Leibniz School of Optics and Photonics

The Leibniz School of Optics and Photonics (LSO) members are scientists and staff from the four faculties of Mathematics and Physics, Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, Mechanical Engineering and the Faculty of Natural Sciences at Leibniz Universität Hannover. In addition, the Leibniz School is closely linked to the Cluster of Excellence PhoenixD: Optics, Photonics, and Engineering - Innovation Across Disciplines. In its structure, the LSO is equivalent to a faculty and forms the structural framework for excellent, cross-faculty research as well as for interdisciplinary large-scale research projects in the field of optics and photonics.

The Leibniz School of Optics and Photonics conducts appointment and doctoral procedures with the participating institutions and facilities. The academic degrees awarded reflect the interdisciplinary research approach: Doctor of Natural Sciences (Dr. rer. nat.) and Doctor of Engineering Sciences (Dr.-Ing.).

The research areas addressed in the LSO are very diverse. The following is a selection of the topics our scientists are working on:

• Production technology for optical components,
• Additive manufacturing,
• Free-form optics,
• Materials science for optics,
• Optical sensors and metrology,
• Integrated photonics in two and three dimensions,
• Silicon photonics,
• Single photon optics,
• Optics design,
• Multiphysical and multiscale simulation,
• Machine learning in/for optics,
• Fibre fabrication,
• Laser components,
• Laser development and laser applications,
• Laser production technology,
• Biomedical Optics,
• Light and illumination engineering,
• Phytophotonics,
• Optical information technology,
• Optical analytics,
• etc.

In future, research in optics, production technology, materials development and computer science will be bundled on the new optics campus in Hannover-Marienwerder in the new research building OPTICUM - University Center and Campus. Under the direction of the LSO, around 120 researchers will work under one roof in the OPTICUM. It will be built in Science Area 30X (formerly Marienwerder Science Park), in the direct vicinity of the Laser Zentrum Hannover e. V. and close to the Mechanical Engineering Campus of Leibniz Universität Hannover in Garbsen.