The Young Atom Opticians Conference (YAO) was held for the first time in Innsbruck in the year 1995. The aim is to create a community for young researchers working in quantum optics with a focus on cold atoms. The conference gives the possibility to present and discuss recent results in talks and poster sessions. Since 1995 the conference has been held every year in a different research centre within Europe. In the year 2009, the YAO will be held at the Atomic Institute of the Vienna University of Technology, organized, as is usual, by the doctoral students of the host research group, this time the AtomChip Group of Prof. J. Schmiedmayer.

The conference is open for young researchers working in atomic and quantum optics, both experimentalists and theorists. The participants will be mainly graduate students, but post-docs who are new to the field are invited as well. To follow the original spirit of the meeting, no conference fee will be requested. Two renowned keynote speakers will be invited to give a presentation that will be open to the general public.

This conference is also part of the WPI Thematic Programme on "Correlation in Quantum Physics" coordinated by T. Schumm at the Wolfgang Pauli Insitute www.wpi.ac.at.


YAO photos