Group picture of attendees of Meta-Active annual meeting

Meta-Active Annual Meeting 2024

Visit of our Australian partners in Jena
Group picture of attendees of Meta-Active annual meeting
Image: IRTG Meta-Active

Recap of the 2024 IRTG Meta-Active Annual Meeting: Bridging Continents, Sharing Insights

The IRTG Meta-Active community recently gathered for its Annual Meeting from September 2-4, 2024, hosted in a hybrid format to enable full participation from our partners in both Jena and Canberra. This gathering took place alongside the Jena LIGHT Conference 2024 – Photonics Meets AI, which IRTG Meta-Active also co-organized. Together, these events brought researchers from around the world, seamlessly blending the annual meeting into the conference setting, fostering connections and knowledge-sharing across time zones and research specialties.

Student asking question

Student asking question

Image: IRTG Meta-Active

Throughout the three days, IRTG Meta-Active’s doctoral candidates and postdocs presented updates on their research projects, receiving valuable feedback and sparking discussions on cutting-edge developments. There was vibrant exchange during coffee and lunch breaks, with even more in-depth discussions held during dinners. Attendees included esteemed speakers such as Angela Barreda, who shared insights into her current research, and Matthias Wurdack, a former postdoc at ANU now conducting research at Stanford. Special presentations continued into the LIGHT Conference with talks from Humeyra Caglayan, Stefanie Kroker, and Carsten Rockstuhl on recent advances in photonics and artificial intelligence.

The event also provided a platform for strategic planning, with PIs and speakers meeting to discuss ongoing projects and the next steps toward the upcoming renewal application. Doctoral students and postdocs exchanged ideas on qualifications, research exchanges, and dual degrees, culminating in the election of a new student representative to help drive their academic initiatives.

The highlight was a dinner at Jena's Botanical Garden, attended by many LIGHT Conference guests, creating a lively atmosphere and a fitting close to the meeting. For more on the LIGHT Conference, see a detailed report here.

  • Discussions during dinner
    Image: IRTG Meta-Active
  • Isabelle Staude welcomes all members to the meeting
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  • Presentations of doctoral students
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  • Student asking question
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  • Discussions during coffee break
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  • Discussions during coffee break
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  • Presentation of doctoral student
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  • Presentations of doctoral students
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  • Presentations of doctoral students
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  • Presentations of doctoral students
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  • Discussion during lunch break
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  • Group picture of attendees of Meta-Active annual meeting
    Image: IRTG Meta-Active
  • Presentation of doctoral students
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  • Presentation of guest speaker Matthias Wurdack
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  • Presentation of doctoral students
    Image: IRTG Meta-Active
  • Presentations of doctoral students
    Image: IRTG Meta-Active
  • Presentations of doctoral students
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  • Presentations of doctoral students
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  • Humeyra Caglayan during her Meta-Active lecture on Imaging Applications through Learning-Enhanced Metasurface Optics
    Image: IRTG Meta-Active
  • Carsten Rockstuhl during his Meta-Active lecture on Machine Learning Enhanced Design of Meta-Atoms and Metasurfaces
    Image: Johannes Kretzschmar
  • Meta-Active scientists discussing during a conference break
    Image: Johannes Kretzschmar
  • Meta-Active scientists discussing during a conference break
    Image: IRTG Meta-Active
  • local PI meeting
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  • Conference room while hybrid PI meeting
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  • Group picture of Meta-Active PIs
    Image: IRTG Meta-Active
  • Group picture of Meta-Active doctoral students
    Image: IRTG Meta-Active