Physics Student Receives Award at IONS-13 Conference

Mite Mijalkov, a master's student in the Physics Department, received the "Best Introductory Talk Award" at the IONS-13 Conference, held in January in Zurich, Switzerland. His talk, "Introduction to Bio- and Nano-Photonics," won first prize for its clarity, its complete and insightful review of the subject and its neat and accurate style.

IONS conferences are organized by the International OSA Network of Students and supported by the OSA (The Optical Society). IONS conferences are held in Europe twice a year, and several more times around the globe. The purpose of IONS conferences is to connect students from all over the world who are actively engaged in optics and photonics, and give them the opportunity to present their latest results to other young scientists.

Mite, who is doing his graduate work with Asst. Prof. Giovanni Volpe, says that participation in the IONS-13 Conference was a wonderful experience: "The organization of the conference was impeccable and everyone in the organizing committee did an excellent job of ensuring that the scientific and social portions of the conference went smoothly. Considering that this was a student conference, the social aspect was emphasized. This gave the attendees great opportunities to meet people from different parts of the world, exchange opinions and ideas and, last but not least, have lots of fun."

IONS-16, scheduled to take place in summer 2014, will be held at Bilkent and organized by the Bilkent OSA Student Chapter. The chapter welcomes new members who would like to take part in its activities.

Website: http://www.ions-project.org/