From Education to Excellence: NANO-PHOT’s Mark on EMP26

There is no doubt that light offers promising prospects for addressing the energy crisis!

In the context of the energy crisis, sustainable technologies are crucial. Research in the fields of optical data processing, control of photonic materials, and light energy management is essential. The Institute of Optics-Graduate School at Paris-Saclay University hosted the 12th International Conference on Energy, Materials, and Photonics (EMP26) from April 21 to 24, 2026, in Orsay, France. 

             
Six themes were addressed:
•    New Materials for Photovoltaics and Photodetectors
•    Life Cycle and Sustainability of Materials
•    Nanomaterials for High-Speed and Low-Energy Photonics
•    Lightning and Display Devices
•    Light Harvesting and Applications (photothermal, photocatalysis, chemical energy, etc.)
•    Materials Characterization Techniques

Prior to the EMP26 conference, a three-half-day thematic training program (Light, Energy & Sustainability School, LESS) was organized for master’s students, doctoral candidates, and postdoctoral researchers.
More details at: https://evenium.events/emp26-paris-saclay/emp26-KBX6C

The NANO-PHOT graduate school was fully involved. In particular, Renaud Bachelot was one of the co-chairs and we sponsored the best poster prizes, which were awarded to three young researchers:

-Benedict Morris (University Paris-Saclay) “Ultrafast switching from strong to weak coupling in a hybrid plasmonic-photonic microcavity
-Qizu Zhang (Imperial college, London) “Hollow gold nanostars – down conversion nanoparticle hybrid probes for fluorescence enhancement across multiple near-infrared window”
-Irving Alonzo-Zapata (INRS Univerisité du Quebec) “Plasmon-Driven Phase Transition in VO2: Desiging Gold Nanoparticles for localized MIT Triggering”

Congratulations to them!