About CARLA

The Photonics Career Hub

Why

Photonics improves the well-being of our world by exploiting the unique properties of light, which can be found at the core of daily products and technologies such as smartphones, laptops, the Internet, medical instruments, telecommunications, and lighting technology. Considered a Key Enabling Technology (KET) for Europe’s future prosperity by the European Commission, it is calculated that 20-30% of the entire economy and 10% of the workforce in Europe already depends on photonics technologies. Nevertheless, skill shortages in Europe are damaging the growth prospects of companies and the continent’s economy.

To support the growth, leadership and innovation potential in this area, Europe needs more well-prepared professionals. CARLA created a rigorous and tested instrument to address this need at the source.

How

CARLA built a pan-European career camp of excellence that was:

  • A strongly coordinated instrument

  • Designed with the input of all photonics stakeholders, including industry, academia, entrepreneurs, policymakers and HR and training experts as well as from the potential users (university students and early-stage researchers), using a “top-down, bottom-up” approach

  • Tested and assessed by different institutions and countries to ensure viability across Europe

  • Available to and replicable by the European photonics community

so that it

  • Boosted the numbers of students and early-stage researchers pursuing careers in photonics

  • Encouraged innovation and entrepreneurship

  • Empowered diversity in Photonics

For Whom

CARLA aimed at university students and early-stage researchers from photonics and non-photonics focused areas. It gave them a peek into the vast opportunities that the photonics careers landscape offers and provided them with a roadmap for better employability.

The Camps

CARLA teamed up with industry, academia, entrepreneurs, and experts to understand the needs of the photonics workforce and gain a top-down perspective on what a photonics career camp of excellence should include. At the same time, we worked with university and PhD students and early-stage postdocs to gain their bottom-up perspective to career camps. The format and content of the camps were created through joint work with all the stakeholders, paying special attention to empowering diversity.

CARLA has been actively promoting careers in photonics through 13 camps (standalone events) and 8 capsules (sessions within another event) that took place in 10 different countries. More than 2000 participants, 200 speakers, 250 academic institutions and 375 companies have participated in CARLA camps, making the project successful. Check the individual camps and capsule news and information:

See the Camps

Who attended and why

STEM graduates - Undergraduates and Master’s students and Researchers

PhD students and early-stage postdocs in and outside photonics-focused research

  • Better understanding of the photonics market and technical landscape

  • Overview of the professional opportunities in photonics at the graduate level

  • Opportunity to network with industry, academia and early-stage researchers

  • Roadmap to better employability