lunch we had a case study where we were all employed by ASML to solve a problem that really happened. We concluded with some small presentations about how everyone solved it and went for some drinks.
Since the visit lasted the entire day, it wasn’t easy for people to attend. But together with some professors, we cleared the schedule for most of the photonic engineering master students and 19 people attended!
Once back in Ghent we thought it was time to relax and so we took advantage of the lovely weather and organised a BBQ for our members .
March 15th 2017
Photonics Event
On March 15th GOS organised the Photonics Event in the IGent tower. Experienced researchers from highly respected companies came to the IGent tower and gave interactive workshops. Researchers from Huawei, Luceda, Trinean, imec and Commscope gave interactive workshops and networked with 55 PhD and master students. Students had the opportunity to sign up for up to three different workshops and enjoyed a networking reception afterwards. The event was a success and the concept will be carried on to next year. Hope to see you there in 2018!
December 13th 2016
Laser Shooting
On the 13th of December we went Laser shooting in The Zone in Ghent! We were with around 12 people and we battled each other divided into 2 teams. There were also some small events in the area, like ‘bombs’ that went off, etc. Afterwards we still had some drinks and French fries. This social event was a great opportunity to get to know some of our new members!
December 2nd 2016
Company visit: Umicore
Just like last year’s SPIE Student Chapter company visit, we were guest at Umicore Electro-Optic Materials in Olen. Umicore is a large multinational headquartered in Brussels which specialises in the refinement and recycling of precious metals and high-technology materials. It is one of Belgium’s largest employers in the technology market and has been recognized as Belgium’s top employer for the 11th time this year.
Umicore Electro-Optic Materials Olen specialises in the processing of Germanium, a metallic element which has a wide range of applications in both optics and electronics. It forms the basis for high quality infrared optics, high refractive-index optical fibres, solar panels, and high-speed electronics. At its Olen plant Umicore recycles and refines Germanium, and turns them it into wafers, optics, coatings, and pre-cursors for industrial processes.
About 40 people attended.
October 24th 2016
Light Night with David Giltner
On October 24th we kicked off the first Light-Night of 2016-2017 with invited speaker David Giltner. David is a laser scientist turned photonics engineer, as well as a speaker, musician, outdoor enthusiast and father. He has a Ph.D. in physics and develops laser-based products for a variety of applications. Late in his graduate school career he decided not to follow the ‘traditional’ path into academia and instead found a rewarding career. By compiling wisdom from other successful scientists who have made the transition to entrepreneur or industry, David offers assistance to those who are considering following a similar career path. David entertained us through the night with a talk entitled "How is working in industry different than working in academia?" followed by an interactive workshop on "Telling Better Stories with the Same Facts" where he taught us how to nail an interview in the private sector by telling great stories about yourself with an interactive session! David’s talk were very well received. After David’s talk we had a few snacks and drinks. Even after his talks David’s stories caught the attention of many students, so needless to say that this light nights was a huge success!