Professor Jennifer Hastie is Director of the Institute of Photonics and leads a research team with a main interest in optically-pumped semiconductor and solid-state lasers for high spatial and spectral brightness and broad tunability at novel wavelengths. 

Jennifer built her team with an EPSRC Challenging Engineering Award (EP/I022791/1), gaining an international reputation for research in the area of narrow linewidth semiconductor disk lasers (SDLs) with advanced wavelength flexibility for applications including metrology, spectroscopy, and lithography; spanning ultraviolet, visible and infrared spectral regions through the use of novel materials and intracavity nonlinear frequency conversion techniques.  A particular research highlight was the development of intracavity-pumped tunable crystalline Raman lasers, including CW diamond Raman lasers. 

As a result of the group’s work in the area of ultra-narrow linewidth lasers, Jennifer became a member of the Management Board of the UK National Quantum Technology Hub in Sensing and Timing, leading the development of novel lasers for high performance optical clock systems during both Phase 1 and Phase II of the programme (Dec 2014 - Nov 2024).  She is now Deputy Principal Investigator of the National Hub for Quantum Enabled Position, Navigation, and Timing; launched December 2024 for Phase III (EP/Z533178/1).  

Jennifer is also co-lead of the Photonics & Quantum Accelerator (PQA) launched in March 2024 under the EPSRC scheme for Place-Based Impact Accelerators (EP/Y024109/1).  The PQA is a £5M programme bringing together researchers from the Universities of Glasgow, Strathclyde, Heriot-Watt, and St Andrews, and local authorities and industry bodies, to advance the growth of the photonics sector in Scotland's Central Belt.

Jennifer is a Senior Member of the IEEE, and in 2019 she served as a lecturer on the OSA Siegman International School on Lasers at the University of Rochester, USA.  In 2023 she was elected an Optica Fellow for "leadership in the photonics and quantum technology community and pioneering technical contributions in the area of narrow-linewidth lasers."