General Congress ICO-25-OWLS-16 with 3 Nobel Laureates

The General Congress for optics and photonics ICO-25-OWLS-16 of the International Commission for Optics (ICO) and the international society for Optics Within Life Sciences (OWLS) was in-person celebrated at the TU Dresden, Dresden, Germany, 5-9 September 2022. It was a great honor for the ICO territorial committee of Germany to have hosted the General Congress in its country after 30+ years again. The General Congress was sponsored by the ICO, OWLS, and TU Dresden. We gratefully acknowledge the financial co-sponsoring by the DGaO - The German Branch of EOS, Carl Zeiss AG, OPTICA (The society advancing optics and photonic worldwide, formerly OSA), SPIE (The International Society for Optics and Photonics - Connect Minds and Advance Light), Photonics Society of IEEE (Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers), IUPAP (The International Union of Pure and Applied Physics) and the City of Dresden. The EOS (European Optical Society), LAM (African Laser, Atomic and Molecular Physics Network), and RIAO (The Iberian American Network on Optics) have technically co-sponsored the General Congress.

The main theme was "Advancing Society with Light", emphasizing the importance of modern light technology for society. Light has the potential to recognize the origins of diseases to prevent them, or to cure them early and gently. This is one of the central topics of OWLS, which was founded at the ICO-15 Congress in Garmisch-Partenkirchen in 1990. Therefore, a special commemorative event of the 30+ years anniversary of the foundation of OWLS in Germany was organized. For the first time in the history of ICO, a joint General Congress was celebrated together with OWLS.

3 Nobel Prize Laureates at the General Congress in Dresden

Memorable in-person talks by three Nobel Prize winners were presented. Gérard Mourou, 2018 Nobel Laureate in Physics, inspired the audience with the plenary talk "Extreme Light for the Benefit of Science and Society". Sensational perspectives were outlined on the particle production in empty space to acquire an understanding how the mass of elementary particles is defined. Furthermore, the transfer to medicine was highlighted. An exciting plenary talk, titled “Optical Microscopy: The Resolution Revolution” was presented by Stefan W. Hell, winner of the 2014 Nobel Prize in Chemistry. Optical microscopy has attained single-digit nanometer imaging resolution in the far-field, enabling molecule motion tracking in vivo to elucidate the secrets of life. The 2020 Nobel Prize laureate in Physics, Reinhard Genzel, delivered the fantastic plenary talk, titled “A 40-Years Journey”. The existence of mass singularity at the center our Milky Way with four million solar mass objects was observed beyond any reasonable doubt, which could only be achieved through the disruptive advances of optical telescopes using adaptive optics and fiber interferometers.

Contact:
Herr Prof. Dr. Jürgen Czarske
General Chairman of the congress
Faculty of Electrical Engineering and Information Technology
Professur für Mess- und Sensorsystemtechnik
Tel.:+49 351 463-34803
E-Mail:

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General Congress ICO-25-OWLS-16 with 3 Nobel Laureates