EINDHOVEN PHYSICS SYMPOSIUM
March 20th 2026
There is no life without light. Whether it be by natural sources or human creation, light is crucial to our way of life. Human survival, behaviour, and society are all inherently linked to our interactions with light. In Eindhoven, we have another special connection to light. For this reason, this year we dive into the world of light, from physical phenomena to applications. Four fascinating speakers will provide their insight from various research perspectives to share with us the secrets of the Universe hiding in plain sight.
Light is only the beginning. In this talk, we explore how radio astronomy, and missions like the space mission OLFAR - Orbiting low frequency array in space, allow us to see the invisible Universe, uncovering its earliest structures and signals long before the first stars were born.
General illumination is a major consumer of electricity worldwide. In this presentation, Wilbert IJzerman will give an overview of the progress made in LED in the last decades. An introduction will be given to the main drivers behind efficacy and give an idea of recent progress and new lighting applications.
By 2100, global power demand is expected to increase by 50%, with electricity consumption rising by a factor of six. Nuclear fusion offers a sustainable, low-carbon energy source, with magnetic confinement devices such as tokamaks paving the way toward reactor-scale systems like ITER. A key challenge is managing the exhaust of heat and particles from the fusion plasma. This talk focuses on the physics of the plasma edge, where temperatures of 100 million K must be reduced to near-ambient levels to protect reactor walls. Advanced numerical “wind-tunnel” simulations are used to validate models, study plasma–neutral and impurity effects, inform engineering design, and explore emerging applications of machine learning and AI for prediction and control.
The Event Horizon Telescope (EHT) has made the first images of the shadows of supermassive black holes. In this talk, the story will be told of how these images were taken, and how they can be improved and even make movies with new telescopes on the ground and in space.
This symposium was organized by the 2026 symposium committee of SVTN Johannes Diderik van der Waals.
Floortje Vlug: Chairwoman
Javier Gulmanelli de Yturriaga: Secretary
Casper Bos: Treasurer
Sander Andreas: Event Manager
Etsuyo Sasagawa: Commissioner of Promotion
Luuk Droogendijk: Commissioner of Promotion
Emma Vignoli: Commissioner of Design
Luuk van Leendert: Board Responsible
This year's Physics Symposium will be hosted at the Cultuur & Kunst Eindhoven (CKE).
