Students take charge through the International OSA Network of Students (IONS)

In 2006, a group of enterprising Optical Society (OSA) student members from Europe organized the International OSA Network of Students (IONS). The mission for this endeavor was to create a networking platform and conference series for young researchers across the optics and photonics field. The intent was for IONS conferences and meetings to be organized by students who were active members of the OSA student chapter network. The programming served student attendees and focused on delivering technical excellence and career-building professional networking activities. Six years and 19 IONS meetings later, all these elements successfully remain in place!


IONS events provide student leaders with the opportunity to gain first-hand experience in organizing a multi-national conference. Student planning committees are responsible for developing the technical program, inviting speakers, managing logistics such as registration, meeting space accommodations, catering, sponsorships, registration, student travel grants, marketing, social events, and much more. The OSA and OSA Foundationprovide funding, guest lecturers, and promotional support, but the students are in charge of every IONS event from start to finish.

Understanding the importance of interaction and constructive feedback, IONS meetings seek to provide each attendee with the opportunity to discuss their work, connect with peers, and exchange ideas. These experiences may not occur during traditional conferences and technical meetings.

"The IONS conference strengthens professional and personal ties among OSA's young researchers and I am proud of the collaborative enthusiasm for the sharing of science that characterizes the new generation of young scientists," said Giovanni Volpe, co-organizer for the inaugural IONS conference at ICFO in 2007.
The most recent IONS was hosted by the École Polytechnique, the Institut d'Optique Graduate School and the ESPCI Paristech in Paris, France. Highlights included invited talks and sessions by Prof. Alain Aspect, Institut d'Optique Graduate School, France; Prof. A. Claude Boccara, École Supérieure de Physique et de Chimie Industrielles, France; Prof. Christopher Dainty, National University of Ireland, Galway; Sune Svanberg, University of Lund, Sweden and Giovanni Volpe, Bilkent Universitesi, Turkey. The conference also featured student technical talks and poster sessions, student awards and special activities including lab tours at ESPCI, Institut d'Optique and École Polytechnique. Recording of guest presentations are freely available through the OSA Media Library.
IONS meetings regularly occur in Europe, North America, South America, Asia and Australasia. In 2011, meetings were held in Salamanca, Spain; Southampton, UK; California, USA; Melbourne, Australia and Delhi, India. More information about IONS events is available online.

The OSA Foundation (OSAF) was established in 2002 to support philanthropic activities that help further the Optical Society's (OSA) mission. The OSAF is concentrating its efforts on programs that provide career and professional development resources and support awards and honors that recognize technical and business excellence. The grants funded by the OSA Foundation are made possible by the generous donations of its supporters as well as the dollar-for-dollar match by OSA. The Foundation is exempt from U.S. federal income taxes under section 501(c) (3) of the Internal Revenue Code and is a public charity. To learn more about the OSA Foundation, please visit www.osa-foundation.org.

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GRACE KLONOSKI is the Senior Director, Foundation, Membership & Education Services for the Optical Society of America, 2010 Massachusetts Ave, NW, Washington, DC 20036; email: gklono@osa.org; www.osa.org.