Author: Gina Gunaratnam

On 2^nd December 2021, the United Nations declared 2022 the International Year of Basic Sciences for Sustainable Development (IYBSSD2022). The resolution is the result of a proposal from the IUPAP (International Union of Pure and Applied Physics) led by Michel Spiro, its current president, in coordination with international scientific organisations such as CERN, EGO, IAU, SKA Observatory, to name but a few (list of organisers).

With this Year, the United Nations General Assembly  « invites all [its] Member States, organizations of the United Nations system and other global, regional and subregional organizations, as well as other relevant stakeholders, including academia, civil society, inter alia, international and national non- governmental organizations, individuals and the private sector, to observe and raise awareness of the importance of basic sciences for sustainable development, in accordance with national priorities».

The European Physical Society (EPS) is a founding partner and a member of the Steering Committee of the IYBSSD2022. The EPS strongly supports this initiative as it encourages the dissemination of basic sciences through its involvement in related European projects and programmes.

The « Joint APS-ICTP-EPS Travel Award Fellowship Programme » is an example of activities that will start in 2022, where the EPS is involved together with the APS (American Physical Society) and the ICTP (Abdus Salam International Centre of Theoretical Physics). This programme enables early career scientists to return to universities and research centres where they had previously obtained their PhD, to use laboratory facilities which may not be available in their home country and to gain training on writing grant proposals, among others.

The EPS will program more activities in the frame of the IYBSSD2022, that will officially be inaugurated on 30 June-1st July 2022 with a conference held at the UNESCO headquarters in Paris. Check our website for the latest news.

For more info :

• Press release of the United Nations
• IYBSSD2022 website
• social media: @IYBSSD2022 and #IYBSSD2022
• Joint APS-ICTP-EPS Travel Award Fellowship Programme 
• EPS website

The International Day of Light in 2020 was characterized by rapid reorganization to online and hybrid events, which yielded remarkable success. There were celebrations in 69 countries reaching an audience of 750,000+. You can find detailed results in this report.

We are now enthusiastically preparing for the International Day of Light 2021, and we anticipate a strong focus on hybrid and online events in many countries. Although virtual events cannot replace hands-on outreach, they do provide other opportunities to hear from a broad range of international speakers and allow us to reach a much larger audience. Therefore, one of our key aims in the coming months will be to provide resources and ideas to help effectively organize successful events in 2021 with the flexibility to adapt depending on how the global health situation evolves. We will also be developing new initiatives with international partners. One example is that we will be working especially closely with the International Astronomical Union to promote broad public engagement with science and highlight the wonder of the light from the cosmos.  

During 2020, we have seen more than ever the importance of science communication. There is a strong need to build public awareness that light science and technology provide not only our understanding of pandemics, but also the preventative measures, treatments and diagnostic tools to counter them. The emphasis of the International Day of Light in 2021 will be on improving means of outreach and interaction between science and society. As well as continuing to explain the many societal applications of light science, we will stress more widely the key messages of how appreciating and supporting science and technology is a necessary and central part of today’s interconnected world as well as a universal benefit to all. 

As we begin our planning and develop new resources for you, we encourage all within the International Day of Light community to continue following and engaging with our social media channels using the hashtag #LightDay2021 and the official channels: @IDLOfficial on Twitter, @DayOfLight2021 on Instagram,  and the @InternationalDayOfLight on Facebook. And once again, we acknowledge the continued commitment and support from the Steering Committee and other partners. Information about our partnership and how to get involved is here.

For further information, please contact the International Day of Light secretariat:

John Dudley
IDL 2018 Steering Committee Chair
Email: john.dudley@univ-fcomte.fr

Joseph Niemela
UNESCO-ICTP Category 1 Institute
Email: niemela@ictp.it

Bethany Downer
IDL Communications Coordinator
Email: contact@lightday.org