To mark the official handover of the freshly completed space, the team gathered for a get-together right where the science will soon begin. With pizza boxes stacked high and glasses raised, researchers took a well-deserved break to enjoy the results of all the behind-the-scenes effort.

The lab, custom-built for precision experiments with twisted light which will be at the center of our special research program “COMB.AT”, is now ready for action. But before the serious science starts, the group made time to appreciate the journey—and each other.

There’s still equipment to install and experiments to plan, but for one evening, the priority was good food, good company, and a toast to a new chapter in the life of the Optical Metrology Group.