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