Periodic Reporting for period 1 - CIPHR (ERA Chair for Computational Imaging and Processing in High Resolution)
Période du rapport: 2019-10-01 au 2022-05-31
The aim of the CIPHR project is to establish the Center of Photonics and Computational Imaging (CPCI), a research unit within the University of Tartu (UTARTU), that will become a world leader in Computational Imaging, a sub field of photonics. This center will connect already strong scientific fields in UTARTU such as optics and spectroscopy, machine vision, remote sensing, electronics and informatics, and will enable them to thrive further by combining expertise and resources to investigate complex multidisciplinary problems.
CIPHR project will initiate structural changes within the Institute of Physics and increase UTARTU’s research excellence in the field of photonics by:
• Increasing the quantity of peer-reviewed articles in connected fields such as applied optics, (optical) sensor technologies and 3D imaging, written by UTARTU researchers.
• Strengthening linkages with the industrial actors that could benefit from solutions developed via research in Computational Imaging. That will enable to better exploit UTARTU research by developing new applications and prototypes that can be taken up more easily by companies.
• Increasing the quality of high-level research proposals submitted for funding by UTARTU researchers.
• Coordination of various departments/disciplines that are most relevant for computational imaging research, including UTARTU’s Institute of Computer Science, Remote sensing unit and Robotic interactions studied in units of Intelligent Materials and Systems and Intelligent Computer Vision.
The CIPHR ERA Chair holder will also improve the quality of UTARTU’s curricula by integrating the topic within existing programs, including:
• Improving existing Master`s level curricula so that they address the applied optics, optoelectronics, diffractive optics, optical imaging technologies (including computational imaging) topic and are making it more entrepreneurial and adjusted to the needs of industry.
• Design and open up 5 PhD spots for students of Computational Imaging that is aligned with the EU Principles on Innovative Doctoral Training.
• Hosting of 2 summer schools focused on different aspects of Computational Imaging and photonics.
The ERA Chair holder will also work to raise awareness about photonics and the benefits it can offer to society.
CIPHR project will initiate structural changes within the Institute of Physics and increase UTARTU’s research excellence in the field of photonics by:
• Increasing the quantity of peer-reviewed articles in connected fields such as applied optics, (optical) sensor technologies and 3D imaging, written by UTARTU researchers.
• Strengthening linkages with the industrial actors that could benefit from solutions developed via research in Computational Imaging. That will enable to better exploit UTARTU research by developing new applications and prototypes that can be taken up more easily by companies.
• Increasing the quality of high-level research proposals submitted for funding by UTARTU researchers.
• Coordination of various departments/disciplines that are most relevant for computational imaging research, including UTARTU’s Institute of Computer Science, Remote sensing unit and Robotic interactions studied in units of Intelligent Materials and Systems and Intelligent Computer Vision.
The CIPHR ERA Chair holder will also improve the quality of UTARTU’s curricula by integrating the topic within existing programs, including:
• Improving existing Master`s level curricula so that they address the applied optics, optoelectronics, diffractive optics, optical imaging technologies (including computational imaging) topic and are making it more entrepreneurial and adjusted to the needs of industry.
• Design and open up 5 PhD spots for students of Computational Imaging that is aligned with the EU Principles on Innovative Doctoral Training.
• Hosting of 2 summer schools focused on different aspects of Computational Imaging and photonics.
The ERA Chair holder will also work to raise awareness about photonics and the benefits it can offer to society.
In October 2019 the project started with full enthusiasm to recruit very soon a top-level researcher in the field of Photonics and create a Centre of Photonics and Computational Imaging (CPCI) in the Institute of Physics, University of Tartu, Estonia.
The real life presented several obstacles in our way. The project team in UTARTU was in a mutual contact with the Project Officer in EU trying to find out proper solutions in this complicated situation caused by COVID-19 crises and location of Estonia in the border of EU. Three rounds of recruitment were held before finally in Nov 2021 after two years efforts R4 level researcher in the field of photonics was found, ready to move to Estonia.
ERA Chair holder Prof Vijayakumar Anand started his position in the University of Tartu on Jan 1, 2022. Prof. Vijayakumar Anand received his Ph.D. degree from the Indian Institute of Technology Madras, India in 2015. He was a Monbukagakusho fellow at Osaka University, Japan during 2010 to 2012. He was a PBC outstanding postdoctoral fellow at Ben Gurion University of the Negev, Israel from 2015-2018. From 2019 to 2021, he worked as a Deputy Vice-Chancellor Research and Enterprise Fellow (Nanophotonics Fellow) at Swinburne University of Technology, Australia. He is a recipient of the prestigious JSPS fellowship from the Japanese government. He has published more than 100 journal articles, conference proceedings and book chapters. He is also an author of a bestselling textbook on Design and Fabrication of Diffractive Optical Elements with MATLAB, published by SPIE press. He has multiple Israeli patents, an Australian patent and a US patent. He has been elected to the editorial board of Nature Springer Applied Physics B: Laser and Optics and Chinese Optics Letters. He has led many projects at the Australian Synchrotron on infrared holography. His current research interests include computational optics, imaging, digital holography, diffractive optics, and microfabrication.
By the end of the first reporting period in May 2022 (M32) ERA Chair holder has recruited a team of researchers to conduct top level research in the field of photonics. All staff was recruited in full compliance with European Charter for Researchers and EU Code of Conduct for the recruitment of researchers.
