Why Choose the ORC

Our students are an integral and vital part of the research staff at the ORC. The Photonics PhD course is not where you are spoon-fed, but where you learn by doing, alongside some of the top people in their fields.

Working with the top people in their fields may sound a little bit scary. However, every researcher here has been in your position at one time. We don't expect you to turn up and win the Nobel Prize (although you're quite welcome to); we expect to train you to become the best research scientist you can possibly be.

If we accept you to do a PhD here, we're taking the responsbility to look after you, and to help unleash your potential. You have a responsbility to give of your best as well, but we're in this together! Understanding this, we try to make sure that the only thing that's challenging is the research - not the environment. We take your welfare extremely seriously, and that means putting time and effort aside for you and the rest of the students.

As well as regular meetings with your supervisor to see how things are going, our dedicated student mentor will meet with you to make sure you're settling in. There will also be senior staff with a door always open to you so if you've a problem, you don't have to wait until someone asks.

The ORC has a history of scientific and engineering achievement spanning more than 40 years, and it continues to lead the field of photonics today. Some of the world's leading scientists are based at the ORC, and as a graduate student you'll have the opportunity to work with them, and make some history!

Here you will encounter subjects as diverse as photonics, laser physics, optical communications, nanotechnology, chemistry, materials science and biology - to name but a few. This multidisciplinary environment, as well as being very interesting, is extremely fertile ground for discovery.

As a researcher in the ORC, you'll experience the pleasure of seeing your theoretical and experimental advances meet their applications. The nature of our work means discovery of a new material property or mathematical technique may have an immediate impact on technology. The excitement of applying your research to solve real problems is second to none!

The ORC has a large number of well-equipped laboratories alongside facilities for fabrication of almost any optoelectronic device, which gives tremendous flexibility and speed when trying out new ideas. We'll make sure you have what you need to conduct your research; your time is too valuable to waste!

We're proud of the family atmosphere at the ORC, and we make sure there's time to celebrate our achievements together, and get to know each other. As well as all the activities in and around Southampton University, the Student Chapter of the OSA provides a focus for a variety of social and scientific activities. The Optical Society of America (OSA) is the professional body for photonics scientists, and the ORC hosts the largest student chapter in the world!

ORC Alumni are some of the most influential people in photonics, and across the wider scientific and industrial community. A graduate degree from the ORC will prepare you to join them, and make your mark on the world. Today's ORC students are tomorrow's leaders!