Career options

Typical fields of work

The MSc Eng. Degree in Engineering Light qualifies you for jobs in the telecommunication industry, in the biomedical industry, in industries working within optical sensing and instrumentation, with lasers and other lighting systems, among many others.

Optics and photonics is a comprehensive research area and therefore it offers many opportunities to work within development and research both as a MSc Eng., and as a PhD.

As a MSc in Engineering Light, you will typically be involved in designing, simulating, characterizing and testing optical and photonics devices and systems. Often experimental tests will include development of the instrumentation around the optics and photonics and processing of acquired data. A career could include research and development of advanced technologies where photonics are being either the end product or a state-of-the-art tool for producing other end products or services.

Interdisciplinary knowledge

Both current and future applications of photonics require interdisciplinary knowledge. This could be knowledge in physics to understand how light interact with matter either generally or more specifically with e.g. synthesized materials. It could be knowledge in biology or chemistry to understand how light can detect or destroy cancer, stimulate the brain, detect organic material or critical gasses. It could be quantum computers or quantum cryptology. The many applications of photonics offer a wide range of career opportunities.

Engineers with specialized knowledge in photonics are in great demand by established companies as well as start-ups and spin-offs. Some of these spin-offs originate from DTU Electro, making a DTU degree in Engineering Light a good starting point if you want to pursue your dream of starting your own business.

Pursue a PhD

Some of our graduates choose to continue their studies and pursue a PhD Degree, qualifying them for research positions in both academia and industry.

Once you have an MSc in Engineering, you might get the opportunity to continue your studies and apply for admission to the three-year PhD program.

The DTU PhD programme is a research-based program ranking among the best in the world. You can do either a regular PhD, for instance at DTU, or an industrial PhD, the latter performed in close collaboration with a company.

As a PhD student, you will be part of a research group and will carry out an independent scientific project.

Close ties to the industry

During the semesters we invite Danish companies to give seminars (Photonics in Industry), weekly. They are invited to tell us about their activities within optics and photonics and what kind of engineers they employ. This is a perfect option for networking for student jobs, collaborators for special courses or the master thesis project or eventually a job after your graduation.