Light for a sustainable future: Students and experts meet at 360 CARLA Symposium in Milan

On May 27–28, the 360 CARLA Symposium: Photonics for Energy, Environment and Cultural Heritage took place at Politecnico di Milano’s Campus Leonardo, bringing together around 80 students, young researchers, and professionals to explore career opportunities in photonics for energy, environment, and sustainability.

Across two days, participants gained insights into photonics applications — from energy-saving solutions to environmental sensing and cultural heritage monitoring — while discovering diverse career paths in companies, start-ups, and research centers.

The program combined cutting-edge keynotes, career testimonials, and interactive sessions. Highlights included the lively roundtable on entrepreneurship “From a research idea to a start-up company”, where CEO-founders shared their start-up journeys, and the session “Your Future Life in Photonics“, where alumni mentored students on career choices. Informal networking breaks further strengthened connections between participants and experts.

The symposium also piloted innovative training formats such as the Quantum Race game and hands-on photonics device sessions, both highly praised by attendees. The very good rating of these sessions was an important indication that innovative training activities are really good to implement in future 360 Carla activities.

Feedback was overwhelmingly positive, with participants calling it “a great event with precious insights” and urging for similar initiatives in the future.