ResearchGATE

ResearchGATE is a scientific networking platform, founded in 2008 in Hannover, Germany. Today, over 300´000 thousands scientists have joined from all over the world and from every topic. The access/ registration is free (contrary to its competitions) and the site works like facebook. You can create groups, asking questions, upload your publications, networking, finding people from your field, semantic abstract search, etc.

ResearchGATE

Have a look at their video, where they introduce their network.



What i like on this network is that you can ask a specific questions (most questions seems to be about sample preparation) and in most cases you get even a good answer. Furthermore, you can create groups on your topics...building your own network, staying in contact with others (perhaps once there will be a OSA student chapter group) However, i havent joined to researchgate as there seems to be no real optic group. More detailed information you can find in the articles below and on wikipedia. If you have some experience with this network, please write a comment!


articles:

• in TechCrunch (english):Professional Network ResearchGate Is A LinkedIn For Scientists

• in "DER SPIEGEL" (only german): "Facebook für Forscher"

• wikipedia entry

Student chapters

This might be the first time you hear these words: "Student Chapters".
So, let's start by the beginning...

• What is a Student Chapter?

A student chapter is a group of students with a common interest, in our case Optics. They usually promote the discipline among young students and general public through outreach activities.

• Who sponsors them?

Several proffesional societies (OSA, SPIE, EPS...) have a worldwide network of student chapters and offer grants for them (activity grants, educational grants, start-up funding, classroom materials...).

• What kind of activities are made in the frame of student chapters?

There is a huge variety of activities! Here are some examples:

- Student networking: IONS conferences

- Educational outreach projects; for example: "Day of the Light" (ICONS), "Curso de iniciación a la investigación en óptica" (IOSA), "The Optics Adventure" (OSAL)...

- Workshops for teachers in Africa (I really love this one!): NUTS project by Naples Student Chapter.

- Lab tours during conferences (such as, OSASG during CLEO).

- Cross-chapter activities (meetings with other chapters...).

- Professional development activities (visit to companies, seminars...).

- Social events to promote interaction between members (beer&pizza, dinner, trip...).

• Benefits of becoming a member

Apart from the benefits of joining a professional society (travelling and student grants, Leadership Meetings, suscriptions to reviews...), it is a good way to build technical and leadership skills. You will learn many things that wouldn't be possible in any other case (for example, seek for funding, manage a group...).

• What do I have to do if I want to establish a student chapter at my Uni?

Usually, you have to recruit at least five students, join a/several society(ies) and decide who is who (elect a president, vice-president, secretary and treasurer). Depending on the society, the process can be slighty different; for further information, I would advise you to visit their website:

Optical Society of America (OSA): www.osa.org

SPIE: http://spie.org

European Physical Society (EPS): http://epsyoungminds.com

Photonics Spectra

It is free, and even not so bad. Actually it is quite good and interesting. I am talking from

"Photonics Spectra".

A monthly published magazine for researcher and engineers who are working in the optic/ photonics field. It provides news and featured articles and gives a good overview about new developments in science as well as in industry. Articles are about technical and practical information covering all parts of photonics like "optics, lasers, imaging, fiber optics and electro-optics as well as photonic component manufacturing, solar cell improvements, LED lighting for cars and offices, THz, EHz, UV, IR, and visible light imaging and test equipment." (quoted from the homepage)
A second, smaller magazine exists too for the new bio-photonics field: "Bio Photonics". Photonics Spectra has been published since 1967 by Laurin Publishing Company.
What I like on these magazines too, are the technology updates, new producs and literature, application reports, business reports and calendars of conferences. Sometimes you see by chance some tools or techniques which you can use too for your experiment.

Subscription for Photonics Spectra can be found here: Subscription, and for biophotonics here.
Have a look at Photonics.com too, the "general page" of the magazines. It contains news, blogs, videos and a lot more. By the way, all articles etc. of the magazines can be found too on the page.

Enjoy reading, you will get a good overview about what is going on in the different fields of optics!