History

History of Spring Schools on Acousto-Optics and Applications dates back to 1980. The Spring Schools held in various places in Pomeranian region have been organised every three years by the Institute of Experimental Physics of the University of Gdańsk in cooperation with the Polish Acoustical Society and the Polish Academy of Sciences (Committee of Acoustics, Committee of Physics). Due to the fact that these conferences focused on all the aspects concerning interaction between light and sound, they have been attracting well-recognised specialists from the field of acousto-optics, and became one of the most important acousto-optical events.

1^st Spring School on Acousto-Optics and Applications (Gdańsk-Wieżyca, 26-30 May, 1980)

The 1^st Spring School on Acousto-Optics and Applications was organised in Wieżyca in 1980. It was organised by the University of Gdańsk in cooperation with the Polish Acoustical Society (Section of Quantum Molecular Acoustics and Sonochemistry), and supported by the Institute of the Fundamental Technological Research of the Polish Academy of Sciences. The programme  consisted of 22 oral presentations, 10 posters and a round table discussion. The papers have been published in the proceedings released by the Institute of Physics of the University of Gdańsk.

2^nd Spring School on Acousto-Optics and Applications (Gdańsk-Wieżyca, 24-29 May, 1983)

The 2^nd Spring School on Acousto-Optics and Applications took place in 1983 again in Wieżyca. 28 invited and contributed papers as well as 12 posters were presented during the School. The round table discussion regarding the criteria of Raman-Nath and Bragg regime in ultrasonic light diffraction was also organised. The presented papers appeared as proceedings published by the Institute of Physics of the University of Gdańsk.

3^rd Spring School on Acousto-Optics and Applications (Gdańsk-Wieżyca, 26-31 May, 1986)

It was the third time when the Spring School was held in Wieżyca. The 3^rd Spring School on Acousto-Optics and Applications attracted around 60 acousto-opticians from all over the world, who gave 27 presentations. Additionally, two round table discussions entitled “On light and ultrasonic pulses interaction” (W. G. Mayer) and “Possibilities of acousto-optics in material examination” (H. W. Jones) took place. The conference proceedings were released by the University of Gdańsk.

4^th Spring School on Acousto-Optics and Applications (Gdańsk-Sobieszewo, May 23-27, 1989)

The 4^th Spring School on Acousto-Optics and Applications, held on Sobieszewo island, brought together 51 specialists who presented 36 papers, including 19 invited lectures, 6 oral contributions and 11 poster presentations. Very fruitful discussions were conducted during round table discussions on acousto-optics and photoacoustics (moderators: A. Korpel and V. Proklov). The proceedings were published in: A. Śliwiński, P. Kwiek, A. Markiewicz (Editors), Acousto-Optics and Applications, World Scientific, Singapore 1990.

5^th International Spring School on Acousto-Optics and Applications (Gdańsk-Jurata, May 25-29, 1992)

The 5^th Spring School on Acousto-Optics and Applications took place in Jurata on Hel Peninsula, 70 km away from Gdańsk. This meeting was for the first time sponsored by the Polish Ministry of Education as well as by SPIE-The International Society for Optical Engineering. The conference was attended by 46 specialists from Europe and North America who gave 35 presentations (16 invited lectures, 12 oral contributions and 7 posters). The papers were published in SPIE Proceedings Series: A. Śliwiński, P. Kwiek, B. Linde, A. Markiewicz (Editors), Acousto-Optics and Applications, Proc. SPIE 1844 (1992).

6^th International Spring School on Acousto-Optics and Applications (Gdańsk-Jurata, May 22-26, 1995)

The 6^th International Spring School on Acousto-Optics and Applications was organised in Jurata, in the same place as the previous School. During the conference, attended by 71 participants, 17 invited lectures, 25 contributed papers and 15 posters were presented. A very interesting discussion about the perspectives of acousto-optics moderated by B. Cook was also organised. The papers were published in SPIE Proceedings Series: A. Śliwiński, P. Kwiek, B. Linde, A. Markiewicz (Editors), Acousto-Optics and Applications II, Proc. SPIE 2643 (1995).

7^th International Spring School on Acousto-Optics and Applications (Gdańsk-Jurata, May 18-22, 1998)

The 7^th International Spring School on Acousto-Optics and its Applications took place again in Jurata and it was joint with the 3^rd Adavances in Acousto-Optics Symposium. This time the meeting drew 74 participants from Europe, both Americas, Asia and Africa. The programme consisted of 22 invited lectures, 25 contributed papers, poster session (18 posters) and round table discussion. Plenary session was dedicated to the memory of Professor Bill D. Cook, who passed away in 1997. The papers were published in SPIE Proceedings Series: A. Śliwiński, B. B. J. Linde, P. Kwiek (Editors), Acousto-Optics and Applications III, Proc. SPIE 3581 (1998).

8^th International Spring School on Acousto-Optics and Applications (Gdańsk-Jurata, May 22-26, 2001)

The 8^th International Spring School on Acousto-Optics and its Applications joint with the 6^rd Adavances in Acousto-Optics Symposium was held in Jurata. Both events attracted 37 participants, and 28 oral presentations were delivered. The papers were published in SPIE Proceedings Series: B. B. J. Linde, A. Sikorska (Editors), Acousto-Optics and Applications IV, Proc. SPIE 4514 (2001).

9^th International School on Acousto-Optics and Applications (Gdańsk-Sobieszewo, September 6-10, 2004)

The last 9^th International School on Acousto-Optics and Applications took place in Sobeszewo (20 km from Gdańsk) jointly with the 51^st Open Seminar on Acoustics and the Polish-German Structured Session. The conferences were supported by the Polish Ministry of Education, Polish Committee for Scientific Research, International Commission on Acoustics, polish Academy of Sciences and Polish Chapter of SPIE. All three events were attended by 191 participants who gave 154 presentations. The papers of the School were published in SPIE Proceedings Series: T. Klinkosz, B. B. J. Linde, A. Sikorska, A. Śliwiński (Editors), Acousto-Optics and Applications V, Proc. SPIE 5828 (2004).