Max Planck Institute for the Science of Light
Del'Haye LabMicrophotonics Research Laboratory

Join us

We are always looking for talented, motivated people who want to join our research team in Erlangen.

Two postdoc positions are open

We are looking for experimentalists with a background in nonlinear or quantum optics. Send a CV and a short note about what you want to work on.

  • Microcombs and optical clocks
  • Chip-based quantum light states
  • Neuromorphic computing with light
  • Nonlinear optics
  • Microfabrication in our cleanroom

Read the announcement

PhD students

The Max Planck Institute for the Science of Light hosts over 120 PhD students, supported by an in-house Optica student chapter. Our group has strong links with FAU Erlangen-Nürnberg, which can award PhD degrees for research projects at MPL.

There are three ways in:

  • Apply to the group directly. Send Pascal an email with your CV, your transcripts and a few sentences on what you would like to work on.
  • Max Planck School of Photonics. A graduate school across Germany with a central application once a year; Pascal is one of its Fellows. Application details
  • IMPRS Physics of Light. The graduate school of MPL, run together with FAU. Application details

The start date is agreed individually.

Postdocs

We are seeking highly talented researchers with a passion for photonics and optical physics. Send Pascal your CV with a publication list, a short statement of your research interests and the names of two referees. We are happy to support applications for postdoctoral fellowships, for example from the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation or the Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions.

Working here

Our group is part of the Max Planck Institute for the Science of Light in Erlangen. We design, fabricate and measure our own chips, in our own cleanroom and in our own labs, so projects can run from simulation to a finished device in one place.

The group is international and works closely with the other research groups at the institute. PhD students are enrolled at FAU Erlangen-Nürnberg and can also join the Max Planck School of Photonics.

Meet the current group and read what we have been up to in the news.

Life in the group

The group brings together PhD students, postdocs, Master's students and visiting students from many countries. Day to day you work side by side with the others in the labs and the cleanroom, and directly with Pascal. Outside the lab we go on group outings, from winter hikes to the occasional "laser handling course".

  • Selfie of the group on a viewing platform high above a green valley with a village and wooded hills
    Group hike, June 2026
  • A group member wearing gloves adjusting a fibre at an optical setup lit in blue
    In the lab
  • Pascal Del'Haye and Toby Bi smiling in the laboratory, in front of an optical setup
    Pascal Del'Haye and Toby Bi in the lab
  • The group posing inside a rocky cave, lit by a torch whose round beam frames the picture
    In a cave on the group hike
  • Group members in laser-tag vests with glowing lights, smiling
    Laser handling course

How to apply

Send an email with your CV to pascal.delhaye [at] mpl.mpg.de.