Every year on May 16th, the anniversary of the first successful operation of the laser in 1960 by physicist and engineer Theodore Maiman, the entire world celebrates the part light plays in science, culture, art, education, sustainable development, medicine, communications and energy.

Institut Photonique organises for this occasion several activities open to the public.

From March 31st to April 9th – ExtraOrdinary Light

Enjoy the art and science exhibition ExtraOrdinary Light at INSA Strasbourg from Tuesday, March 31 to Thursday, April 9, 2026.

This exhibition displays 8 works of art by the artists Flavien Théry and Fred Murie who associated with the researcher Julien Fade. Their works explore light as art material, playing on polarisation, birefringence, liquid cristals and biological light signals.

The exhibition is organised in partnership with SPIE (the international organisation for optics and photonics), ICube, INSA Strasbourg,  Université de Strasbourg, Institut Photonique and is supported by France2030. It is linked with the SPIE Photonics Europe international symposium, expecting close to 2,400 people at the Palais de la Musique et des Congrès (PMC) in Strasbourg on April 12-16. It is also part of the events linked with the International Day of Light.

PhD students will be available to guide you around the exhibition.

Tuesday, May 19 – Photonics in 2026: science, innovation and future

At the vocational high school Gustave Eiffel in Talange, on Tuesday, May 19th from 9:00 to 16:00, three speakers from CentraleSupélec will be presenting some models to approach photonics: light and invisibility, light and 3D (holography), light and sound.

There are multiple goals to this visit:

• having a fun approach to science through models and workshops;
• introducing research to the students and raising their scientific and technical curiosity;
• discovering the world of research though the latest photonic innovation.

Saturday, May 23 – scientific activities

The University of Technology of Troyes associates with The European Night of Museums and sets up scientific workshops and a series of mini-conferences on Light at the Cité du Vitrail.

Access to the workshops and conferences is free.

There will be game workshops for the young ones, while the older audience and adults will attend more technical workshops and conferences.