During the first five months the ERA Chair holder assessed the research environment and established contacts with other research units in the University of Tartu, recruited the team of researchers, updated the Data Management Plan, started to attract PhD candidates and investigated business environment in the field of photonics in Estonia and Baltic states. The project team supported ERA Chair by organizing meetings, updating the webpage, preparing public procurement for start-up equipment of optics lab and workspaces for recruited researchers, started to prepare the first Summer School in Photonics that was held in July 2022. The ERA Chair holder also continued his research, worked on several publications, won the beamtime grant at the Australian Synchrotron with the highest rank. He submitted two PhD research proposals which were selected for Estonian government funding valued at ~150 K Euros. He has also initiated dual PhD programs with Ben Gurion University of the Negev and Swinburne University of Technology which will improve student exchange and contribute to research at University of Tartu.
The real life presented several obstacles in our way. The project team in UTARTU was in a mutual contact with the Project Officer in EU trying to find out proper solutions in this complicated situation caused by COVID-19 crises and location of Estonia in the border of EU. Three rounds of recruitment were held before finally in Nov 2021 after two years efforts R4 level researcher in the field of photonics was found, ready to move to Estonia.
ERA Chair holder Prof Vijayakumar Anand started his position in the University of Tartu on Jan 1, 2022. Prof. Vijayakumar Anand received his Ph.D. degree from the Indian Institute of Technology Madras, India in 2015. He was a Monbukagakusho fellow at Osaka University, Japan during 2010 to 2012. He was a PBC outstanding postdoctoral fellow at Ben Gurion University of the Negev, Israel from 2015-2018. From 2019 to 2021, he worked as a Deputy Vice-Chancellor Research and Enterprise Fellow (Nanophotonics Fellow) at Swinburne University of Technology, Australia. He is a recipient of the prestigious JSPS fellowship from the Japanese government. He has published more than 100 journal articles, conference proceedings and book chapters. He is also an author of a bestselling textbook on Design and Fabrication of Diffractive Optical Elements with MATLAB, published by SPIE press. He has multiple Israeli patents, an Australian patent and a US patent. He has been elected to the editorial board of Nature Springer Applied Physics B: Laser and Optics and Chinese Optics Letters. He has led many projects at the Australian Synchrotron on infrared holography. His current research interests include computational optics, imaging, digital holography, diffractive optics, and microfabrication.
By the end of the first reporting period in May 2022 (M32) ERA Chair holder has recruited a team of researchers to conduct top level research in the field of photonics. All staff was recruited in full compliance with European Charter for Researchers and EU Code of Conduct for the recruitment of researchers.
During the first five months the ERA Chair holder assessed the research environment and established contacts with other research units in the University of Tartu, recruited the team of researchers, updated the Data Management Plan, started to attract PhD candidates and investigated business environment in the field of photonics in Estonia and Baltic states. The project team supported ERA Chair by organizing meetings, updating the webpage, preparing public procurement for start-up equipment of optics lab and workspaces for recruited researchers, started to prepare the first Summer School in Photonics that was held in July 2022. The ERA Chair holder also continued his research, worked on several publications, won the beamtime grant at the Australian Synchrotron with the highest rank. He submitted two PhD research proposals which were selected for Estonian government funding valued at ~150 K Euros. He has also initiated dual PhD programs with Ben Gurion University of the Negev and Swinburne University of Technology which will improve student exchange and contribute to research at University of Tartu.
Impacts by the ERA Chair programme for UTARTU include:
1. Increased attractiveness of UTARTU and Estonia for internationally excellent, mobile researchers. It is expected that by the end of CIPHR project in 2025 we have doubled the number of foreign researchers working in computational imaging. Before the project start in 2019 there were 2 foreign researchers working in computational imaging in UTARTU.
2. Increased research excellence of institution in specific fields covered by the ERA Chair holder. It is expected that by the end of CIPHR project in 2025 we have developed two computational imaging proofs of concepts and one algorithm/prototype, at least 10 articles are accepted for publication in targeted high impact journals and three collaboration agreements with companies have to been signed.
3. Improved capability of UTARTU to compete successfully for international research funding. It is expected that by the end of the project in 2025 the number of submitted research proposals involving photonics or computational imaging in which UTARTU is a partner will increase from the previous five-year period (2014-2019) by 60% and in which UTARTU is the principal investigator by 40%.
4. Institutional changes at UTARTU to implement the ERA priorities. It is expected that CIPHR project have impact to gender balance, increase of peer reviewed publications and high-quality doctoral training for 5 PhD students.
1. Increased attractiveness of UTARTU and Estonia for internationally excellent, mobile researchers. It is expected that by the end of CIPHR project in 2025 we have doubled the number of foreign researchers working in computational imaging. Before the project start in 2019 there were 2 foreign researchers working in computational imaging in UTARTU.
2. Increased research excellence of institution in specific fields covered by the ERA Chair holder. It is expected that by the end of CIPHR project in 2025 we have developed two computational imaging proofs of concepts and one algorithm/prototype, at least 10 articles are accepted for publication in targeted high impact journals and three collaboration agreements with companies have to been signed.
3. Improved capability of UTARTU to compete successfully for international research funding. It is expected that by the end of the project in 2025 the number of submitted research proposals involving photonics or computational imaging in which UTARTU is a partner will increase from the previous five-year period (2014-2019) by 60% and in which UTARTU is the principal investigator by 40%.
4. Institutional changes at UTARTU to implement the ERA priorities. It is expected that CIPHR project have impact to gender balance, increase of peer reviewed publications and high-quality doctoral training for 5 PhD students.