Internship: Photonics Scientist (Master)

Eindhoven Until 9/22/2026 First posted July 24, 2026 Last posted July 24, 2026
Job description

Job Title

Internship: Photonics Scientist (Master)

Job Description

Start Date: as soon as possible

Duration: 5-6 months

Type: Internship (suitable for thesis)

Weekly Presence: 40h (minimum 32h)

Location: Eindhoven


Internship: Photonics Scientist (Master)

Philips Hospital Patient Monitoring develops and improves biosensors for monitoring vital functions in clinical environments. Breath analysis, including carbon dioxide monitoring, is relevant for patient monitoring applications such as capnography. Photonic integration may offer opportunities to improve sensor performance, reliability, form factor, power consumption and cost of optical gas sensing concepts. This project builds on earlier work on photonic integration on a breath sensor based on absorption spectroscopy.

Capnography measures carbon dioxide in exhaled breath and is an important parameter in patient monitoring. A compact, robust and manufacturable onchip sensor concept could be valuable for future monitoring solutions. However, several technical concept choices need to be assessed before moving toward detailed design. These include the photonic sensing principle, optical in- and outcoupling, interaction between the photonic chip and the gas sample, and the suitability of different simulation tools for optimizing the concept.

The aim of this master-level internship is to investigate which on-chip concept is most promising for capnography and to perform first simulations of the selected concept. The student will benchmark candidate technical approaches, evaluate suitable software tools for optical-chip design and gas–chip interaction, and perform simulations aligned with capnography requirements.

Your role:

  • To identify and simulate a best-fit on-chip photonic concept for capnography, considering optical performance, chip coupling, gas interaction, simulation feasibility, and relevance to CO₂ measurement in breath.

Research questions:

  • 1. Which on-chip photonic concepts are most suitable for CO₂-based capnography?

  • 2. What are the key trade-offs between candidate concepts regarding optical coupling, interaction with gas, manufacturability and expected sensitivity?

  • 3. Which simulation software tools, or combination of tools, are most appropriate for chip design, optical coupling and gas interaction?

  • 4. Can the selected concept be simulated and optimized against first-order capnography requirements?

Scope: The project focuses on concept benchmarking, simulation-tool selection and first simulations. Experimental realization, fabrication and bench testing are outside the scope of this assignment.

You're the right fit if:

  • You are currently pursuing a Master degree in Physics, Photonics.

  • You have a good knowledge of optics, optical components, optical measurements, photonics and/or quantum physics.

  • You have affinity toward an understanding of biosensing is a plus.

  • You have expertise and proven background in Matlab programming.

  • You are fluent in oral and written English

We offer you:

A non-stop growth opportunity within within a global multinational company. In addition, we also want to renumerate you well for the opportunity. This includes:

  • Monthly full-time allowance between €500 - €700 gross, depending on your education level. If you need to relocate to The Netherlands specifically for the internship there will be a different allowance. Part-time internships receive the allowance pro-rata.
  • Housing compensation. Should you need to relocate to near our office, we’ll offer you a monthly allowance of €300,- net if location is in the vicinity of Amsterdam, €255,- net for all other Philips locations. To be eligible, we’ll just ask for the rental contract from your landlord, and your usual home-work travel distance needs to be more than 50 km or 1.5 hours of travel time (for a one way trip).
  • Travel compensation, if you are not eligible for a free public transport card; you will receive max. €192,- net as a monthly allowance.
  • Paid holidays per internship term.
  • The opportunity to buy Philips products at our Philips shop

How we work together

We believe that we are better together than apart. For our office-based teams, this means working in-person at least 3 days per week. Onsite roles require full-time presence in the companys facilities. Field roles are most effectively done outside of the companys main facilities, generally at the customers or suppliers locations.

This is an onsite role.

About Philips

We are a health technology company. We built our entire company around the belief that every human matters, and we won't stop until everybody everywhere has access to the quality healthcare that we all deserve. Do the work of your life to help the lives of others.

Learn more about our business.

Discover our rich and exciting history.

Learn more about our purpose.

If youre interested in this role and have many, but not all, of the experiences needed, we encourage you to apply. You may still be the right candidate for this or other opportunities at Philips. Learn more about our commitment to diversity and inclusion here.

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About this role

Summary

Simulate and benchmark photonic concepts for CO₂ capnography sensors.

Job title

Photonics Scientist (Master)

Experience level

master level

Industry

health technology

Location requirements

Onsite in Eindhoven, Netherlands, no remote work allowed.

Salary

$1k–$1k

Management role

No

Skills & keywords

Required skills

opticsoptical componentsoptical measurementsphotonicMatlab

Preferred skills

biosensing

Specializations

photonic integrationopticsgas sensingsimulationbreath analysis
Locations

Structured locations inferred from the posting.

Eindhoven, Netherlands

On-site City