Brian Vohnsen is an Associate Professor of Physics at UCD in

Dublin Dublin (; , or ) is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. On a bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, a part of th ...

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...

specializing in

optics Optics is the branch of physics that studies the behaviour and properties of light, including its interactions with matter and the construction of instruments that use or detect it. Optics usually describes the behaviour of visible, ultraviole ...

. He is head of the Advanced Optical Imaging Group which he founded in 2008. He has received recognition for his ability to connect the field of

biomedical optics Medical optical imaging is the use of light as an investigational imaging technique for medical applications. Examples include optical microscopy, spectroscopy, endoscopy, scanning laser ophthalmoscopy, laser Doppler imaging, and optical coherence ...

and

nano-optics Nanophotonics or nano-optics is the study of the behavior of light on the nanometer scale, and of the interaction of nanometer-scale objects with light. It is a branch of optics, optical engineering, electrical engineering, and nanotechnology. ...

. In 2021 he became a fellow of Optica for significant contributions to

vision science Vision science is the scientific study of visual perception. Researchers in vision science can be called vision scientists, especially if their research spans some of the science's many disciplines. Vision science encompasses all studies of vision ...

, including photoreceptor optics and high resolution retinal imaging.

Early life and education

Brian Vohnsen, born in

Aarhus Aarhus (, , ; officially spelled Århus from 1948 until 1 January 2011) is the second-largest city in Denmark and the seat of Aarhus Municipality. It is located on the eastern shore of Jutland in the Kattegat sea and approximately northwest ...

Denmark ) , song = ( en, "King Christian stood by the lofty mast") , song_type = National and royal anthem , image_map = EU-Denmark.svg , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Danish Realm, Kingdom of Denmark ...

studied

Engineering Engineering is the use of scientific method, scientific principles to design and build machines, structures, and other items, including bridges, tunnels, roads, vehicles, and buildings. The discipline of engineering encompasses a broad rang ...

Aalborg University Aalborg University (AAU) is a Danish public university with campuses in Aalborg, Esbjerg, and Copenhagen founded in 1974. The university awards bachelor's degrees, master's degrees, and PhD degrees in a wide variety of subjects within humanities ...

before transferring into the field of Optics. In 1994 he graduated with a Masters of Science in Optical Engineering and Laser Technology before going on to complete a PhD in Optical Physics at the same university in 1998. He went on to become an Assistant Professor at Aalborg University for 3 years after completing his PhD, before moving to

Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , i ...

after being awarded a Marie-Curie Fellowship where he worked as a researcher in

Universidad de Murcia The University of Murcia ( es, Universidad de Murcia) is the main university in Murcia, Spain. With 38,000 students, it is the largest university in the Región de Murcia. The University of Murcia is the third oldest university in Spain, after t ...

alongside

Pablo Artal Pablo Artal (born June 12, 1961, in Zaragoza) is a Spanish physicist and full professor specialized in optics at the University of Murcia, as well as in the development and application of new techniques in human vision research. He received the R ...

for 7 years (2001 - 2008). During this time he was also awarded a Ramon y Cajal fellowship. In 2008 he moved to Ireland in search of further research opportunities and started working in University College Dublin where he still works today. During his travels Brian has gained Fluency / Professional Working Proficiency in Danish, English, German and Spanish.

Professional biography

Vohnsen did his PhD in the area of nano-photonics and

near-field optics Near-field optics is that branch of optics that considers configurations that depend on the passage of light to, from, through, or near an element with subwavelength features, and the coupling of that light to a second element located a subwavelen ...

at Aalborg University under Sergey I. Bozhevolnyi. He did a postdoctoral fellowship at Universidad de Murcia funded by a Marie-Curie Fellowship where he worked on topics such as

Evanescent field In electromagnetics, an evanescent field, or evanescent wave, is an oscillating electric and/or magnetic field that does not propagate as an electromagnetic wave but whose energy is spatially concentrated in the vicinity of the source (oscillati ...

and directional imaging including a 2001 research paper on visualizing evanescent waves ("Direct visualization of evanescent optical waves") and imaging of retinal cone mosaic ("Directional imaging of the retinal cone mosaic"). In 2008 Vohnsen came to Ireland as a

Science Foundation Ireland Science Foundation Ireland (SFI; ga, Fondúireacht Eolaíochta Éireann) is the statutory body in Ireland with responsibility for funding oriented basic and applied research in the areas of science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM ...

Stokes awardee and created a new MSc. programme in NanoBio Science while also exploring advanced optical techniques centered on high-resolution optical images. Lately, he has pioneered new exploration of the Stiles-Crawford effect in relation to

and

myopia Near-sightedness, also known as myopia and short-sightedness, is an eye disease where light focuses in front of, instead of on, the retina. As a result, distant objects appear blurry while close objects appear normal. Other symptoms may include ...

Awards and honours

* Optica fellowship (2021) * Stokes Lectureship award (2008) * Ramon y Cajal Fellowship (2003 – 2008) * Marie-Curie Fellowship (2001 – 2003)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Vohnsen, Brian Academics of University College Dublin Fellows of Optica (society) Academics from Aarhus Aalborg University alumni Academic staff of Aalborg University Living people Year of birth missing (living people) Danish physicists Optical physicists