The Institute of Photonics Technology was officially established in December 2015 based on its predecessor, the Department of Photonics Technology formed in April 2009. Meeting the practical needs of academic innovation and industrial development, the institute has been dedicated to research on the applications of photonics technologies in information access, transmission and processing, and storage. The institute focuses mainly on research in optical sensing and biophotonics, photo-communication and optical signal processing, microwave photonics, nanophotonics and devices, and high-density photomemory. It hosts a provincial key laboratory of Optical Fiber Sensing and Communications and a Joint Laboratory of Optical Fiber and Photonics between Jinan University and Hong Kong Polytechnic University. In 2012, optical engineering in the Institute of Photonics Technology was selected to be one of the outstanding disciplines of Guangdong province.

The Institute of Photonics Technology stresses international exchange and communication. It has initiated close partnerships with numerous overseas universities, including the University of Central Florida, Carleton University in Canada, the University of Sydney, Swinburne University of Technology in Australia, the National University of Singapore and Hong Kong Polytechnic University. Graduate students are thus blessed with opportunities to participate in short-term exchange programs, international conferences and even joint cultivation programs.