Ibn al-Haytham’s Light Film Contest deadlines extended

Source: Mustafa Prize.

The organisers of the Ibn al-Haytham’s Light Film Contest in Iran have extended the deadline for registration in the face of overwhelming participation. More than 10 thousand students in groups of two or three have registered in this contest to date.

According to the Public Relations Department of the Mustafa Prize, the original deadline for registration was December 31, 2015 while the deadline for film submission was February 11, 2016. Students can now register themselves and submit their films with the subject of light and its applications at the same time at http://noor.mustafaprize.org. The extension of the registration of the contest to February 11, 2016, has pushed back other dates. The winners and selected films will be announced April 22, 2016 instead.

The prizes for the contest have also changed, from 100 Bahar Azadi gold coins to 200, and another 100 winners added for a total of 200. Top 10 schools and research centers, based on arbitration will receive 100 million rial grants to equip their laboratories.

The Ibn al-Haytham’s Light Film Contest aims to familiarise the students with optic sciences, light and its applications. Under the rules, each team of two or three must make a one-minute film on a relevant topic. More than 300 films are available at http://noor.mustafaprize.org as samples.

The Tehran and Fars provinces have the most registered students so far and the Razi research centre in Shiraz tops the list of registrars with more than 350 groups registered for this competition. Afarinesh research centre from Tehran district 4 and Avicenna research centre from Tehran district 15 are next with more than 200 groups registered. 

2015 is the International Year of Light and Light-based Technologies

The International Year of Light and Light-based Technologies (IYL 2015) will be launched in 2015. Announced on 20 December 2013 by the United Nations (UN) General Assembly, this International Year has been the initiative of a large range of scientific bodies together with UNESCO, and will bring together many different stakeholders including scientific societies and unions, educational institutions, technology platforms, non-profit organisations and private sector partners.

Source: UNESCO.

Aimed at raising global awareness of how light-based technologies can provide solutions to global challenges in energy, education, agriculture and health, this UNESCO-led initiative is an opportunity to celebrate the work of the 10th-century scientist Ibn Al-Haytham, also known as Alhazen.

Born Abū Alī al-Ḥasan ibn al-Ḥasan ibn al-Haytham, Al-Haytham was a polymath from Basra (in modern-day Iraq) who is often referred to as the ‘father of modern optics’. He made significant advancements in optics, mathematics and astronomy, and helped lay the foundations of the present day scientific experimental method.

His life and works will be the subject of several major initiatives during 2015, beginning at the Opening Ceremony of the International Year of Light and Light-based Technologies on 19 January 2015 at UNESCO HQ in Paris. The ceremony will see the launch of 1001 Inventions and the World of Ibn Al-Haytham, a global campaign where UNESCO will partner with the science and cultural heritage organisation 1001 Inventions to announce a series of interactive exhibits, workshops and live shows illustrating the world of this scientist.

Said UNESCO Director-General Irina Bokova: “A ground-breaking scientist and a humanist from a thousand years ago, the life and work of Ibn Al-Haytham have never been as relevant as they are today.”

Following the January launch, the campaign will roll out in countries around the world. Other initiatives to celebrate Al-Haytham include educational actions coordinated by a high-level Ibn Al-Haytham Working Group, and a dedicated conference and exhibition at UNESCO HQ starting on 14 September 2015 entitled The Islamic Golden Age of Science for the Knowledge-Based Society. 

This conference will see experts in science, history and culture engage world leaders and the public with insights into the era of discoveries and innovations by scientists of different cultures and faiths who lived during that period of Muslim civilisation over 1,000 years ago.