Skip to main content

International Year of Light 2015

International Year of Light logo

Date

-
worldwide

The International Year of Light and Light-Based Technologies (IYL 2015) is a global initiative that will highlight to the citizens of the world the importance of light and optical technologies in their lives, for their futures, and for the development of society. It is an unique opportunity to inspire, educate, and connect on a global scale.

International Year of Light website: 

NISE Network activities and programs suggestions for the International Year of Light: 

NanoDays short hands-on activities

Videos

Programs

Online Brown-Bag workshop

More light activities

Get Involved


About IYL 2015

The International Year of Light and Light-Based Technologies (IYL 2015) is a global initiative that will highlight to the citizens of the world the importance of light and optical technologies in their lives, for their futures, and for the development of society. A resolution declaring 2015 the International Year of Light was passed by the full United Nations General Assembly on 20 December 2013. 

IYL 2015 is endorsed by a number of international scientific unions and the International Council of Science, and has more than 100 partners from more than 85 countries. Founding Scientific Sponsors of IYL 2015 are:

Raising Global Awareness

In proclaiming an International Year focusing on the topic of light science and its applications, the United Nations has recognized the importance of raising global awareness of how light-based technologies promote sustainable development and provide solutions to global challenges in energy, education, agriculture and health.
 

Major scientific anniversaries to be celebrated during 2015 are:

2015 marks a number of significant scientific anniversaries, from the early works on optics by Islamic scholar Ibn Al-Haytham in 1015 to Kao’s achievements on the transmission of light in fibres for optical communications in 1965.

  • Ibn Al-Haytham's works on optics (1015)
  • notion of light as a wave (Fresnel, 1815)
  • electromagnetic theory of light propagation (Maxwell, 1865)
  • Einstein's theory of the photoelectric effect (1905) and of the embedding of light in cosmology through general relativity (1915)
  • discovery of the cosmic microwave background by Penzias and Wilson (1965)
  • Charles Kao's achievements concerning the transmission of light in fibres for optical communication (1965)

 

Light in our Daily Life

Light plays a vital role in our daily lives and is an imperative cross-cutting discipline of science in the 21st century.  It has revolutionized medicine, opened up international communication via the Internet, and continues to be central to linking cultural, economic and political aspects of the global society.  For centuries light has transcended all boundaries, including geographic, gender, age, culture and race, and is a tremendous subject to motivate education.