From September 26 to 30, Saratov University will host the X International Symposium on Optics and Biophotonics and the XXVI International Interdisciplinary School for Young Scientists and Students in Optics, Laser Physics and Biophotonics titled Saratov Fall Meeting (SFM'22).

The main purpose of SFM'22 is to present and discuss the latest developments and applications of optical and laser technologies in biology and medicine, precise mechanics, and control of the state of biological tissues and cells, coherent optics of random and ordered environments, the issues of materials science and environmental science, non-linear dynamics of laser systems, laser physics, spectroscopy and molecular modelling of chemical and biological systems, nanophotonics, and nanobiophotonics.

‘Photonics plays a significant role in solving many issues of energy, healthcare, information support, environmental protection, and industrial production. 25% of the world economy depends on photonics technologies. Therefore, SSU scientists, together with colleagues from leading universities of the world, annually gather at one venue to discuss research in this direction, ideas, and prospects for the development of photonics as a science. Saratov Fall Meeting will be held this year for the 26th time. Previously, it was a single event, then it was decided to divide it into two. We have singled out a separate scientific symposium, which is to be held for the 10th time, and a separate school. Also, the 2022 Chinese-Russian Seminar on Biophotonics and Biomedical Optics will be organised. This year, our conference is dedicated to the 300th anniversary of the Academy of Sciences,’ Professor and Chair of the Department of Optics and Biophotonics, Head of the Scientific Medical Centre, SSU, and Chair of the SFM'22 Committee Valerii Tuchin said.

The main focus of the symposium will be on fundamental studies of the interaction of coherent, low-coherent, polarised, spatially and temporally modulated electromagnetic radiation in a wide range of wavelengths from X-ray to terahertz with inhomogeneous scattering environments, as well as biological tissues and cells. Elastic, inelastic (combinational, SERS and CARS) and dynamic light scattering, Doppler, photoacoustic, photothermal and nonlinear interactions, mechanics of tissues and cells, as well as photobiological effects will be considered. A variety of laser and optical technologies will be presented for medical diagnostics, therapy, surgery, and light dosimetry, as well as for the diagnosis and visualisation of random and ordered environments. Studies of lasers, fibers, and microstructured waveguides will be discussed. Modern issues of optogenetics, plasmonics, and biosensory studies will be the key points of the conference.

‘Over these 26 years, absolutely all the world stars in biophotonics have participated in our conference, including the founding fathers of this rather young science. I can list here dozens of very famous names for science, many of which will take part in the symposium this year – Ronald Sroka from the LIFE-Center, the Department of Urology, the University of Munich (Munich, Germany), Zeev Zalevsky from Bar-Ilan University in Israel (Ramat Gan, Israel), Dan Zhu from Huazhong University of Science and Technology (Wuhan, China), Vanderlei S. Bagnato from the Brazilian University of Sao Paulo (Sao Paulo, Brazil), Thomas Penzel from Interdisciplinary Sleep Medicine Centre, Charite University Clinic (Berlin, Germany), as well as scientists from the Skolkovo Institute of Science and Technology (Moscow), Aalto University (Finland, and Saratov State University,’ Valerii Tuchin commented.

The event will start with a Chinese-Russian seminar, which will be held online at two sites at once this year. One site is at SSU, and the second is at Hainan University in China. The seminar is intended to bring together Russian and Chinese scientists, engineers, and clinical interdisciplinary researchers involved in the application of optical sciences, photonics, and image processing technologies to solve problems in biology and medicine. The scope of this bilateral forum extends from basic research to instrument engineering, biological, and clinical research.

The participants of the International Interdisciplinary School for Young Scientists and Students in Optics, Laser Physics and Biophotonics will be students of the Institute of Physics, the Faculty of Fundamental Medicine and Medical Technologies, SSU, the pupils of Boarding Lyceum No. 64, and other schools of Saratov and the region. This year, Andrei Dunayev, a leading researcher at the Biomedical Photonics Research Center, Orel State University named after I.S. Turgenev, who is coming to Saratov as part of the delegation of Orel University, will give a lecture to future specialists. He will tell schoolchildren and students about wearable devices for the study of blood microcirculation in the human body on Earth and in space.

The symposium involves the active work of scientists at breakout sessions and seminars. The direction in which the symposium on optics and biophotonics is held is part of the strategic project of Saratov University titled The Technology of Personalised Medicine of the Priority 2030 programme. Find out more about the Saratov Fall Meeting – 2022 on the SSU website and on the forum website.