The 17th Conference on Optics, Atoms and Laser Applications (KOALA 2026) will be hosted at the University Of Sydney from 30 November to 4 December 2026.

KOALA is a student-led conference that brings together Honours, Masters and PhD students working across optics, photonics, lasers, atomic physics, quantum science and related fields. The conference provides a supportive environment for students to present their research, exchange ideas, build professional networks and engage with leaders from academia and industry.

The 2026 program will feature invited speaker presentations, student oral and poster sessions, poster previews, panel discussions, industry engagement, networking opportunities and social events. KOALA aims to create an inclusive and welcoming space where early-career researchers can share their work, develop confidence and connect with the wider optics and photonics community.

Hosting University

In 2026, KOALA will be hosted at the University of Sydney, located close to Sydney’s CBD and major cultural landmarks. As one of Australia’s leading research universities, the University of Sydney provides a vibrant setting for students, researchers and industry partners to come together for a week of scientific exchange, collaboration and community-building.

A five-day, student conference of talks, activities, and workshops

Key Dates

Abstract submission opens: 20th May

Abstract submission closes: 31st July

Please stay tuned for registration dates

Plenary Speakers

Dr Simon Poole

Dr Simon Poole AO, FAA, FTSE, FIEAust, FIEEE is an engineer/scientist/entrepreneur with over 40 years’ experience in Photonics in academia, research, and industry. He has been involved in start-ups in both Academia and industry for the majority of this time and is renowned for both his contribution to the technology of photonics as well as the companies he has founded. These include Indx (acquired by JDSUniphase in 1997), Engana (now Finisar Australia) and Cylite (acquired by Alcon in Jan 2025). These companies have, between them, generated over $3B in export revenues and employed over 1,000 people in Australia. He has received numerous awards for his work in commercialising Photonics in Australia, including the Prime Minister’s Prize for Innovation (2018), and in the same year he was made an Officer in The Order of Australia for his service to the Photonics community and industry. In 2023 received the inaugural IEEE Photonics Society Industry Achievement Award for his outstanding contributions to the translation of photonic ideas into successful commercial products.

Professor Sangyoon Han

Sangyoon Han is an Associate Professor at DGIST (Daegu Gyeongbuk Institute of Science and Technology), with joint appointments in Robotics & Mechatronics Engineering, Semiconductor Engineering, and Quantum Information Science. He received his B.S. from Seoul National University and Ph.D. from UC Berkeley. His Intelligent Nanophotonics Lab develops large-scale photonic integrated circuits (PICs) for computing, sensing, and display. The group has been particularly active in MEMS-integrated PICs, with contributions including programmable photonic arrays operating at femtowatt-level static power, large-scale multicast switches, and fully reconfigurable resonator networks. Current efforts extend to photonic tensor processors for AI acceleration, on-chip LiDAR and ultrasound imaging, and integrated display. His work has been published in Nature Photonics, Nature Communications, and Optica. He serves as the Korean Principal Investigator of the Korea–EU joint project HAETAE on heterogeneously integrated photonic chiplets for neuromorphic AI.

Professor Mona Jarrahi

Mona Jarrahi is a Professor and Northrop Grumman Endowed Chair in Electrical and Computer Engineering at UCLA, where she also directs the Terahertz Electronics Laboratory. Her research has led to major advances in ultrafast electronic and optoelectronic devices, as well as integrated systems for terahertz, infrared, and millimeter-wave sensing, imaging, computing, and communication. Prof. Jarrahi has authored more than 400 publications and delivered over 280 invited talks. Her work has been recognized with numerous honors, including the Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers; Friedrich Wilhelm Bessel Research Award from the Humboldt Foundation; Moore Inventor Fellowship from the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation; Harvey Engineering Research Prize from the Institution of Engineering and Technology; Guggenheim Fellowship from the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation; and Kavli Fellowship from the U.S. National Academy of Sciences. She is a Fellow of AAAS, IEEE, APS, OPTICA, SPIE, and IOP.

Professor Sven Rogge

Scientia Professor Sven Rogge is Dean of Science at UNSW Sydney. His research interest is in condensed matter physics, and he works on quantum technologies in silicon. His research focuses on the development of quantum materials and devices, advancing quantum computing and information technologies. Before taking up the Dean role he was the Pro Vice-Chancellor (Research) and Head of the School of Physics at UNSW. He joined UNSW in 2011 from the Kavli Institute for Quantum Nano Science at Delft University and obtained his PhD from Stanford University. Professor Rogge is dedicated to fostering scientific innovation and interdisciplinary collaboration.

Professor Arti Agrawal

Arti’s current professional positions reflect her dual passions: Science and Social Justice. She is currently an Adjunct Associate Professor in the School of Electrical and Data Engineering at the University of Technology Sydney. She is also the CEO and founder of a Vividhata Pty Ltd a diversity and inclusion consulting company. Previously Arti worked at City, University of London from 2005-2017 in the Department of Electrical Engineering. She was a Royal Society postdoctoral fellow, and her PhD was on modelling methods for optical components, completed at the Indian Institute of Technology Delhi in 2005. Arti’s research interests lie in optics: modelling of photonic components such as solar cells, optical fibers, sensors, lasers etc. She is an expert on numerical methods for optics such as Finite Element Method (FEM). She has written a book on FEM, and edited a book on trends in computational photonics. She has taught the short course on FEM at CLEO and CLEO Europe several times. Arti is a Senior Member of the IEEE, OSA, Fellow of the Australian Institute of Physics and a Chartered Engineer and Chartered Physicist. Arti was awarded the 2020 IEEE Photonics Society Distinguished Service Award for exceptional contributions to the Photonics Society as a champion of Diversity and Inclusion initiatives. She was also awarded the OSA Diversity and Advocacy Recognition in 2020 for an unwavering dedication to promoting diversity and inclusion throughout the global optics and photonics community.

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