PROGRESS IN PHOTOACOUSTIC AND PHOTOTHERMAL PHENOMENA: FOCUS on BIOMEDICAL, NANOSCALE, NDE and THERMOPHYSICAL PHENOMENA AND TECHNOLOGIES

The purpose of the Course is to show and discuss key recent advances and progress in Photoacoustic & Photothermal (PA/PT) techniques as applied to biomedical, nanoscale, nondestructive evaluation and testing of materials, and thermophysical phenomena and technologies which has been the main theme of the biennial series of courses organized at EMFCSC since 2010. This fifth Course will bring together natural and biomedical scientists, engineers, technology developers and users who are interested and/or involved in principles and applications of PA/PT. The wealth of present-day PA/PT topics indicates that this field has developed a broad range of tools for fundamental and applied research. PA/PT research has reached a mature state, firmly established as a non-destructive measurement and materials characterization technology on the macro- and nanoscale, as well as a non-invasive biomedical imaging modality. Future progress will be seamlessly linked to close synergy with advances in new laser and detector technologies. The Course emphasizes the explosive growth of biomedical PA, and will focus on the growing biophotoacoustic and emerging biophotothermal imaging modalities and their applications around the world and in Europe, in particular. It also emphasizes the significant and growing contributions of PA/PT to the nondestructive evaluation / characterization of nanoscale, opto-electronic, and other advanced materials. Participants are strongly encouraged to present their own results in the field. Part of the Course will be the School “Foundations of Photothermal and Photoacoustic Techniques: Theory, Instrumentation and Applications” that will be organized together with the Graduate School of the University of Nova Gorica, Slovenia. The School is intended for students at the graduate level, who have research and future professional interests in photothermal instrumental techniques and related issues. The School will be organized as a series of comprehensive lectures and case study presentations with compulsory attendance to lectures of the Course and presentation of participants’ own papers. Students will earn 10 ECTS credits for having completed the School.