Today we celebrate the International Day of Light, a global initiative that aims to improve the public understanding of how light and light-based technologies touch the daily lives of everybody, and are central to the future development of the global society.

Cerdanyola del Vallès, 16th May 2018  

  After the successful International Year of Light 2015, this is the first celebration of the International Day of Light, a global initiative that provides an annual focal point for the continued appreciation of light and the role it plays in science, culture and art, education, and sustainable development. Today a plenty of activities related with light are organised all over the world. The main event in Spain is at the Faculty of Physics of Universidad Complutense of Madrid, where a series of conferences has taken place throughout all the day, as well as roundtables about the importance of light in our society. The ALBA Synchrotron's Deputy Director, Gastón García, has participated in with a conference entitled "Synchrotron light, another type of light".

Coinciding with the Day of Light, the ALBA Synchrotron hosts this week the first annual meeting of the CALIPSOplus project, which aims

to remove barriers for access to world-class accelerator-based light sources in Europe and in the Middle East

. In the framework of this meeting, several activities have also been carried out to promote the science and technology of light sources.

The International Day of Light will be held on May 16th every year, the anniversary of the first successful operation of the laser in 1960 by physicist and engineer, Theodore Maiman. The laser is a perfect example of how a scientific discovery can yield revolutionary benefits to society in communications, healthcare and many other fields such as energy production, agriculture, biology, astronomy, etc.

The International Day of Light is an international event administered from the International Basic Science Programme (IBSP) of UNESCO. At international level, it is managed by the International Day of Light Secretariat. In Spain, it is coordinated by the Spanish Committee of the International Day of Light, which brings together the main agents related to the science and technology of light, such as scientific societies, research centers, universities, consortiums and technology platforms, companies, etc. In this way, year after year, the International Day of Light will remind us of the relevance that science and technology of light have in our lives.