The Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT) comprises two domains, one a state university of Baden-Württemberg and one a national research center within the Helmholtz Association. Within this unique institution, the Karlsruhe School of Optics & Photonics (KSOP) has been founded as a multidisciplinary graduate school at the interface of the natural sciences and engineering disciplines.

The following faculties of KIT actively support KSOP: Physics, Electrical Engineering and Information Technology, Chemistry and Biosciences, as well as Mechanical Engineering. Currently, 24 professorial members and a similar number of junior and senior research group leaders from the different faculties contribute to KSOP as principal investigators. In addition to the contributions from the university faculties, several institutes of the KIT Helmholtz domain support KSOP. Right from the start in 2006, the Institute of Nanotechnology (INT) and the Institute of Microstructure Technology (IMT) have been actively involved.

KSOP is also strengthened through the participation of five other prominent research institutions, i.e., the DFG-Center for Functional Nanostructures (CFN) at KIT, the Zentrum für Solarenergie- und Wasserstoff- Forschung (ZSW), the Forschungszentrum Informatik (FZI), and the Stuttgart Research Center of Photonic Engineering (SCoPE) at Universität Stuttgart. The International Department at KIT (ID) plays a major role regarding the operative management, while the HECTOR School of Engineering and Management supports the training program of KSOP.