Seeing the light

An Ogden Trust physics education grant has helped to fund the first King’s Optics Summer School, which has given 23 Year 12 students an insight into studying physics at university.

The students learnt about the history of optics and gained a deeper understanding of optics in the lab and in life. The students were able to talk with leading academics and lecturers, and the summer school provided a valuable window on what it means to study physics at university.

“By speaking with academics who are at the top of their field,” said one student, “I got an insight into what it’s really like to pursue physics and become a physicist. As a student aspiring to apply to the top universities, it has been invaluable to meet people who are on the same journey as us, and people who have already done that journey, and learn from them; hearing what advice they have to give is golden for us.”

For another participant, “Apart from the in-depth introduction and talks about optics, I think being in an atmosphere that I want to go to in the future – ie, university – has really helped me and given me an insight as to what I will be doing and how I will be learning. It’s made me realise how much I really like taking part in small group discussions, listening to a lecturer and then discussing an idea.”

The King’s Optics Summer School was funded by the Ogden Trust and SPIE, the international society for optics and photonics, and supported by the Photonics & Nanotechnology group in the Department of Physics.

The young people were from state-funded schools in and around London, and priority was given to students at non-selective schools who would be the first in their family to attend university, or who identified as being from a low-income family. Over half of the attendees were female, and over two-thirds were from Black, Asian and minority ethnic backgrounds.

You can find out more about the event on KCL website.

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