ICOB2012 – Third International Congress on Biophotonics

Every two years the International Congress on Biophotonics (ICOB) gathers biophotonics experts from around the world, so they can identify and discuss new possibilities of cooperation. The 3rd ICOB will be hosted in Jena from June 19–21. More than 200 representatives from governments, industry and science, including physicists, doctors, biologists, chemists and engineers will be invited to attend the exclusive event.

„It‘s the first time that the ICOB will be held in Europe, and Jena as a highly connected biophotonics cluster offers the perfect background for this networking event”, says organizer Professor Jürgen Popp, director of the Institute of Photonic Technology Jena and the Institute for Physical Chemistry at the University of Jena. In different categories spread into small sessions the ICOB2012 will provide the participants answers to the central question: „What does it take to achieve sustainable success in biophotonics?“. Together with the co-organizers, Photonics4Life and the Research Program Biophotonics, Popp offers in the program five key aspects: Regional networking, scientifically addressing societal challenges like aging, interdisciplinary education, the shaping of political conditions and resolving obstacles on the way to industrial production of biophotonic technology. By offering these tailor-made program sessions, they intend to connect the different people that can make the crucial decisions for the future success of biophotonics. Keynote Speaker of the congress will be the director of the Max Planck Institute for Biophysical Chemistry, Prof. Stefan Hell, who overcame Abbe‘s diffraction limit with his STED technology. The venue of ICOB2012 is the oldest planetarium in the world, the Zeiss-Planetarium, where all presentations will be projected onto the dome and on one evening a planetarium show will be shown. An industry exhibition will be on display all three days.