Florian Bociort

Florian Bociort is an Assistant Professor at the Optics Research Group, Delft University of Technology (Faculty of Applied Sciences). He holds a PhD in Physics from TU Berlin (1994) and has dedicated his career to optical system design, gradient-index optics, and computational methods in lens design.

Research Interests

Bociort’s research focuses on design landscapes of optical systems, where he pioneered the use of saddle points to escape local minima in optimization. His work spans

• Gradient-index optics (conversion of homogeneous lenses to GRIN media)
• Artificial intelligence in lens design
• Optics education (simulation-driven learning)

Academic Contributions

He has supervised multiple PhD theses on topics like:

• A. M. Boyd (2025): Generalized gradient-index lens optimization
• Z. Hou (2023): Systematic lens design searches
• Y. Shao (2021): Imaging coherence and optimization
• M. Strauch (2020): Tunable optics
• M. Mout (2019): Ray-based diffraction simulation

Recent Publications

His 2025-2018 publications show a trajectory from classical optical design to modern computational approaches, including simulation-driven education, gradient-index conversions, and high-NA diffraction modeling. The 2024 paraxial reconstruction and 2025 simulation-education articles exemplify this evolution.

Patents & Expertise

He co-invented two ASML-related patents in lithographic design and served as expert witness in the 2018 ASML-Nikon patent lawsuit. His personal webpage details his networks of local minima and fractal basins in optimization.