WEBINAR

A bio-inspired approach: Harvesting sunlight to create laser beams in space

Unlock the Future of Space Power Join Professor Erik Gauger as he unveils the APACE project’s revolutionary approach to solar-powered lasers inspired by nature’s own light-harvesting bacteria. Discover how quantum effects and bio-engineered systems could enable direct sunlight-to-laser conversion—transforming energy transmission in space and on Earth. Don’t miss this visionary session on sustainable innovation for Moon, Mars, and beyond.
October 20, 2025
6:00 PM UTC
1 hour

November 20, 2025
Time: 11:00 AM ET | 10:00 AM CT | 8:00 AM PT
Duration: 60 Minutes

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Summary

In this webinar, Professor Erik Gauger from Heriot-Watt University will explore groundbreaking research into bio-inspired solar-powered lasers that could revolutionise space power systems. He will explain how the APACE project aims to harness the extraordinary light-harvesting efficiency of photosynthetic bacteria, which can capture and channel almost every photon they receive. The project seeks to create the first efficient sunlight-pumped lasers capable of direct conversion without intermediate electrical systems.

Professor Gauger will discuss how natural photosynthetic antenna complexes use quantum effects to concentrate light energy at the nanoscale. He will explore the challenges of combining bacterial light-harvesting structures with specially designed lasing units. He will also outline the project's ambitious milestones toward achieving viable laser operation under unconcentrated sunlight. Finally, he will offer a perspective on potential applications ranging from wireless power transmission between satellites and lunar bases to terrestrial advances in integrated photonics and quantum technologies, and comment on how such a radically different and sustainable approach could prove transformative for future space exploration missions to the Moon and Mars.

Speaker

Erik Gauger

Erik Gauger

Head of the institute of Photonics and Quantum Sciences

Heriot-Watt University

Erik Gauger is the Head of the Institute of Photonics and Quantum Sciences at Heriot-Watt University, where he also leads the quantum theory team. He joined Heriot-Watt in 2015 as a Royal Society of Edinburgh / Scottish Government Personal Research Fellow. He was promoted to Associate Professor in 2020, and to full Professor in 2022. Between 2018 and 2024, he was a member of the Royal Society of Edinburgh's Young Academy of Scotland. Professor Gauger received his Diploma degree in physics from the University of Konstanz in 2005 and obtained his DPhil from the University of Oxford in 2009 as a Marie Curie Early Stage Research Training Fellow. Following a postdoctoral appointment at Oxford, he held positions as Research Fellow and Senior Research Fellow at the Centre for Quantum Technologies, National University of Singapore from 2011 to 2014.

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