ISSO 2025

ISSO 2025 will take place from 27 - 31 October 2025 at ESA-ESTEC in Noordwijk, the Netherlands.

What is it?

The International School on Space Optics is an event that targets to serve the community of young engineers and scientists who are already active or have the aspiration to work in the field of Spaceborne Optics. It offers an intensive 5-days immersion program of lectures, design project and visits to space-related facilities. The course can be seen as a “compressed” 1-year class on Space Optics which would have been part of a Master Program in Spaceborne Technologies and Applications. It will allow 360 degrees exposure to all disciplines or optical engineering in space. A Certificate of Attendance will be provided to any participant that has been present consistently throughout the Course.

The first ISSO was organised as a “Winter College on Space Optics” in February 2015 at the UNESCO International Centre for Theoretical Physics – ICTP within the frame of the “2015-International Year of Light”. Following this event it was decided to establish the ISSO as a systematic biannual event. In 2017 the ISSO was hosted at ESTEC. In 2019 the ISSO was hosted at ENEA in Rome, Italy. And ISSO 2021 was hosted online.

In 2025 the School will be held only physically in ESTEC with no option for on-line attendance.

Code of Conduct

The school organization is committed to providing an environment that is conducive to the free and robust exchange of scientific ideas. This environment requires that all participants be treated with equal consideration and respect. The participants are therefore expected to conduct themselves professionally and respectfully. All forms of bullying, discrimination, and harassment are prohibited. This policy applies to every individual at the event, whether attendee, speaker or other.

How many people will participate?

80 people will participate in ISSO 2025. The selection is based on merit and expected benefit for the student.

Why we do it?

Engineers and Scientists working on any discipline of spaceborne optics tend frequently to be very specialised in the narrow field of their first work missing opportunities in serving other disciplines. Also, optical engineers who have not yet engaged in any kind of activity in Space do not have a complete understanding of where their skills could be applied. The school will provide a 360- degree overview of the broad area of Space Optics covering Applications, Instrumentation and Technologies opening hence the horizons and opportunities for the young engineers/scientists to assess better all available opportunities.

ISSO is a sister event of the International Conference on Space Optics – ICSO and it is organised biannually in alternative years than ICSO.

The ICSO proceedings are freely and readily available on the ICSO proceedings site of the SPIE Digital Library. (Click on image below).

CEAS Space Journal

The CEAS Space Journal includes a distinct field on “Optical, Optoelectronics and Photonics” and welcomes papers of ICSO in an extended version of the conference paper including theoretical analysis. Consider an electronic submission through the Journal website.

How much will it cost?

Thanks to the support of sponsors the fees for the students will be kept to a minimum registration fee.

Who should attend?

Young engineers or scientists with a background in any field of Optics, Optoelectronics or Photonics. Background should be demonstrated by:

a Masters or PhD degree in any Optics discipline
actively pursuing a PhD in any Optics discipline
working as a researcher in any Optics discipline in a university or research centre or industry

Without having a strict age limit it is expected that the participants will be in generally younger than 40 years old and with limited experience in the field of Space Optics.

Certificate of Attendance

At the conclusion of the School a "Certificate of Attendance" signed by the School Directors, will be awarded to all students attending the full programme of lectures and visits.

Academic accreditation

Academic institutions can recognize the School for its merit. Notice that the University of Padova’s PhD course on Sciences Technologies and Measurements for Space (STMS) PhD Course - Dottorato | CISAS "G.Colombo" (unipd.it) accredits the ISSO with 2 Credit units (https://www.study.eu/article/what-is-the-ects-european-credit-transfer-and-accumulation-system).

Young Space Optics Professionals

Why don’t you ask our “alumnae” for a first hand account of what to expect from attending ISSO. LinkedIn Link of YSOP.