European Optical Society

04/09/2026

Continuing our highlights! Today we're revisiting one of the week's most thought-provoking sessions: "Optics and Photonics Education in the EU: Programmes, Skills and Pathways."

The session opened with invited talks from Heidi Ottevaere (Vrije Universiteit Brussel), presenting the Phortify photonics education and training network; Nathalie Destouches (University Jean Monnet), sharing insights from eight Erasmus Mundus Joint Master's programmes in photonics; Alice La Porta (ICFO), presenting the CARLA and 360CARLA projects, which have already reached more than 4,000 students across Europe; and Neringa Noreikienė (EPIC), bringing the industry perspective to the table.

The talks were followed by a lively roundtable, moderated by Neringa Noreikienė and Goëry Genty (Tampere University), tackling a question: How do we make sure today's photonics graduates are ready for tomorrow's industry?

Among the key themes discussed were the need to:

🔹 Raise awareness of photonics and make the field more visible to young people
🔹 Strengthen collaboration and communication between universities and industry
🔹 Ensure that education programmes keep pace with changing industry needs
🔹 Improve the visibility and coordination of the many photonics education initiatives across Europe
🔹 Create more opportunities for students to gain practical experience and connect with potential employers
🔹 Make photonics education more inclusive and accessible to a diverse range of future talent

As the need for skilled photonics professionals continues to grow across Europe, with nearly one million more expected to be needed by 2030, these conversations couldn’t be more timely.

A big thank you to all our speakers and moderators for such a rich discussion!

📷: Hannu Vanhanen

03/09/2026

EOSAM 2026 may be behind us, but we're not ready to let it go just yet. Starting today, we'll be looking back at some of the highlights from the week in Tampere, starting with the tutorials.

The week kicked off with a full day of tutorials, giving participants the chance to dive deep into hands-on, expert-led sessions covering everything from nonlinear crystals and ultrafast photonics to smart implant manufacturing and the future of AI data centers. A big thank you to our tutorial speakers, Patricia Segonds, Giulio Cerullo, Massimo Giudici, Anna Peacock, Jacopo Bertolotti, Ville Hevonkorpi, Adriana Canales, and Ming-Jun Li, for setting the tone for the week ahead.

Monday also included a tutorial with a different focus: Karolina Wojtczak from EDP Sciences walked participants through the full journey from writing to publication.
A great moment to remind you: the EOSAM 2026 topical issue in JEOS-RP is still open, so if you presented at the conference, don't forget to submit your work: https://www.europeanoptics.org/pages/jeosrp/scientific-papers/topical-issues-conference/eosam-2026.html

As the sun dipped over Tampere, the day wrapped up with a relaxing evening cruise to the island of Viikinsaari, the perfect way to unwind and start making connections before the days ahead.

A huge thanks also to our volunteers, Sonia Alipour, Dhanushi Srinivasan, and Junaid Hassan for capturing the day in photos, and to Tuukka Pakarinen for capturing the relaxed evening on camera! 📷

Follow along for more, we're just getting started 👋

02/09/2026

📢 Optics & Photonics in Sweden 2026 | OPS2026

Join the optics and photonics community in Norrköping, Sweden, on 6–8 October 2026 for Optics & Photonics in Sweden (OPS2026), organised by PhotonicSweden together with Linköping University and Agtech Sweden.

The conference will bring together researchers, engineers, students and innovators for academic and industrial presentations, an exhibition, poster sessions, networking opportunities and a job fair.

💡 EOS members receive a discounted registration fee, so make sure to take advantage of your membership when registering!

📅 Registration deadline: 14 September 2026

Find out more about OPS2026 and registration here: https://tinyurl.com/yckyhkjv

29/08/2026

And that's a wrap on EOSAM 2026! 🎉

Thursday was one of our biggest days, with record attendance across the halls. The day's true highlight was a plenary lecture from Nobel Laureate Anne L'Huillier on her pioneering work in attosecond science, who was also interviewed by YLE News right at the venue, you can watch it here: https://yle.fi/a/74-20243400. The day also marked the final day of our sold-out exhibition and Poster Session 2, filling the halls with excellent research. That evening, we came together at the Conference Dinner at Scandic Rosendahl to celebrate this year's newly named EOS Fellows, and to thank our outgoing Past-President, Patricia Segonds, for her dedication to EOS.

Friday brought the week to a close with the final sessions and farewells, closing out five days of science, exchange, and new connections here in Tampere.

Thank you to everyone who joined us, presented, exhibited, and made this week what it was. We'll be sharing more highlights from the week soon, so stay tuned and follow along! 👋

Fysiikan suurimman palkinnon voittaja toivoo, että enemmän naisia tulisi tieteen pariin.

26/08/2026

Three days into EOSAM 2026, and what a start it's been! 🎉

Day one brought tutorials packed with hands-on, in-depth sessions, followed by a relaxing evening cruise to Viikinsaari. Since then, the full scientific and industrial program has been in full swing, plenary and invited talks, the first poster session, and our sold-out exhibition all buzzing with energy on the conference floor. Tuesday evening's reception at Tampere City Hall was a wonderful chance to connect outside the conference halls too.

