Christeena Testimonial
" Last week, I had the incredible opportunity to attend the SFO Ultrafast Thematic School 2026 in the heart of the Alps at Les Houches. Learning advanced topics in ultrafast science while surrounded by such a breathtaking landscape was a truly rewarding experience. A definite highlight was attending the lecture by Anne L'Huillier (2023 Nobel Laureate) on the fundamentals of Attosecond Science.
I also want to thank the other esteemed speakers for sharing their expertise: Emmanuel Beaurepaire, Jerome Faure, Spencer Jolly, Dimitrios Papadopoulos, Thierry Ruchon, and Clara Saraceno. A special shoutout to the sponsor sessions for providing insights into the latest industry technologies. Beyond the lectures, I had the honor of discussing my research and sharing my poster with John Dudley. His feedback was invaluable !
More than just the science, it was the community that made this week special. From exploring new ideas with PhD students, post-docs, and research engineers from across Europe to snowshoeing through the mountain trails, the connections made were just beautiful.
My sincere thanks to the SFO - SOCIETE FRANCAISE D'OPTIQUE for organizing this event and to the CNRS for providing the grant that made my attendance possible. Finally, a huge thank you to the organizers and scientific coordinators-Florence Haddouche, Aurélie Jullien, and Marc Hanna-for putting together such a seamless and inspiring program. Grateful for the knowledge, the views, and the new friendships."
Written by Christeena Paul (Phlam)
Review of the 2026 Thematic School.
From March 22 to 27, 2026, the École de Physique des Houches hosted the ULTRAFAST thematic school dedicated to ultrafast and nonlinear optics, bringing together international experts, researchers, PhD students, and postdoctoral fellows in this rapidly growing field.
Thanks to the contributions of the lecturers, participants explored fundamental principles, discovered recent advances, and exchanged views on emerging applications, ranging from pulse generation to their characterization, and covering spectral domains from THz to XUV. Driven by the rapid development of ultrafast sources, particularly femtosecond lasers, the event provided a comprehensive overview of the field and fostered rich discussions conducive to the emergence of new collaborations.
Organized by a specialized scientific committee composed of Aurélie Jullien, Marc Hanna, and the SFO, this edition was a significant moment of scientific exchange in a setting that was both stimulating and friendly.
Thematic school 2026
Ultrafast sources of coherent light: current research and emerging applications
The Houches Physics School, France, March 22 to 27, 2026
The workshop is devoted to bringing prominent scientists in ultrafast and nonlinear optics together with the goal of, starting from fundamentals, providing overviews of recent research work, covering emerging applications, and devising future directions in the field. It aims at giving to PhD students and post-doctoral researchers a broad coverage, from pulse generation and manipulation to characterization, from the THz domain to the XUV, and describe applications spanning from time-resolved spectroscopy to secondary sources of light and particles. The workshop is motivated by the current blooming of ultrafast sources and applications, triggered by the wide availability of robust and high power femtosecond lasers, and the rapid development of methods to convert them into sources with a wide range of parameters in terms of pulsewidth, central wavelength, or control over the electric field. It will be a unique opportunity to get a unified vision of this research area, and contribute to developing new collaborations and cross-fertilizing the sources and applications communities.
Lecturers
- Anne L'Huillier (Lund University) - Attosecond sciences
- Clara Saraceno (Bochum University) - THz sources and applications
- Nathalie Picqué (Max Born Institute, Berlin) - Frequency combs spectroscopy
- Jérôme Faure (LOA, Palaiseau)- Particle acceleration at ultra-high intensity
- Spencer Jolly (Université Libre de Bruxelles) - Spatio-temporal shaping
- Dimitris Papadopoulos (LULI, Palaiseau) - Ultra-high intensity sources
- John Dudley (Femto-ST, Besançon) - AI for ultrafast photonics
- Emmanuel Beaurepaire (LOB, Palaiseau) - Nonlinear microscopy
- Thierry Ruchon (LiDyl, CEA Saclay) - Linear & nonlinear propagation of ultrashort pulses
The scientific program committee
Aurélie JULLIEN (INPHYNI, CNRS,Université Côte d'Azur)
Marc HANNA (LCF, Institut d'Optique Graduate School - CNRS, Université Paris-Saclay)
Registration fee
850€
(735€ + 115€ Extras services - Excl. Taxes)
The school is a limited number of 70 participants.
FEES INCLUDES
full board, from dinner on the day of arrival to lunch on the day of departure.
You will be housed in single rooms in chalet and Extras services.
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Download the Attendee’s Guide
Thematic school 2026, ULTRAFAST
The Houches Physics School, France
March 22 to 27, 2026
Organizers of SFO thematic School
Aurélie JULLIEN (INPHYNI, CNRS, Université Côte d'Azur)
Marc HANNA (LCF, Institut d'Optique Graduate School - CNRS, Université Paris-Saclay)
SCHEDULE
- First submission campaign: until October 15, 2025
--> Response to applicants: as of October 22, 2025
- Second submission campaign: until October 30, 2025.
--> Response to applicants: as of November 5, 2025
(In less than 48 hours, you will receive an acknowledgment of receipt after submitting your file. Please check your spam folder before contacting us.)
Your Stay : Meal / Chalet / Weather
For more information
Chalet, you will be housed in single rooms
For more details
ADDRESS OF THE SCHOOL
Les Houches School of Physics
140 Chemin de la Côte
F-74310 Les Houches
Access - Information
Sponsoring - 2026 SFO THEMATIC SCHOOL
COMMERCIAL SPONSORSHIP OFFER | VISIBILITY OF YOUR COMPANY
ONLINE BOOKING FROM HERE
Contact sponsoring
Florence HADDOUCHE
Executive Director of the French Optical Society (SFO)
florence.haddouche@institutoptique.fr
T : 33 1 64 53 31 83
The Attendee’s practical Guide (is coming)
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Thermics nano thematic school livret v2023 12 19 (384.17 Ko)
Affiche thermics 2024 v3 0 (526.38 Ko)
Programme ecole sfo thermics nano houches v4 (99.48 Ko)
An acknowledgment of receipt of your registration form will be sent within 48 hours at the latest.
Deadline for application: October 22, 2025
With a short motivation letter (200 words max) and a short CV presenting your research activities and your Scientific abstract.
Thank you for submitting your application via the form or by directly sending your documents by e-mail (email, subject = ET26 - Ultrafast)
In less than 48 hours, you will receive an acknowledgment of receipt after submitting your file. Please contact us, if you haven't received anything (check your spam folder before contacting us).