Prospects in a Booming Branch

More turnover, more income, more jobs – optical technologies are booming. Companies are looking for qualified staff – on the Karlsruhe Days of Optics & Photonics (KDOP) from November 9 to 11, they will meet potential candidates. A good opportunity to exchange information will be provided by the recruitment fair on November 11.

For the third time, the Karlsruhe Days of Optics & Photonics are organized by the Karlsruhe School of Optics & Photonics (KSOP) of the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology. At the recruitment fair “Optical Technologies” on November 11 on KIT Campus South, 10 to 16 hrs, at the Audimax (Straße am Forum 1), students and graduates will be given the opportunity to establish contacts to leading enterprises and to obtain information on internships, diploma theses, and options to start a career: “Here, they can make first steps into the dynamic business of enterprises specialized in optics and photonics”, says Dr. Judith Elsner, Managing Director of the KSOP.

Bürkert Fluid Control Systems, Carl Zeiss, SICK, Zumtobel, OSRAM Opto Semiconductors, Leica Microsystems CMS, Novaled, Berliner Glas KGaA Herbert Kubatz, Avantes B.V., and TRUMPF Werkzeugmaschinen will be among the companies participating in 2009. The enterprises will present their technologies and discuss with the students and graduates. For this, a large area will be provided by KSOP in the entrance hall of the Audimax. “The fair will give students the opportunity to get to know selected interesting enterprises at one place and to exchange information in a pleasant atmosphere”, explains Elsner. Visit of the fair is cost-free. The visitors will be invited to take part in a competition.

The KDOP program also comprises a scientific symposium on November 9 and 10 at the Center for Advanced Technological and Environmental Training (Hermann-von-Helmholtz-Platz 1, Eggenstein-Leopoldshafen) on KIT Campus North. It will include English presentations of internationally renowned scientists. They will cover the four research areas of the KSOP: Photonic Materials & Devices, Advanced Spectroscopy, Biomedical Photonics, and Optical Systems. The meanwhile more than 70 Ph. D. students of the KSOP will explain their work on posters. In the course of the event, KSOP alumni will be honored.   


Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT) is a public corporation and state institution of Baden-Württemberg. It fulfills the mission of a university and the mission of a national research center of the Helmholtz Association. KIT focuses on a knowledge triangle that links the tasks of research, teaching, and innovation.