As part of the worldwide celebration of the International Year of Light (IYL) and Light-Based Technologies 2015, the Department of Physics at UJ on Thursday, December 3, kicked off a series of events that will highlight the importance of light and optical technologies in our lives and for the future.

The year 2015 also marks the 1000th anniversary since the appearance of the remarkable seven volume treatise on optics “Kitab al-Manazir” by the famous Arab scientist Ibn al-Haytham.

“Ibn al-Haytham made significant contributions to the light science that have had a prominent impact on human life,” said Prof. Shaher Momani, Dean of the Faculty of Science, who launched the celebration.

Momani added that the event will raise awareness of the achievements of light science and its applications. 

The celebration is organized by Lambda physics group at UJ under the theme : “Light Up with Physics”. Event programme includes a light challenge, an open day entitled “Bright Tuesday”, an open interview with Prof. Marof Al-Haj and a seminar on the most interesting facts about Ibn Al-Haytham presented by Prof. Humam Ghassib.

On 20 December 2013, The United Nations (UN) General Assembly 68th Session proclaimed 2015 as the International Year of Light and Light-based Technologies (IYL 2015).

This International Year has been the initiative of a large group of scientific organizations together with UNESCO.