The 2025 Joint EU-UK Summer School on Optical Interconnect for AI, Hyperscale, Space and Quantum was held in St Andrews, Scotland, this July, bringing together leading researchers, engineers, and innovators from across Europe and the UK
The EU-UK Summer School focused on the increasing need for high-performance, energy-efficient network technologies to support the exponential growth of data-intensive applications, particularly those powered by artificial intelligence (AI).
Modern data centres are experiencing an increase in demand as they host more complex and dynamic workloads. Traditional static network architectures are no longer optimal for the time-sensitive and variable demands of contemporary applications, such as training large AI models or managing the ever-changing needs of mobile devices. The summer school provided a platform to look into new solutions to these challenges, with a particular focus on photonic integrated circuits (PICs).
The future of data networks
One of the most promising solutions explored during the EU-UK Summer School was the use of PICs to create dynamic and adaptable network connections. PICs enable data centre networks to reconfigure themselves in real-time based on traffic, resulting in improved efficiency, lower latency, and reduced energy consumption.
Participants had the opportunity to delve into the design, prototyping, and commercialisation of photonic components that could fundamentally change how data is transmitted within and between computing clusters. Hands-on tutorials and presentations offered insights into technologies such as tunable lasers, laser combs, silicon-organic hybrid modulators, photonic packaging techniques, and high-speed transceivers.
EU and UK projects
The EU-UK Summer School also served as a collaborative hub for several EU and UK-funded projects working at the forefront of optical interconnect and photonics technology. Four major projects funded by the European Health and Digital Executive Agency (HaDEA)—ADOPTION, DYNAMOS, OCTAPUS, and PUNCH—shared their latest research and technological breakthroughs.
- ADOPTION is developing new photonic components tailored for hyperscale data centres. It aims to reduce power consumption and latency by integrating optical components closely with processors, thereby streamlining data exchange in AI-driven workloads.
- DYNAMOS is building a dynamically reconfigurable opto-electronic network architecture, targeting bottlenecks in high-performance computing and data centres. The goal is to accelerate distributed machine learning by facilitating faster data transfer between clusters.
- OCTAPUS is focusing on decentralised, low-cost, and energy-efficient PIC solutions suitable for telecom and edge networks. This approach supports next-generation 5G, Industry 4.0, and IoT applications by enabling responsive, software-defined network components.
- PUNCH is pioneering a new optical switching paradigm that promises reliable, low-latency communication, reduced energy use, and cost-effective transmission interfaces. The project is advancing photonic components, integration, and validation in real-world testbeds.
Also participating in the EU-UK Summer School was ALLEGRO, a project funded by DG Connect. ALLEGRO is working to design future-proof optical networks that are both ultra-high-capacity and energy-efficient, aligning with Europe’s digital ambitions.
The EU-UK Summer School came at a crucial time, as the EU’s Horizon Europe programme and the European Chips Act aim to strengthen the continent’s hardware and semiconductor value chains. Optical and photonic innovations will play a vital role in developing the next generation of cloud-edge infrastructures that are resilient, low-latency, and sustainable.
