Bernard J. Couillaud Prize in Ultrafast Lasers
Foundation
Bernard J. Couillaud Prize in Ultrafast Lasers
Recognizing research excellence and innovation in the area of ultrafast lasers.
Application Dates
21 January 2026 - 20 March 2026Program Prize
USD 20,000 prize and travel expenses to attend CLEO.
Foundation
The Bernard J. Couillaud Prize provides early-career professionals the opportunity to pursue innovative projects with the potential for meaningful impact on the science and applications of ultrafast lasers. Established in partnership with Coherent, Inc., the prize honors
The recipient receives USD 20,000 plus travel expenses for CLEO to support research aimed at solving challenging, real-world problems. Recipients are granted total research freedom to focus on:
- Advancing basic research with meaningful global impact.
- Transitioning ideas into commercial innovations.
Application Information
How To Apply
Applications available at apply.optica.org
Important Dates
Opens 21 January 2026
Closes 20 March 2026
Eligibility Criteria
- Must be an Optica member.
- Must be an early-career professional (1-5 years post highest degree).
- Conducting research in the area of ultrafast lasers
- Examples of eligible disciplines include: biological imaging, ultrafast pulsing, laser material processing, non-thermal manufacturing and attosecond pulses.
Program requirements recognize and exclude breaks from career timelines (e.g., eldercare; maternity or paternity leave; military service, long-term illness, or inability to work due to Covid-19 and lab closures).
Application Requirements
- CV/Resume (Max 4 pages)
- 150-word Research Proposal Summary
- Research Proposal (Max 2 pages)
- Highlight current research and the potential impact of your project/research to advance the field of ultrafast lasers, solve real-world challenges, and/or have a global impact.
- Overview of how the USD 20,000 prize would benefit your research and career.
- One example of published work
- Two letters of recommendation
If you have questions, please contact prizes@optica.org.
Recipients
2025
Claudia Gollner
Stanford University, USA
For her work in combining THz waveform control and 2D material science to create next-generation, high-speed optical devices.
2024
Václav Hanus
HUN-REN Wigner RCP, Hungary
For his plans to advance solid state carrier-envelope phase (CEP) detection and its commercial applications.
2023
Edoardo Vicentini
CIC nanoGune, Spain
For his state-of-the-art research on digital holography with femtosecond frequency combs.
2022
Chiara Trovatello
Columbia University, USA
For her work in Optical Parametric Oscillators and Amplifiers.
2021
Bowen Li
University of Colorado, Boulder, USA
For his work on the first bidirectional all-normal dispersion (BANDi) fiber laser, a next-generation dual-comb laser source that generates two frequency combs from a single laser cavity.
2020
Bo Li
Cornell University, USA
For his work on Multiphoton Imaging, with particular focus on advances in neuroscience and disease studies.
2019
David Carlson
NIST, USA
For his work on non-linear effects and photonic devices based on tantala (tantalum pentoxide, Ta2O5).
Contributors
Selection Committee
| Name | Affiliation | Country | Role |
|---|---|---|---|
| Norman Hodgson | Coherent Corp | UNITED STATES | Member |
| François Légaré | INRS-Energie Mat & Tele Site Varennes | CANADA | Member |
