My name is Oscar Jimenez; I am from Mexico but now live in Milan, Italy. I am part of the PERSEPHONe project as an Early-Stage Researcher at the Photonic Devices Group of Politecnico di Milano. My research project involves integrating Perovskites with Photonic Integrated Circuits. This integration comprises a hybrid photonic platform where perovskites are deposited onto integrated waveguides.

This platform promises to harness Perovskite’s exceptional optoelectronic properties to create active nanochips capable of generating, manipulating, and detecting light. These “light chips” are posed to enable the future of optical telecommunications, with further applications ranging from disease diagnosis to autonomous vehicles.

My passion for research was born during my studies and fostered by my professors, who were also scientists. Being a researcher allows me to fulfill my deep curiosity about the inner workings of our world. Studying the physics of new materials, learning about them, and developing new technological applications keep me excited about my job.

I encourage all aspiring scientists to identify and reach out to mentors who could help them jump-start their careers in the right direction. Doing research can be particularly challenging at times, but taking these tough times when experiments do not turn out as expected as learning opportunities allows one to keep growing as a scientist and a human.