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The Finnish Optical Society

The Finnish Optical Society (FOS) was founded in 1996. Its aim is to connect people, commercial actors and organisations interested in optics and related disciplines. Furthermore, the purpose of the Society is to promote research, teaching, extracurricular interest and industrial application of optics in Finland. The FOS is also actively involved in international co-operation. The FOS is a learned society member of the European Optical Society (EOS), a member of the Federation of Finnish Learned Societies TSV and the International Commission for Optics ICO. The FOS pursues its aims through several means, for example by:

• Organising meetings, lectures and exhibitions
• Practising and supporting optical publications, counselling and other activities, and developing Finnish language optical terminology
• Putting forward initiatives and proposals, and giving statements on matters related to optics.

The activities of the Finnish Optical Society cover several areas:

• Diffractive optics, physical optics and holography
• Spectroscopy
• Photonics, optoelectronics, sensors and lasers
• Quantum optics and quantum electronics
• Semiconductor physics and laser diodes
• Photochemistry
• Optical instrumentation in industry and environmental technology
• Machine vision (MV)
• Optical applications for medicine
• Optical applications for IT
• Visualisation technologies and photography
• Light sources and lighting technology
• Astronomy

This is by no means an exhaustive list of optics in Finland and the FOS welcomes other interests.

At the end of 2005 The Finnish Optical Society consisted of 224 members, of whom 30 were corporate members. Membership represents the following sectors:

• 25% industry
• 12% research institutes
• 52% universities and institutes of higher education
• 11% others