Fourth edition of CARLA camp Barcelona

The CARLA program has gained its own identity and is continuing with the organisation of events and activities centred around career development in photonics and even more specialised fields. On Thursday 30th of November the fourth CARLA camp took place at ICFO in a hybrid format.

Starting with the welcome words from Dr. Silvia Carrasco and the photonics landscape talk by Dr. Robert Sewell, participants also received an overview of how they can complement their training at ICFO. Following, the camp included inspiring talks from 12 speakers from academia, industry and beyond, in which speakers talked about their work and professional progression. It was followed by a networking lunch session and the workshop “Navigating Your Career Path in Photonics”. 

The photonics professionals that participated in the panels were: Dr. Carmen Rubio (ICFO), Dr. Hugues di Riedmatten (ICFO), Dr. Joanna Kargul (University of Warsaw), and Dr. Mireia Mora (Hospital Clínic Barcelona) participated in the Academia panel; Dr. Ata Almasi (ASML), Dr. Bárbara Buades (Meetoptics), Dr. Mustafa Balci (Qurv), Dr. Santiago Simón (Das Photonics) participated in the Industry panel; and Dr. Alexandros Stravrinadis (Balder IP), Dr. Alina Hirschmann (ICFO), Dr. Ariadna Martinez (ICFO), Dr. Giorgio Colangelo (Nora Health) participated in the Photonics is everywhere panel.

A networking lunch allowed participants to connect informally with each other and the speakers. The day concluded with a training session by Frank Wolfs and Ben Wienk from JointheDutch, covering interview preparation, strengths identification, and guidance on exploring diverse career opportunities. In addition, it was offered an opportunity to the attendees to meet with the trainers in a one-to-one meeting for personalized advice and insights on their CV; either in person or online.

In total, more than 240 participants had registered for the CARLA camp coming from over 23 countries. They actively engaged during the Q&A sessions with interesting comments and insights. Since the talks and panel discussions were streamed live on ICFO’s YouTube channel, online participants also had the opportunity to pose questions directly to the speakers through the live chat. The feedback received was positive and revealed that 73% of participants found the camp beneficial, and 95% would recommend CARLA camp to a friend, which brings a bright future ahead for the following CARLA activities. Quotes from participants include:  

• “I’ve been able to know about the landscape of Photonics and talk and listen to professionals”
• “It was good to gain perspective on what career paths are possible, getting in touch with people, taking time to think my ambitions differently than usual”
• “This experience was motivating for me, meeting so many people that work in the field inspired me”

Aligned with the new Horizon Europe project, 360 CARLA, launching in 2024 and coordinated by ICFO, the initiative aims to expand the CARLA program by creating career development programs focused on application verticals, including health, quantum technologies, energy, environment and sustainability, and manufacturing/industry 4.0. This promises a bright future for upcoming CARLA activities.

For more details of the CARLA camp at ICFO you can navigate in the webpage in the link here.