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The Optica Foundation and Coherent, Inc. partnered to create the Bernard J. Couillaud Prize, which provides the opportunity for an early career professional to pursue a compelling and innovative project that has the potential to make a meaningful and positive impact on the science and applications of ultrafast lasers.
The goal is to support individuals in the area of ultrafast photonics for the purpose of providing dynamic and rigorous research with a state-of-the-art approach to solving difficult, real-world problems. Recipients will be granted total research freedom with consideration being given to the following:
- Work focused on advancing basic research, or
- Efforts focused on transitioning an idea into a commercial innovation
The prize is expected to help the recipient in their pursuit of the most compelling and interesting research issues in ultrafast optics. The Bernard J. Couillaud Prize is a personal prize and is not renewable.
Application Information
How to Apply
Applications will be available at apply.optica.org
Important Dates
Opens: 16 December 2024
Closes: 14 February 2025
Applicant Requirements
- Must be an Optica member.
- Must be an early career professional (1-5 years post highest degree) pursuing a compelling project that has a meaningful global impact.
- Work in the field of ultrafast photonics.
- Demonstrate the unique nature and global reach of the project.
Program requirements recognize and exclude breaks from career timelines (e.g., eldercare; maternity or paternity leave; inability to work due to Covid-19 and lab closures; long-term illness).
Application Requirements
- Applicant name, institution and contact information
- Applicant CV/Resume - no more than four (4) pages
- Proposal covering
- Current research and the intended goals
- Potential impact of your project to advance the field of ultrafast lasers
- Potential for your research to solve real-world challenges and/or have a global impact
- An overview of how the US$20,000 prize would benefit your research and career
- Proposals should be no more than two (2) pages
- One example of published work
- Two (2) references
The Prize will honor the extraordinary contributions of Bernard J. Couillaud, former President and CEO of Coherent and later Chairman of the Board of Directors. A native of France, Couillaud earned his PhD in Laser Physics in 1978 at the University of Bordeaux and later became a full-time professor there. During his time at Bordeaux, he formed a colorful and storied partnership with colleague André Ducasse that pioneered continuous wave and pulsed dye lasers. Finding his way to California, he completed a three-year visiting fellowship at Stanford University that yielded, in collaboration with T.W. Hansch, the Hansch-Couillaud technique of laser frequency stabilization.
Joining Coherent in 1983, he was instrumental in the development of numerous Dye, DPSS, and Ti:S lasers in his roles as Director of Engineering, Business Unit Manager, and Vice President of the Laser Group. Along the arc of this extraordinary academic and industrial career, he authored 65 publications and received numerous patents. He became President and CEO of Coherent in 1996 and served in that capacity until 2002. Dr. Couillaud then became Chairman of the Board of Directors until his retirement in 2007. He gave more than a lifetime’s worth of dedication and achievements to physics, lasers, and photonics, and he remains an inspiration to everyone that called him friend, colleague, boss, or mentor.
2025 - Couillaud Prize in Ultrafast Lasers
You must log in (top right) to be able to access this application.
The Optica Foundation and Coherent, Inc. partnered to create the Bernard J. Couillaud Prize, which provides the opportunity for an early career professional to pursue a compelling and innovative project that has the potential to make a meaningful and positive impact on the science and applications of ultrafast lasers.
The goal is to support individuals in the area of ultrafast photonics for the purpose of providing dynamic and rigorous research with a state-of-the-art approach to solving difficult, real-world problems. Recipients will be granted total research freedom with consideration being given to the following:
- Work focused on advancing basic research, or
- Efforts focused on transitioning an idea into a commercial innovation
The prize is expected to help the recipient in their pursuit of the most compelling and interesting research issues in ultrafast optics. The Bernard J. Couillaud Prize is a personal prize and is not renewable.
Application Information
How to Apply
Applications will be available at apply.optica.org
Important Dates
Opens: 16 December 2024
Closes: 14 February 2025
Applicant Requirements
- Must be an Optica member.
- Must be an early career professional (1-5 years post highest degree) pursuing a compelling project that has a meaningful global impact.
- Work in the field of ultrafast photonics.
- Demonstrate the unique nature and global reach of the project.
Program requirements recognize and exclude breaks from career timelines (e.g., eldercare; maternity or paternity leave; inability to work due to Covid-19 and lab closures; long-term illness).
Application Requirements
- Applicant name, institution and contact information
- Applicant CV/Resume - no more than four (4) pages
- Proposal covering
- Current research and the intended goals
- Potential impact of your project to advance the field of ultrafast lasers
- Potential for your research to solve real-world challenges and/or have a global impact
- An overview of how the US$20,000 prize would benefit your research and career
- Proposals should be no more than two (2) pages
- One example of published work
- Two (2) references
The Prize will honor the extraordinary contributions of Bernard J. Couillaud, former President and CEO of Coherent and later Chairman of the Board of Directors. A native of France, Couillaud earned his PhD in Laser Physics in 1978 at the University of Bordeaux and later became a full-time professor there. During his time at Bordeaux, he formed a colorful and storied partnership with colleague André Ducasse that pioneered continuous wave and pulsed dye lasers. Finding his way to California, he completed a three-year visiting fellowship at Stanford University that yielded, in collaboration with T.W. Hansch, the Hansch-Couillaud technique of laser frequency stabilization.
Joining Coherent in 1983, he was instrumental in the development of numerous Dye, DPSS, and Ti:S lasers in his roles as Director of Engineering, Business Unit Manager, and Vice President of the Laser Group. Along the arc of this extraordinary academic and industrial career, he authored 65 publications and received numerous patents. He became President and CEO of Coherent in 1996 and served in that capacity until 2002. Dr. Couillaud then became Chairman of the Board of Directors until his retirement in 2007. He gave more than a lifetime’s worth of dedication and achievements to physics, lasers, and photonics, and he remains an inspiration to everyone that called him friend, colleague, boss, or mentor.