Svetlana Lukishova - 2016-17 SPIE Women in Optics Planner
Group Leader; Senior Scientist, The Institute of Optics, University of Rochester, USA
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Country of Birth: Russia
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In high school, I liked not only physics and mathematics, but also literature and fine arts. The choice to study physics was made because of my family background: my father had a PhD and my mother was an engineer. At home, we carried out some experiments in physics and chemistry and built a small model of a glider.
Together with my students, I concentrate on quantum nanophotonics, in particular on single-photon sources, key devices for secure quantum communication. This work includes not only research and writing papers, but also writing the proposals to receive funding. My teaching at the university includes lab and lecture courses on quantum and nano-optics laboratory, sources and detectors, and nanometrology. I am also a Topical/Associate Editor of the journal Optics Letters in the fields of nonlinear optics, nanophotonics, and liquid crystals.
The biggest obstacle is that I am too modest. Because in a real career in a competitive environment it is necessary to defend your rights, I am using my will power to diminish my modesty to a reasonable extent. When I was an undergraduate student in the Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology, I was advised by my professor to select the strongest research group with an outstanding leader. Following this advice, I was lucky to carry out my Master and PhD thesis research at the Lebedev Physics Institute under the leadership of Nobel Prize winner Alexander M. Prokhorov.
My advice for young girls is to set the highest goals in your life and your scientific and engineering career, work hard, but with inspiration, and don’t forget that you are women.