As a research fellow at FLEET Partner, Wroclaw University of Science and Technology, experimental physicist Dr Maciej Pieczarka joined FLEET CI Prof Elena Ostrovskaya’s group at ANU as a postdoctoral research fellow. Maciej studied exciton-polariton condensates within FLEET Research theme 2, focusing on dynamical condensation and phase transitions of exciton-polariton fluids created in semiconductor microcavities. He also investigated excitations such as vortices and solitons in nonlinear fluids of light. Maciej’s background in novel optoelectronic materials and devices was particularly useful in FLEET’s study of optimisation of microcavities containing 2D materials for room-temperature operation of polariton lasers.