Dear Ladies and Gentlemen!

The World General Congress for Optics and Photonics of the International Commission for Optics (ICO) and the international society on Optics Within Life Sciences (OWLS) will be celebrated from 5th September to 9th September 2022 in Dresden, Germany. The TU Dresden is proud to host the World Congress ICO-25OWLS-16-Dresden-Germany-2022. The main theme is „Advancing Society with Light“, emphasizing the importance of modern light technology for society. The 60+ years anniversary of the laser will be celebrated too. 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 GarmischPartenkirchen in 1990. Therefore, a special commemorative event of the 30+ years anniversary of the foundation of OWLS in Germany will be organized.

The World Congress ICO-25-OWLS-16 is the most important scientific and technical meeting on all important topics of optics and photonics around the entire world. After 30+ years and continuing the success of the recent previous general congresses, it is our great honor to host the General Congress and Assembly of ICO in our country again. Due to the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic and the worldwide restrictions accompanied by it, the World Congress was postponed to September 2022.

The mission of ICO, “the Place where the World of Optics and Photonics Meets”, is to contribute, on an international basis, to the progress and diffusion of knowledge in the fields of optics and photonics. The ICO is an umbrella organization with more than 50 territorial committee members and 7 international academic societies: OPTICA (The society advancing optics and photonic worldwide, formerly OSA), SPIE (The International Society for Optics and Photonics – Connect Minds and Advance Light), EOS (European Optical Society), Photonics Society of IEEE (Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers), OWLS (International Society on Optics Within Life Sciences), LAM (African Laser, Atomic and Molecular Physics Network), and RIAO (The Iberian American Network on Optics). On behalf of ICO-25-OWLS-16, we hope everyone will have an exciting, fascinating and memorable time at this general meeting.

Jürgen Czarske

General Chair of ICO-25-OWLS-16-Dresden-Germany-2022
Professor and Director at TU Dresden,
Fellow of OPTICA,
Fellow of SPIE,
Fellow of EOS,
Fellow of IET (former IEE),
Senior Member of IEEE,
Member of Saxon Academy of Sciences,
Board Member of German Society of Applied Optics (DGaO) – The German Branch of the European Optical Society (EOS),
Vice President of ICO – The International Commission for Optics