Grants and Competitions
Grants of up to US$400 per family per calendar year are available to assist members who need to bring family members to Optica-managed meetings or conferences who incur extra family care expenses. This could include additional at-home expenses (e.g., extra daycare or babysitting services, dependent care, etc.), expenses from traveling with the child or dependent adult, or assistance at a meeting due to a disability. Grants up to US$200 are available for virtual Congress or Topical meeting attendance. Grants may only be used for a single Optica-sponsored meeting or conference.
Established to recognize Jean Bennett, a physicist known for her contributions to the studies of optical surfaces and service as Optica's first woman president, the Jean Bennett Memorial Student Travel Grant provides two grants of US$1,000 to the top-scoring women student member authors selected to present a paper at FiO. Students must be attending FiO in person to receive the grant.
Funded by an endowment from Milton and Rosalind Chang, the Incubic Milton Chang Travel Grant program provides grants of up to US$1000 to the top-scoring student members selected to present a paper at FiO from emerging economy nations. Students must be attending FiO in person to receive the grant.
Established in 2011 with the Canadian Association of Physicists Foundation (CAPF), this program pays tribute to Boris P. Stoicheff, an internationally renowned laser spectroscopist and former President of the Optica (1976) and CAP (1983-84). A US$3,000 scholarship is given to the student who has demonstrated research excellence and significant service to the physics community and has an accepted submission at FiO. The scholarship rotates annually between the Optica Foundation (odd years) and CAP Foundation (even years).
Established in 2008 to honor Emil Wolf for his many contributions to science and Optica, this competition recognizes the innovation, research and presentation excellence of students presenting their work during Frontiers in Optics (FiO). Awards of US$500 are given to one student presentor in each FiO submission category.
Established in 2002, the Optica Foundation carries out charitable activities in support of the society's student and early career members. We cultivate the next generation of leaders and innovators as they navigate advanced degree programs and become active members of research, engineering and business communities worldwide. The foundation also works to secure the endowments for Optica's awards and honors programs.