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The Bernard J. Couillaud Prize in Ultrafast Lasers provides an early-career professional (1-5 years post-highest degree) the opportunity to pursue a compelling and innovative research project that has the potential to make a meaningful and positive impact on the science and applications of ultrafast lasers.

The goal of this Prize is to support dynamic and rigorous research in the field of ultrafast lasers that aims to solve challenging, real-world problems. Recipients will be granted total research freedom, with consideration being given to the following:

1. Work focused on advancing basic research or pursuing a compelling project that has a meaningful global impact.
2. Efforts focused on transitioning an idea into a commercial innovation.

The recipient will receive a USD 20,000 prize to support their project/proposal, plus travel expenses to attend CLEO in the year the Prize is awarded. This is a personal prize and is not renewable.

The Bernard J. Couillaud Prize in Ultrafast Lasers is made possible thanks to the generous support of Coherent, Inc.

Important Dates

Opens: 21 January 2026
Closes: 20 March 2026

Eligibility Requirements

• Must be an Optica member.
• Must be an early career professional (1-5 years post highest degree*) 
• Must be conducting research in the area of ultrafast lasers. Examples of eligible disciplines include: biological imaging, ultrafast pulsing, laser material processing, non-thermal manufacturing and attosecond pulses.

*Program requirements recognize and exclude breaks from career timelines (e.g., eldercare; maternity or paternity leave; military service, long-term illness, or inability to work due to Covid-19 and lab closures).  

Application Requirements

1. Applicant name, affiliation, and contact information
2. Applicant CV/Resume (no more than four (4) pages)
3. Research Proposal Title and 150-word Proposal Summary
4. Research Proposal (no more than two (2) pages) covering:
5. 
   
   1. Current research and the intended goals
   2. Potential impact of your project to advance the field of ultrafast lasers
   3. Potential for your research to solve real-world challenges and/or have a global impact
   4. An overview of how the USD 20,000 prize would benefit your research and career
6. One (1) example of published work 
7. Two (2) letters of recommendation

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.