Aston University is strengthening its photonics research with two new international partnerships set to advance laser telecommunications and nanotechnologies. Alex Rozhin and Sergei Turitsyn from Aston’s Photonics Research Group will lead research into carbon nanotubes in fiber laser usage, and ultralong fiber lasers in telecommunications and sensing applications, respectively, after securing two Marie Curie grants through the International Research Staff Exchange Scheme (IRSES). Dr. Alex Rozhin and Professor Sergei Turitsyn. The Aston academics will work with research centers of excellence and research groups from Germany, Finland, Russia, Belgium and the Ukraine, thanks to funding secured from the scheme. The aim behind the award is to establish and strengthen long-term research partnerships between European research organizations and international teams from countries that have a science and technology agreement with the European Union. The first project, led by Rozhin, lies at the interface of nanotechnologies and photonics, with the development of carbon nanotubes in fiber lasers applications. Carbon nanotubes are a relatively new allotrope of carbon that are excellent conductors arranged in the shape of a cylinder and are the strongest fiber available. Depending on growth conditions, the synthesized tube can possess the strong optical properties in the broad spectral range, creating a wealth of research opportunities in areas such as biological and environmental sensing, medical lasers development, and telecommunication technologies. The second project, led by Turitsyn, targets an emerging area of ultralong fiber lasers and random fiber lasers and their telecommunication and sensing applications. Turitsyn has already led a team that last year created a 270-km optical fiber laser. They believe it will lead to a radical new outlook on information transmission and secure communications. “These projects will help foster international research collaborations with overseas centers of excellence in photonics and nanotechnologies,” Turitsyn said. “This will undoubtedly strengthen Aston’s Photonic Research Group’s international research, allowing Aston researchers and students to gain even greater access to advanced photonic technologies, facilities and infrastructure at Aston and across the world.” Aston University will coordinate both projects with partners such as the Max Planck Institute in Germany, the Optoelectronics Research Centre at the Tampere University of Technology in Finland, the Novosibirsk University in Russia, and the Fibre Optics Research Centre of the Russian Academy of Science in Russia. For more information, visit: www.aston.ac.uk