Application for the Applied Photonics Award

Where can I find the application form?

The online application form can be found at the bottom of this page.

 

After submitting the form, please check your email inbox—and your spam folder, if necessary—and confirm your application by clicking on the link in the email we sent you.

Only then will you be officially registered and active in the application process.

Who can participate?

You can apply for the Applied Photonics Award annually from April 1 to June 30. Eligible are bachelor, master, diploma theses as well as dissertations (German/English), which have been registered at a German university or college and have been evaluated by the supervisor/appraiser in the current calendar year or in the previous year. The thesis must be considered to have been passed by the time the application is submitted.

In addition, the thesis must be characterized by a particular relevance in the field of applied photonics.

Which topics
are of interest?

Theses can come from a wide variety of disciplines ranging from mathematics and chemistry to applied optics and physics as well as materials science and biosciences.

What's there to win?

In addition to prize money, the winners will have the opportunity to showcase their thesis in front of a specialist audience and network with representatives of industry and research in the optics and photonics field. 

Required steps

  • Application form (at the end of this page)

As a PDF document via mail to appliedphotonicsaward@iof.fraunhofer.de

  • Letter of application
  • CV
  • Copy of the thesis in PDF format or similar
  • List of own patents/publications, if existing

What should the letter of application include?

The letter of application should indicate the relevance of the topic addressed to applied photonics.

The length of the document should not exceed 8,000 characters (including spaces).

Graphics and figures are allowed, but must not exceed 30% of the total length.

The letter can be written in German or English.

What categories
are there?

Category A: Best Bachelor Thesis
Prize money 1000€

Category B: Best Master Thesis 
Prize money 2000€

Category C: Best Dissertation
Prize money 3000€

When is the application deadline?

We will open the application process on April 1. The closing date for applications will be June 30, 2024.

Where do I submit the documents?

Please send your documents in electronic form to

appliedphotonicsaward@iof.fraunhofer.de

When will the award ceremony take place?

The winners of the Applied Photonics Award will have the opportunity to present their thesis in about 5 min to a broad audience at the Photonics Days Jena.

More questions?

If you have any questions or suggestions, please send them via contact form. We will reply as quickly as possible.

Follow us on

Instagram: @applied.photonics.award

Apply here for the Applied Photonics Award

Please enter all required and requested information in the form below. After submitting, please check your mailbox – and, if necessary, your spam folder – and confirm your application by clicking on the link provided in the email we send. 

Only then you are actually registered and actively in the application process.

We also ask that you send us your documents as a combined PDF document, as requested in the form.

 

Note: The application period for the 2026 Applied Photonics Award has ended. New applications for the 2027 call for entries will be accepted from April 1 through June 30, 2027.

 

Sign up here for the Award Alert to be notified in a timely manner about the next application period.

 

EMAIL TO APPLIED PHOTONICS AWARD - APPLICATION