Astghik Chalyan
Astghik Chalyan (17-04-1993), MSc, is a PhD researcher at VUB B-PHOT Brussels Photonics since 2018. Her research is part of the xCLASS Marie Skłodowska-Curie European Industrial Doctorate, a collaboration between Anteryon BV (The Netherlands) and VUB B-PHOT (Belgium) under the supervision of Prof. Heidi Ottevaere. Her work focuses on the development of miniaturized tunable light sources for spectroscopic applications based on piezo-actuated Fabry-Pérot interferometers and DLP technology.
Astghik holds a Bachelor's degree in Physics from Yerevan State University (Armenia) and a Master's degree in Electronics and Nanoelectronics from the Russian-Armenian University (Armenia). Prior to joining VUB, she worked as a LabVIEW software engineer in Armenia.
Between 2021 and 2026, she served as STEM and Outreach Officer at B-PHOT, where she coordinated photonics education and outreach activities, contributed to several European and Flemish STEM initiatives, and trained researchers in science communication and public engagement. She carried out this work under the guidance of the late Tine De Pauw, whose passion for STEM outreach continues to inspire her.
In addition to her research activities, Astghik serves as CEO of EYEST (Excite Youth for Engineering, Science and Technology), where she oversees the Photonics Explorer Kit programme and international photonics outreach initiatives.
She is an active member of Optica, SPIE, and IEEE, and remains committed to promoting STEM and photonics education through hands-on and engaging learning experiences.