The Leibniz IPHT pursues the vision of using light to find solutions to questions and urgent problems in the areas of health, the environment, medicine and safety to make life safer, healthier and cleaner. This vision can be succinctly summarised by the slogan “Photonics for Life”.

The Leibniz IPHT explores photonic and biophotonic processes and systems for issues and applications in medicine as well as life and environmental sciences and pharmacy. This research takes place in the three programme areas of Biophotonics, Fiber Optics and Photonic Detection based on key photonic technologies and other enabling technologies. The application-oriented area of Biophotonics is the connecting link for all research activities at the institute and aligns this focus of research towards optical health technologies.

The institute’s mission is focussed on exploring and translating biophotonic methods and technologies, whose resolution, sensitivity, specificity, speed, accuracy and automation advance into new dimensions. This lays the foundation for faster and more precise medical diagnostics, for new therapies, for safer medications, for a new quality of food and environmental analysis as well as for innovative safety technology.

The Leibniz IPHT is focussed on ensuring that its research activities are used in the public interest and for the benefit of society and it therefore actively promotes technology as well as knowledge transfer across the board. The institute, together with its partners, maps the entire process from the basic technological research through to the translation to customised solutions for various applications in line with the motto “From Ideas to Instruments”. The translation of the knowledge gained for the benefit of users is a fixed part of the institute’s mission.

In both its research and transfer activities, the Leibniz IPHT utilises research infrastructure, recognised as “outstanding” by the German Council of Science, which it manages independently as well as together with partners, or makes available to partners, and ensures that it is kept up to date.