Center of Excellence in Photonics achieves second place in the evaluation of the Fraunhofer Centers of Excellence
Jena / September 6, 2024
The Center of Excellence in Photonics in Jena has achieved second place in the first round of the Fraunhofer Centers of Excellence competition. The award particularly recognizes the excellent interdisciplinary cooperation between the participating institutes as well as the comprehensive transfer activities in photonic future markets. The Center of Excellence will now receive follow-up funding of three million euros until 2027.
As a central player in the region's innovation ecosystem, the Center of Excellence in Photonics actively promotes scientific and economic cooperation and combines cutting-edge research with efficient technology transfer. With a clear focus on optics and photonics research, the cluster develops innovative system solutions based on future-oriented technologies.
In this way, the Center of Excellence makes a significant contribution to successfully transferring research results into practice - with measurable success.
In the first round of the Fraunhofer Centers of Excellence competition, the Center of Excellence in Photonics was awarded second place in the overall evaluation. The Center of Excellence was recognized for the high quality and ambition of the successes already achieved and implemented measures as well as future projects.
The close interdisciplinary cooperation within the network of participating institutions in Jena was particularly emphasized. The transfer activities, which are also reflected in the support of spin-offs and start-ups in the field of photonics through the Digital Innovation Hub Photonics, were also positively highlighted in the evaluation. Both measures enable the Center of Excellence to provide significant regional economic impetus.
The Center of Excellence in Photonics also impressed the jury with one of its numerous transfer successes. As a pioneer in photonic quantum technologies, Fraunhofer IOF is developing innovative applications, technologies and instrumentation platforms with the Center of Excellence - flanked by a variety of initiatives funded by the federal government and the state of Thuringia.
In close cooperation with the start-up Q.ANT, researchers from the participating institutes have developed low-loss LNOI waveguide components on a wafer scale, which are used as a key component for photonic integrated circuits. The research and transfer capability of the Center thus supports the realization of innovative applications in the fields of quantum computing and artificial intelligence.
The Center of Excellence in Photonics is a joint initiative of the Fraunhofer Institute for Applied Optics and Precision Engineering IOF, the Friedrich Schiller University Jena, the Leibniz Institutes HKI and IPHT, the Helmholtz Institute Jena and the Ernst Abbe University of Applied Sciences Jena. From 2025, the Center of Excellence will start a second round of the competition and will be funded with a total of three million euros until 2027.
Fraunhofer Institute for Applied Optics and Precision Engineering IOF