COURSE PROGRAM FOR ACADEMIC YEAR 2009/10 (last updated 09/09/09)

 Please find detailed information on the objectives and contents of each course in Course contents

60 ECTS Itinerary

The official duration or extend of the Master in Photonics is 60 ECTS, so that the MSc degree can be obtained in one year. The corresponding program consists of five Modules, as shown below. Election of the courses must be made in dialog with the professor who acts as student’s tutor, and needs his/her agreement:

Module 1.- Includes compulsory subjects, which build a solid foundation on the basics of photonics. In addition to theory it also includes practical activities on basis to lab. experiments.

Module 2.- Composed of short courses that intend fomentation of complementary skills that can be useful for future work, be it professional or research oriented. The student must choose two of such courses (the remaining courses can also be chosen, within Module 4).

Module 3.- This semi-core module is divided into three sub-modules which correspond to different aspects of photonics. The student must choose two courses from any of these sub-modules (the two courses need not belong to the same sub-module).

Further courses of this module can also be chosen, within Module 4.

Module 4.- To complete this module, the student may choose any course from the semi-core courses listed in Modules 2 and 3 (different to those chosen above), and/or any course from the group of elective courses of Module 4 listed below, with a total academic load of 10 ECTS.

Before election of courses in Modules 3 and 4, the student should have a look at the timetables, when available, to check the compatibility, in time, between different courses.

Module 5.- It corresponds to the Master Thesis (or Master Project), that the student must perform under the supervision of, in principle, one of the professors of the Master. It has assigned 25 ECTS.

Module 1: Basics of Photonics (10 ECTS) [Core] 

Course code	Course name	ECTS
32102	Introduction to Photonics. Optics and Lasers	5
32094	Photonics Laboratory Part 1: Basics of photonics                                    Part 2: Applied photonics	5

In “Photonics Laboratory”, the student, with the advice of the course professor, can choose among the available laboratory experiments those that can better complement his/her previous expertise. Realization of such experiments, whenever possible, will take place in a relatively free format, which will allow for student’s initiative.

Students following the 120 ECTS itinerary will also take an additional course entitled “Photonics Laboratory complements”, with 5 ECTS (course code 32140).

Module 2: Complementary skills (5 ECTS) [Semi-core]

Course code	Course name	ECTS
32051	Photonics & business	2.5
32050	Computing in Photonics	2.5
32047	Seminars & skills	2.5
32136	Mathematical Methods for Photonics	2.5

Further courses of this module can be selected within Module 4.

Module 3: Main branches (10 ECTS) [Semi-core]

Sub-Module 3a: Fundamental aspects

Course code	Course name	ECTS
32054	Quantum optics	5
32055	Nonlinear optics	5
32139	Photonic Materials	5
32105	Electromagnetic waves	5

Sub-Module 3b: Optical Engineering

Course code	Course name	ECTS
32059	Optomechanical systems design	5
32060	Fourier optics	5
32061	Optical Metrology	5

Sub-Module 3c: Optical Technologies

Course code	Course name	ECTS
32062	Fibers & telecommunications	5
32096	Photonics technology and devices	5
32063	Optoelectronics	5
32064	Laser systems and technology	5

Further courses of Module 3 can be chosen within Module 4.

Module 4: Electives (10 ECTS)

The student can also choose courses from Modules 2 and 3, additional to those chosen before.

Course code	Course name	ECTS
32065	Advanced experimental optical techniques in biology	2.5
32066	Optical micromanipulation workshop	2.5
32067	Nanophotonics	2.5
32068	Quantum communication	2.5
32069	Quantum computation	2.5
32071	Atom optics and BEC	2.5
32072	Milestone experiments in quantum optics	2.5
32138	Light dynamics in photonic crystals and metamaterials	2.5
32074	Statistical methods in quantum optics	2.5
32075	Color Science	2.5
32076	Advanced optical instrumentation	2.5
32077	Machine vision applications	2.5
32078	Advanced Image processing (*)	2.5
32079	Digital holography	2.5
32080	Medical Imaging	2.5
32081	Applied nonlinear optics and optoelectronics	2.5
32082	Synchrotron light	2.5
32083	Photovoltaic devices	2.5
32084	Multilayers	2.5
32085	Optical remote sensing	2.5
32142	Microwave Photonics and Terahertz Technologies	2.5
32087	Fabrication of optical elements	2.5
32088	Active and adaptive optics	2.5
32089	Visual Optics	2.5
32090	Integrated photonics	2.5
32091	Ultrafast and ultraintense laser light	2.5
32135	Fundamentals of Quantum Physics	2.5

(*) This course is offered this academic year instead of 32095 “Image processing in Matlab”

Module 5: Master Thesis (or Project) (25 ECTS) [Core]

Course code	Course name	ECTS
32103	Master Thesis (or project)	25

Students following the 120 ECTS itinerary can also choose the following two courses (to be taken before realization of the Master Thesis work; see below):

MSc Thesis planning and preparation – I (5 ECTS, course code 32104)

MSc Thesis planning and preparation – II (5 ECTS, course code 32134)

 120 ECTS Itinerary

The student that wishes or needs to receive a more complete formation in photonics may register for more than the 60 ECTS that lead to the Master degree. The extra courses can be up to an amount of 60 ECTS, so that the total number of credits can reach 120 ECTS, which means two years. A 120 ECTS option is also suited to those students coming from three-year degree (bachelor) studies willing to receive a solid foundation to pursue a successful career in photonics (in particular to enter the research phase of a PhD Doctorate Programme). All the courses must be passed successfully before the Master Thesis defence. In all cases, the Master degree diploma will be awarded for 60 ECTS, but the extra credits will appear in the diploma suplement or in the transcripts and certificates the student may request.

For students wishing to follow a two-year itinerary with a total of 120 ECTS, each one of the Modules described above is in this case distributed over a Submodule a and a Submodule b. As shown below, in most cases Submodule a should be followed during the first year, and Submodule b during the second year. Nevertheless, some changes in the temporal distribution of courses during the two years could be accepted if they are necessary for schedule adjustments. Election of the courses must be made in dialog with the professor that acts as student’s tutor, and needs his/her agreement.

The initial temporal distribution is as follows:

First Year (60 ECTS)

Half of the second year is devoted to the preparation and realization of the MSc thesis or project. The global organization is as follows:

• Module 1b: Basics of photonics (5 ECTS). The student must take a course entitled “Photonics Laboratory complements”, with 5 ECTS, which complements the “Photonics Laboratory” course followed in Module 1a.

• Module 2b: Complementary skills (up to 5 ECTS). It is recommended that the student chooses the rest of courses from this module that were not chosen previously.

• Module 3b: Main branches (10 ECTS). The student must choose two courses from Module 3 (the two courses need not belong to the same sub-module), additional to those chosen for the first year.

• Module 4b: Electives (up to 12.5 ECTS). The student may choose any course from the group of elective courses listed in Modules 3 and 4, additional to the courses already chosen.

Before election of courses in Modules 3 and 4, the student should have a look at the timetables, when available, to check the compatibility, in time, between different courses.

• Module 5b: The student must choose a specific course entitled “MSc Thesis planning and preparation – II” (5 ECTS), and, of course, must choose and work on the MSc Thesis (25 ECTS).