Impressions of the EMIMEO Summer School 2024 in Jena.

Academic partners

The Abbe School of Photonics (ASP) maintains prestigious national and international academic partnerships across all sectors of photonics, quantum, and related fields.
Impressions of the EMIMEO Summer School 2024 in Jena.
Image: Canan Gallitschke

International academic partners

Our School maintains prestigious national and international academic partnerships across all areas of photonics, quantum science, and related fields. These collaborations build on EU- and DFG-funded programs such as Erasmus+. Many of our partnerships have developed into long-term exchange agreements that benefit both staff and students by enabling study and research in an international environment.

International exchanges for enrolled Master’s degree students are generally also possible, usually in the form of an internship or a Master's degree thesis. They rely on the self-initiativeness of the students and are decided on a case-by-case basis. Here, ASP offers access to a broad network of reputable partner universities within the Erasmus Student Exchange Program. Detailed information on currently available exchange slots in photonics and physics can be found here.

Prime partners in research and education

  • Max Planck School of Photonics (MPSP)

    Since 2018, the Abbe School of Photonics has taken the lead in coordinating one of the three prestigious Max Planck Schools, which were implemented by the Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) as national networks of excellence. The Max Planck School of Photonics (MPSP) represents the key strengths of the German photonics community and supports highly skilled young researchers on a world class level. Since 2025, MPSP is funded by the Dieter Schwarz Stiftung.

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  • The Australian National University (ANU)

    The Australian National University (ANU) in Australia's capital Canberra is one of the most excellent and prestigious Universities in the world. Its reputable history in photonics is rooted in ANU’s impressive research in the field and the ongoing support offered by the university’s administration since the 1980s. Its evident excellence in this field is demonstrated by the results of the 2017 Excellence in Research for Australia (ERA), in which physics, and specifically optical physics, received the highest score of 5 (well above international average). According to a Nature survey in 2016, ANU was ranked top among all Oceanian Universities in physics. Our Abbe School of Photonics has built an intense and fruitful scientific collaboration between Jena and Australia for over more than 2 decades. In 2022, this strategic collaboration with ANU will culminate in the start of the DFG-funded International Research Training Group (IRTG) 2675 on active metasurfaces, including a Dual-PhD-program and the continuous exchange of PhD students and research staff between Jena and Canberra. 

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  • The Australian Research Council Centre of Excellence for Transformative Meta-Optical Systems (TMOS)

    The Australian Research Council Centre of Excellence for Transformative Meta-Optical Systems (TMOS) is funded by the Australian Research Council under the Centers of Excellence Program since 2020, with further support from five constituent Australian universities, fifteen Australian chief investigators, 39 international partners, and associate investigators, among them three ACP principal scientists. TMOS focuses on fundamental and applied scientific challenges in the field of meta-optics, including light-matter-generation, manipulation, and detection at nanoscale. In 2021, TMOS is opening a new research building worth 200 million AUS$ devoted to nanofabrication facilities. This will make TMOS the largest scientific center in the field of meta-optics and metasurfaces in the world. The partnership between ACP and the scientists involved in TMOS is based on the close and fruitful scientific collaboration between Jena and Australia, which has lasted for over 2 decades.

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  • Bordeaux LIGHT Campus

    LIGHTS&A CAMPUS at the University of BordeauxExternal linkis a comprehensive initiative, combining research and graduate education, which positions Bordeaux as a major photonic sciences campus. It benefits from the “Grand Programme de Recherche” (GPR) LIGHT, an excellence programme funded by the university of Bordeaux since 2021. Already earlier, in 2018, ACP has become a premium partner in the Bordeaux International Support (BIS) program, facilitating student and staff exchanges.

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  • DigiQ: A European Web of Quantum Technology Training
    Quantum entangled photons

    Quantum entangled photons

    Image: Fraunhofer IOF Jena

    DigiQ is a European Master Program in Quantum Science and Technology, of which ASP is an affiliated partner. For students it offers participation in "DigiQ networks", online courses, internships, hackathons, schools and more, see https://digiq.eu/External link

    To apply, visit https://digiq.eu/networksExternal link

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  • Changchun Institute of Optics, Fine Mechanics and Physics, China

    Changchun Institute of Optics, Fine Mechanics and Physics, China. The partnership between ACP/ASP and this University of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) relies on a long-term exchange of people, ideas, and workshops. Starting from 2016, the most excellent students from CIOMP are preselected to receive extra slots in our Master’s degree program in Photonics.

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German partner universities within the Max Planck School of Photonics

German non-university partners within the Max Planck School of Photonics

Information

Historically, ASP and KSOP were equivalent partners in an international Master education program funded from 2008 until 2016 by the Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF). Since 2018, ASP, KIT and FAU are the three Curriculae Universities within the Max Planck School of PhotonicsExternal link, offering Master's degrees in photonics of national excellence.