Our Vision and Values

We offer researchers a dynamic new approach to photonics research, that allows students to connect with and draw inspiration from many different, related disciplines. Our photonics research at UCL and Cambridge includes fields as diverse as Electrical and Electronic Engineering, Civil Engineering, Manufacturing Engineering, Materials Science, Computer Science, Physics, Medical Physics, Nanotechnology, Bioengineering/Biotechnology and Business.

The Centre for Doctoral Training (CDT) in Integrated Photonic and Electronic Systems is a leading centre for integrated photonics research in the UK bringing together the expertise of two world leading research universities, UCL and the University of Cambridge. It was set up in 2009 (originally called 'CDT Photonic Systems Development') and is EPSRC funded.

We are connecting science and engineering with business, to develop practical, real-world solutions by building strategic partnerships between our research communities and a range of leading optics and photonics companies.

Graduates from the Centre’s four year PhD programme will be the next generation of Photonics pioneers and will benefit from a wide range of research projects available in large and active research groups. Their skill set is already greatly in demand by national industry and academia. Our graduates will have the skills and confidence to drive future technology research, development and exploitation, as photonics becomes fully embedded in electronics-based systems applications ranging from communications to sensing, industrial manufacture and biomedicine.

We aim to create an open collaborative, community environment focused on student-supervisor-industry interaction that empowers students to work effectively in both London and Cambridge with the skills and confidence to invent and develop new systems with embedded photonics for applications in future products, processes and services.