Student Leadership provides students (Bachelors through PhD) with an opportunity to travel to the US for a combination of career development training and access to scientific content. Additionally, SL offers a platform for students to network with hundreds of individuals from around the globe. 

You must be a student member of Optica to be eligible for this benefit. Applications will be reviewed and the top 100 will be selected to attend. This benefit is open to ALL student members, regardless of whether or not you are a member of a student chapter. 

If selected to attend, Optica will cover:

• Transportation to the conference (this does not include taxis/buses, unless you are local to where the conference is occurring)
• Lodging (generally with arrival on Saturday and departure on Thursday)
• Meals on Sunday, 26  October 2025
• Registration for FiO

A sample program is below:

Speakers include:

2025 Optica President

Invited speaker

• Christina Willis

Optica Ambassadors