An Impactful Experience
Oxford OSA Student Chapter
It was a great pleasure for the Oxford OSA student chapter to host Professor Sanders. He was a most experienced OSA ambassador, open to engaging with all of our chapter members as well as other students from the Department and very keen to support the activities of our society. We have been a chapter for 3 years and are still trying to find ways to increase our membership base and expand our activities. We have so far focused on local outreach events in museums and the university, and also hosted a number of talks from local speakers. However, this was the first time that we have taken part in the OSA travelling lecturer program. We feel like the event was a great success and has raised the profile of our chapter within the department.
The visit lasted only a day, but the day varied and full from morning to the late evening pub. Our guest’s lecture on ‘Multi-Channel Linear Photon Interferometry for Quantum Information Processing’ attracted many students from Physics and other Departments. The topic of the talk whilst directed to a specialized audience was relevant to a number of members of our chapter and researchers within the host department, many of whom are working on projects involving multi-photon interference. The mixture of theoretical and experimental insights also made the talk adequate for non-specialists working in optics. We were pleased that the talk was followed by a long question time. This then led into many active and insightful scientific discussions, over refreshments provided by our chapter's funds from the OSA.
The conversations continued into the evening, when we relocated to a local pub for further informal discussion and socializing. Professor Sanders was most interested in hearing from students and about their research, and, in addition to scientific topics, our guest was very willing to share his experience, offering professional-development advice for those considering a career in the fields of wider academia.
During his presentation, Professor Sanders took time to encourage students to join our society often mentioning the activities of the student chapter at his home university, supported by the OSA. We are sure his contribution has been greatly beneficial to our chapter, as a whole, and a useful experience for each of the individuals involved.
