photonics in 5 minutes!

Interact with the people working on cutting-edge science projects

Photonics in 5 minutes! is a series of online events to inspire secundary school students and to show them the impact of cutting-edge scientific research on society.

The formula is simple: after a brief introduction to photonics given by our team, three ICFO scientists explain their work in just 5 minutes. Following these engaging talks, there is plenty of time for the audience to ask their questions through the live chat.

Each event has a duration of one hour, is free of charge and easy to join, as it is broadcasted on YouTube Live.

We organize these kind of events all around the year, usually to celebrate important days for science, such as the Catalan Science Week (November), the International Day of Women and Girls in Science (February 11) and the International Day of Light (May 16).

These events may be adapted to some specific topic (for example, quantum technologies) or to a live audience, like we did for la Festa de la Ciència in Barcelona.

Check our calendar to see if there's one coming up

A selection of the 5-minutes talks that appeared in the past editions of Photonics in 5 minutes! are available on ICFO’s YouTube channel.

There is also a version for university (undergraduate, master and PhD) students, focused on inspiring professional careers in STEM.

Program for university students