Background of the event

Historical perspectives

This topical meeting series on diffractive optics was established by the present program co-chairs in 1995, with the inaugural meeting in Prague. The series continued on a biennial basis with meetings held in Savonlinna (1997), Jena (1999), Budapest (2001), Oxford (2003), Warsaw (2005), Barcelona (2007), Koli (2010), and Delft (2012). In 2014 and 2016 the Diffractive Optics meeting was arranged as a part of EOSAM. In 2016, however, a decision was made by EOS to re-establish it as an independent EOS Topical Meeting, again to be held biennially. The meeting was held in Joensuu (2017), with a conference dinner in the medieval castle in Savonlinna, thus coming back to the roots of the meeting.

From the beginning, these topical meetings have gathered an audience of roughly 100-150 attendees, some of whom have participated in the meetings from the start. Again, our intention is to organize an informal, working-shop-like gathering of like-minded people, respecting the old traditions but also expanding the scope according to recent developments in the field.