Future Scientists Explore Photonics at IPAS Showcase & Pizza Night

The University of Adelaide’s Institute for Photonics and Advanced Sensing (IPAS) opened its doors last week to students eager to discover the power of light and the pathways that could lead them into honours, master's, and PhD research.

The Photonics Showcase & Pizza Night brought together over 60 researchers, academics, and students for an evening designed to inspire the next generation of science innovators. The event highlighted how photonics is driving breakthroughs in medical diagnostics, quantum technologies, environmental monitoring, and even space exploration.

Students explored research posters, networked over pizza with leading scientists, and toured seven state-of-the-art laboratories, including the Prescott Environment Luminescence Lab, the Atom Trap Trace Analysis (ATTA) facility, the Quantum Materials Lab, and the Photonics Materials and Optical Fibres Lab. These tours offered a rare chance to see first-hand the cutting-edge instruments and methods behind world-class photonics research.

Drinks and discussions flowed as students connected with researchers from across disciplines, from chemistry and biology to engineering and physics, reflecting IPAS’s collaborative and transdisciplinary approach to solving real-world problems.

The showcase was about sparking curiosity and showing students the many doors photonics can open. Whether it’s developing quantum sensors, creating new optical fibres, or using light to detect environmental change, there’s a pathway here for every kind of problem-solver.