International Year of Light news
Année de la Lumière en France – Opening Ceremony in Paris
The Opening Ceremony of the “Année Internationale de la Lumière 2015 en France” (International Year of Light in France 2015) took place in Paris on 8 January 2015 in the lecture hall of the University of Sorbonne under the patronage of France’s President François Hollande.
This prestigious place saw great names of the physics community such as Noble Prize winner Claude Cohen-Tannoudji and Serge Haroche, as well as Alain Aspect from the Académie des Sciences and Gérard Mourou from the Ecole Polytechnique, deliver brilliant presentations.
The ceremony was an opportunity to attend talks from specialists in various fields: the vision specialist José-Alain Sahel (Directeur de l’Institut de la Vision); philosophers like Etienne Klein (CEA) and Claudine Tiercelin (Collège de France); the light designer Roger Narboni; the curator of the Musée du Louvre Vincent Delieuvin and the poetess Hélène Cixous. Two young entrepreneurs of start-up companies specialized in photonics were also able to present their project.
EPS President John Dudley presented the International Year of Light 2015 that will take place all through the year. At the end of the ceremony, Etienne Klein and Alain Aspect awarded the Jean Jerphagnon Prize for scientific or industrial innovation to Arnaud Royon (director of Argolight).
The ceremony was chaired by Costel Subran, President of the French IYL 2015 committee and is the beginning of a year full of exciting events to follow on the French website dedicated to IYL 2015: http://www.lumiere2015.fr/.
