From July 6 to 10, 2026, Dijon is hosting OPTIQUE BFC 2026, the largest French conference dedicated to optics and photonics. Organized by the French Optical Society (SFO) at the Dijon Convention Centre, this major event brings together 730 participants, 48 ​​industrial and academic exhibitors, and features 12 plenary lectures, 276 oral presentations, and 230 posters. Beyond the figures, OPTIQUE BFC 2026 serves as a prime opportunity for networking, discussion, and knowledge sharing among researchers, faculty members, PhD students, engineers, and industry professionals. This 2026 edition particularly highlights the ICB Laboratory, which is deeply involved in the scientific and local organization of the conference.

A driving force in optics and photonics research

A national and international leader in the fields of optics, lasers, and photonics, the ICB plays a central role in this edition of OPTIQUE BFC. The conference is co-chaired scientifically by Bertrand Kibler, CNRS Research Director at the ICB, alongside Daniel Brunner (FEMTO-ST, CNRS), while the local chair is Guy Millot, Professor at the University of Burgundy, member of the Institut Universitaire de France, and researcher at the ICB.
This involvement reflects the laboratory’s recognized expertise in areas ranging from ultrafast lasers and nonlinear optics to integrated photonics, quantum optics, nanophotonics, and biomedical applications of light.

A must-attend event for the scientific community

Over the course of five days, OPTIQUE BFC 2026 offered a particularly rich scientific program:

• 11 plenary lectures, including the opening address by Anne L’Huillier, 2023 Nobel Prize laureate in Physics;
• a lecture by the winner of the 2026 Léon Brillouin Grand Prize;
• 41 thematic sessions covering the full spectrum of optics and photonics disciplines;
• over 250 oral presentations;
• more than 200 scientific posters;
• 9 tutorials aimed at PhD students and researchers;
• lectures dedicated to the history and heritage of optics;
• an educational session and an exhibition focused on optics education;
• several workshops covering scientific and industrial topics, as well as gender parity issues;
• the presentation of five awards recognizing major scientific contributions.

The topics addressed illustrate the diversity and dynamism of the field: lasers, silicon photonics, quantum optics, biophotonics, nanophotonics, artificial intelligence applied to photonics, instrumentation, and metrology.

A bridge between academic research and industrial innovation

Beyond scientific exchange, OPTIQUE BFC 2026 fosters collaboration between laboratories and companies through an industrial exhibition featuring over 45 companies and start-ups. Attendees can discover the latest technological advances, new measurement instruments, and innovations that will shape the applications of tomorrow. This close proximity between fundamental research, applied research, and industry is one of the historic strengths of the French optics and photonics sector.

Dijon: France’s optics capital for a week

Hosting OPTIQUE BFC 2026 reaffirms Dijon’s status as a major French hub for optics and photonics research. Through the dedication of its researchers and organizing teams, the ICB helps showcase the region’s scientific excellence far beyond Burgundy. By bringing together hundreds of international specialists to discuss major advances in light and its applications, this conference offers a unique opportunity to foster dialogue, launch new collaborations, and envision the photonic technologies that will address the scientific, industrial, and societal challenges of the coming years.