Ternopil Ivan Puluj National Technical University

On May 16, 2023, a series of popular science lectures took place on the occasion of the International Day of Light. For the last five years, the Department of Physics at TNTU (Ternopil National Technical University) has organized this scientific and educational event with the aim of engaging students and young researchers in scientific research, informing them about scientific achievements, and disseminating the results of the university’s scientific activities.

“The International Day of Light” is a global initiative by UNESCO that gathers participants from different countries for numerous events worldwide every year. Its main objective is to highlight the importance of light in culture, art, education, science, technology, and other fields. This year, the Ternopil Regional Communal Territorial Department of the Small Academy of Sciences of Ukraine partnered with Ternopil National Technical University named after Ivan Puluj to organize the festive events.
During the “International Day of Light 2023 in Ternopil” some invited speakers shared their research and insights with the participants. Vitaliy Mocharsky, Ph.D., head of the organizing committee, chief of the international cooperation department, and senior lecturer at the Department of Physics at TNTU, delivered a presentation titled “Brief History of the International Day of Light” He spoke about the history of the establishment of the holiday, why May 16 is designated as the International Day of Light, and the connection between the invention of the laser and the celebration.
Victoria Martyniuk from Ternopil Volodymyr Hnatiuk National Pedagogical University delivered a presentation titled “Microplastics as a New Pollutant of the Environment” and discussed the issue of plastic pollution in the environment at a very small scale, its impact on living organisms, and the importance of light in such research.
Petro Voloshyn, a student at the Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv studying in France, gave a lecture on “Microlensing in Search of Distant Worlds” He talked about research related to gravitational microlensing and how it helps in discovering new astronomical objects. Interestingly, Petro Voloshyn is a graduate of the Ternopil Regional Communal Territorial Department of the Small Academy of Sciences of
Ukraine.
Olga Maliuta, a Ukrainian embryologist currently working in Malta, presented a lecture titled “The Use of Polarized Light in the In Vitro Fertilization Process”. She shared insights into the current state of embryology and discussed the use of polarization microscopes in her professional work.
Overall, all the lectures were extremely interesting, and the participants gained new knowledge about the application of light in various fields of science and technology.