Abstract

We describe the activities of the Institute for Optical Sciences (IOS) at the University of Toronto towards the establishment of a Master’s Program in Optics. The IOS was formed as a collaboration between faculty members interested in optics from the four departments of Physics, Chemistry, Electrical and Computer Engineering and Materials Science and Engineering. One of its goals is to serve as unifying entity for graduate and undergraduate programs in optical sciences. The details of the proposed graduate program will be discussed. It will be set up in the form of a collaborative university program, where students must satisfy the requirements of one of the four home departments, as well as a set of IOS-specific requirements of the program. IOS-specific activities include attending the Distinguished Visiting Scientist Series, participation in a best-research-practice mini-course, where essential research skills are discussed, as well as participation in an annual internal conference. The benefits of this interdisciplinary program, for students, faculty and relevant industries are discussed. The students will benefit from a wider exposure and a more coherent curriculum. The IOS will also serve as local community within the campus to which students could belong and network. Faculty, on the other hand, will benefit from a reduced teaching load, as redundancies among the departments will be removed.

© 2007 Optical Society of America