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Starting a conversation about social issues in optics and photonics

Science and society are inextricably entangled, but the discussion of social issues in optics and photonics is, at best, treated as peripheral to the field. A group of researchers, technicians, administrative staff, and clinical liaisons share how they came together to start a conversation recognizing these oft-disregarded issues.

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Acknowledgements

We would like to thank the creators of the Social Issues in Biology: Race in Biosciences Journal Club that took place at Harvard University in 2020 for the sharing of their materials, and the Harvard Culture Lab Express Grant programme for their financial support of our Salon. We also express our heartfelt thanks to the invited speakers of the Salon series, A. Boudrioua, J. Wade, E. Freeman, L. Garibyan, G. Tearney, and T.-N. Tran.

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All authors contributed equally to this work, and are listed in alphabetical order.

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Correspondence to Danielle J. Harper.

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Bell, K., Cannon, T.M., Eltony, A.M. et al. Starting a conversation about social issues in optics and photonics. Nat Rev Phys 6, 286–288 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1038/s42254-024-00705-4

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