Professor of Optical Communications and Networks in the Department of Electronic and Electrical Engineering at UCL
At the forefront of modern telecommunications, Professor Dame Polina Bayvel has played a defining role in advancing high-capacity optical networks which underpin the internet, the AI and global communications infrastructure.
Based at University College London (UCL), where she founded and leads the Optical Networks Group, Polina’s research has transformed how data is transmitted over optical fibre networks. She was among the first to demonstrate the use of wavelength domain in routing of optical signals – an innovation that is critical to how these systems are designed today.
Polina’s work spans both academic and industrial settings, including early roles designing submarine and landline networks with STC Submarine Systems and Nortel. Over the course of her career, she has addressed challenges from long-distance transmission to data centre connectivity, helping to drive the exponential growth of digital communications.
Polina has authored more than 500 research papers and received numerous international awards, including the Royal Society’s Rumford Medal, the Institute of Physics Thomas Young Medal and the Humboldt Foundation Research Award.
She was elected Fellow of the Royal Academy of Engineering in 2002 and in 2026 appointed a dame for services to engineering and optical communications, elevated from a CBE in 2017.
Professor Dame Polina Bayvel DBE FREng FRS