Students also had a truly special opportunity to meet and speak directly with Nobel Laureate Anne L'Huillier, in an exclusive session reserved just for them.

With around 500 participants from over 30 countries here with us in Tampere, celebrating 35 years of EOS and 20 years of EOSAM, this week is shaping up to be one to remember.

Two more days to go, see you there! 🇫🇮



Photonics Finland
Tampere University

📷 : Hannu Vanhanen & Tuukka Pakarinen

21/08/2026

🎉 The EOSAM 2026 exhibition is officially sold out!

We're delighted to share that all exhibition spaces for this year's Annual Meeting have been booked, bringing together an outstanding lineup of companies and innovators from across the optics and photonics community.

A big thank you to all our exhibitors for their support, we can't wait to showcase your work in Tampere next week!

If you're attending EOSAM 2026, be sure to visit the exhibition and connect with the companies driving the field forward.

While the exhibition is fully booked, conference registration is still open. Join us here: https://www.europeanoptics.org/pages/events/eosam-2026/registration/

See you in Tampere! 🇫🇮

19/08/2026

📅 Just 5 days until EOSAM 2026!

This year is a special one: we celebrate 35 years of the EOS, and 20 years of EOSAM as the annual meeting point for the optics and photonics community, a place to connect, exchange ideas, and build collaborations across Europe and beyond.

We're excited to showcase the strength and diversity of the Finnish photonics community, while bringing together an outstanding international programme of renowned speakers, researchers, companies, and innovators from across Europe and beyond.

From fundamental research to emerging technologies and industrial applications, EOSAM 2026 will be a week of science, exchange, collaboration, and new connections.

With at least 500 attendees expected and our exhibition officially sold out, it's shaping up to be one of the biggest EOSAM editions yet!

There’s still time to register and join us: https://www.europeanoptics.org/pages/events/eosam-2026/registration/

See you in Tampere! 🇫🇮



Photonics Finland
Tampere University
Société Française d'Optique
Hun-Ren Wigner Fizikai Kutatóközpont
Norsk Fysisk Selskap
Institute of Physics Optical Group

11/08/2026

📢 Join the Roundtable Policy Discussion at PHOTON 26!

EOS is proud to partner with the PHOTON Organising Committee for a Roundtable Policy Session on Optics, Photonics and related fields influencing decision-making in the UK and EU!

The Roundtable will address:

🔹 Emerging UK-EU relations, collaboration, and funding mechanisms
🔹 UK-EU Science, Technology and Innovation policy issues
🔹 Bottlenecks, impact, and growth of the Optics and Photonics sector, especially Quantum, Space, and emerging technologies
🔹 Policy implementation and other issues
🔹 Future discussions on policy

A special one-day registration option is available for those interested in attending the Roundtable Discussion only: https://www.photon.org.uk/register

Learn more: https://www.photon.org.uk/round-table-discussion



Institute of Physics Optical Group

06/08/2026

🚨 Last chance to exhibit at EOSAM 2026!

Only ONE exhibition spot remaining for the European Optical Society Annual Meeting (EOSAM) 2026.

This is your final opportunity to showcase your products and innovations to a highly engaged audience of researchers, engineers, students, and industry leaders from the optics and photonics community across Europe and beyond.

Once this spot is booked, exhibition space will be fully sold out.

Get in touch if you'd like to grab it: eosam[at]europeanoptics.org

Exhibitors: https://www.europeanoptics.org/pages/events/eosam-2026/exhibition-sponsoring/



Photonics Finland
Tampere University
Société Française d'Optique
Hun-Ren Wigner Fizikai Kutatóközpont
Norsk Fysisk Selskap
Institute of Physics Optical Group
Thorlabs
Light Conversion

31/07/2026

📢 We are pleased to welcome Nathalie Westbrook to the EOS Board of Directors!

She is currently a Professor at Institut d'Optique in Palaiseau, France, and head of the Biophotonics group at Laboratoire Charles Fabry. She graduated as an engineer from Institut d'Optique in 1986 and received her PhD in physics from Université Paris-Sud in 1989, followed by a postdoc at NIST in the USA. She began her career by starting the Atom Optics group at Institut d'Optique with Alain Aspect, before moving into biomedical applications of optics.

Nathalie has been actively involved in the French Optical Society (SFO), where she has been a board member for eight years and currently co-chairs the Women in Optics committee. Since 2023, she has also been a member of the EOS Early Career Women Award Committee. She is an ICO Vice President and chairs the ICO/ICTP Gallieno Denardo award, promoting young researchers from developing countries.

We warmly welcome her to the EOS Board and look forward to her contributions!

🔗 Read more: https://www.europeanoptics.org/news/newly-elected-eos-board-members.html



Photonics Finland
Société Française d'Optique
Institute of Physics Optical Group
Norsk Fysisk Selskap
Hun-Ren Wigner Fizikai Kutatóközpont