Ghana is set to take a bold leap into light-based scientific innovation with the official launch of the Ghana Photonics and Optics Laboratory (GPOL) at the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST) on Tuesday, 22 September 2026, at 08:00 GMT at the Amonoo-Neizer IDL Conference Centre.

Housed at KNUST’s Department of Physics, the groundbreaking laboratory is spearheaded by Principal Investigator and Scientific Lead, Dr Akyana Britwum, alongside Technical Lead and Co-Principal Investigator, Dr Michael Kweku Edem Donkor, with backing from international partners.

GPOL aims to build, teach, and maintain advanced light-based instruments designed to tackle critical public health, environmental, and safety challenges across West Africa. These include non-invasive equipment that authenticates medicines through packaging, affordable diagnostic devices for early detection of glaucoma and newborn jaundice, and high-precision sensors capable of detecting heavy metal contamination in soil and water within seconds.

Empowering local research and capacity

Addressing systemic issues where imported diagnostic and analytical tools remain costly or abandoned when broken, GPOL seeks to build local capacity in photonic instrumentation—ensuring Ghanaian and African researchers build, maintain, and adapt these devices to solve regional challenges.

"Photonics is one of the defining technologies of this century, and there is no reason Ghana should be on the sidelines," stated Dr Britwum. "With GPOL and the NYANSAPO school, we are establishing the laboratory, the training and the international partnerships that let us as researchers and our students do world-class optics here at home, on problems that matter to Ghana."

The NYANSAPO Photonics School

The laboratory commissioning coincides with the inaugural NYANSAPO Photonics School for Health and Safety, uniting 38 emerging scientists from six African countries—Ghana, Côte d'Ivoire, Togo, Kenya, Rwanda, and Zimbabwe—alongside 17 leading global photonics researchers.

Named after the Adinkra symbol of wisdom and ingenuity, the six-day intensive school offers participants hands-on experience inside active laboratories, where they will construct, operate, and analyse data from advanced optical devices.

Dr Donkor highlighted the practical focus of the initiative: "What sets this school apart is that students do not simply hear about these techniques. They learn the science behind each instrument, operate it themselves, and take the data it produces through to analysis. Commissioning the GPOL at KNUST means the equipment, the understanding and the skill all remain in Ghana long after the school ends."

Global partnerships and community outreach

The gathering features a high-profile international faculty, including a keynote address from Dr Peter de Groot, 2025 President of SPIE, the world's largest optics and photonics society. Other prominent lecturers include Dr Daewook Kim of the University of Arizona and Dr Samuel Achilefu of UT Southwestern Medical Center, alongside researchers from ICFO (Barcelona), Vanderbilt University, Imperial College London, Aix-Marseille Université, INP-HB, and Université Alassane Ouattara.

Prof. Francis Kofi Ampong, Head of the Physics Department at KNUST, emphasized that hosting the event puts KNUST students shoulder to shoulder with top international researchers, securing a lasting impact on Ghana's scientific community.

The week-long summit will culminate in a community outreach project at Hwiremoase, where participants will engage hundreds of school pupils to inspire the next generation of African scientists.

Title sponsored by SPIE, the initiative is supported by Optica, Menlo Systems, Thorlabs, ICFO, and the Institute for Quantum Computing (IQC) through KNUST's partnership with the Pan-African Initiative for Research (PAIR) at the University of Waterloo.