Second edition of CARLA Camp VUB Brussels

The second camp hosted by VUB, the first in-person CARLA Camp, was held on 22-23-24 March 2022 in a hybrid format. The feedback collected shows that the CARLA Brussels camp was an impactful and inspirational event, highly valued by both participants and speakers. Unfortunately, due to the constraints of pandemic regulations, we had to make sure the number of in-person attendees each day did not exceed 95 people. In total, 165 participants from 5 continents enjoyed the hybrid event, with 36 speakers.  This was the first physical event for most participants after the COVID-19 pandemic, and it felt great to see each other in real life. Participants represented 86 different institutions in 23 countries. The dissemination of the camp was realized with the CARLA website and social media, as well as through VUB B-PHOT, Master of Science in Photonics Engineering, and B-PHOT Student Chapter channels. Moreover, we had support from Photonics21, ACHTPHAST, PhotonHUB, MSCA LasIonDef, SPIE, OPTICA (formerly OSA), JPhys Photonics journal, Flemish Universities, and research centres (institutional and specific contacts), Companies and speakers’ LinkedIn accounts.

A PhD Student said, “I think CARLA Camp was a very diverse event; there was a wide variety of gender and national backgrounds, excellent!”

This format was not envisioned initially by the project, so the CARLA camp’s program has been adapted to the hybrid setting. It allowed us to adapt the program based on the availability of the speakers. Furthermore, the goals and fundamental content of the camps were conserved and accomplished thanks to the distribution of the entire program along the 1 online and 2 in-person days. On the 22nd of March, the camp took place online from 4:45 p.m. to 8:45 p.m., and we revealed that Photonics is everywhere and the future that it promises is countless. On this day, we target student chapters. On the 23rd and 24th of March, the camp took place in person at Vrije Universiteit Brussel from 4:30 pm – 9:30 pm with a live streaming option, and talks were dedicated to Photonics careers in Academy, Industry and Entrepreneurship.

The talks included an overview of the photonics landscape, inspirational and career development talks about future opportunities in photonics, a soft skills workshop on career choice after graduation, and, more importantly, long-awaited in-person networking between students and early-stage researchers with representatives of industry.

A speaker: “I really enjoyed the option to participate virtually as I know I would not be able to attend in person. I think you had a nice balance of in-person and virtual events.”

There were 2-panel discussions (Chapters for Career and Future with Master in Photonics) and 2 parallel sessions led by eight speakers representing different research tracks of VUB B-PHOT who shared their career stories and upcoming job positions. The abstracts of the talks are collected in Carla Camp Brussels 2022 – Booklet.

 A camp participant, who was on a career break, said, “It was awesome and an eye opener about photonics. The camp convinced me to apply for the Master of Science in Photonics Engineering program at VUB.”

 Close collaboration with the B-PHOT Student Chapter and its grants helped to sponsor students to travel from other countries and build a student chapter networking thanks to the CARLA camp. It was the first camp to be held in in-person and online formats, which offer an in-person network and face-to-face communication.  All the participants who answered the questionnaire stated that they would recommend the event to a friend or colleague.