• Technical Conference:  30 March – 03 April 2025
  • Exhibition: 01 – 03 April 2025
  • Moscone Center, San Francisco, California, USA

Grants, Awards and Prizes

Awards and Prizes   l   Grants   l   Other Co-sponsor Awards

Recognition and Assistance:
In Support of the OFC Community

The OFC Conference supports a community of scientists and innovators working on the latest advances in the science and applications for optical networking and communications. The goal of the co-sponsors and committee members is to create a meeting experience that truly represents the global community. OFC provides awards, prizes and grants to ensure an experience that is professionally inclusive and geographically diverse.

Specific information on eligibility, the application process and deadlines can be found in Submit Papers.
 

Awards and Prizes

Students, recent graduates and early-career professionals are encouraged to present their research. The experience offers invaluable opportunities to get your name and research in front of an esteemed, international audience – at a career stage when building professional relationships is most essential for future success. OFC supports your professional goals with several recognition opportunities.

 

Optica Foundation

Corning Outstanding Student Paper Competition

The competition recognizes innovation, research excellence and presentation abilities in optical communications. The competition is endowed by a grant from Corning Inc. and administered by the Optica Foundation. To be eligible for consideration students must submit a paper to OFC and opt-in to the competition during the submissions process. Those with accepted papers meeting our score requirement will be asked to apply to participate in the competition at the meeting.

Three finalists are selected to present their paper to the competition committee in a private conference session. One first-prize recipient receives a USD $3,500 stipend. 

 

Tingye Li Innovation Prize

The Tingye Li Innovation Prize is presented to an early-career professional who has demonstrated innovative ideas in their accepted presentation during the OFC Conference. The prize, established in 2013, is endowed by Alliance Fiber Optic Products, Inc., AT&T, Optica, IEEE Photonics Society, IEEE Communications Society, Thorlabs, Inc, The Li Family and supporters of the Tingye Li Memorial Fund, and is administered by the Optica Foundation. 

The grand prize recipient receives USD 3,000 and certificate, a special invitation to the Chairs' Reception and recognition during the conference.


Grants

The co-sponsors and committee members believe that all individuals with accepted papers should have the ability to present at OFC, regardless of financial concerns or family obligations. Speakers can consider the following support options.
 

Optica Foundation

Corning Women in Optical Communications Scholarship
A merit-based prize recognizing outstanding women studying optical communications and networking. Three scholarships of USD 3,000 are distributed annually to supplement tuition, mandatory fees and other expenses. Additionally, winners will receive up to USD 2,000 in travel expenses, housing and registration fees to attend OFC.

 

Corning Women in Optical Communications Travel Grant
Need-based grants are available for women who are currently graduate students, working as post-docs or in the first 1-5 years of their career, and who have a demonstrated need for travel assistance. These grants are intended to help cover travel costs to OFC.

 

Other Co-sponsor Awards

Each of the three OFC co-sponsors manages awards programs that seek to recognize the considerable professional achievements of their members. While the awards and medals are not contingent upon an OFC presentation, recipients are a vital part of the OFC community as they make extraordinary contributions to research, engineering, education and industry. Many honorees  who are doing work in OFC-related topics choose to be recognized at the conference before their peers and colleagues.

 

John Tyndall Award
Presented by IEEE Photonics Society and Optica

The John Tyndall Award is bestowed upon an individual who has made outstanding contributions in any area of optical-fiber technology, including optical fibers themselves, the optical components used in fiber systems, as well as transmission systems and networks using fibers. Contributions, which may be experimental or theoretical, should have met the test of time and been of proven benefit to science, technology, or society. 

The award was established in 1987 to honor the memory of John Tyndall who made distinguished contributions to physics, particularly his demonstration of total internal reflection in a continuous stream of water. It is jointly presented by IEEE Photonics Society and Optica, and is funded by Corning, Incorporated.

 

IEEE Communications Society Awards

IEEE ComSoc sponsors more than 20 awards organized across three categories: career, service and papers. The society honors the successes of its members and individuals in communications technology who make substantial contributions to the advancement of the industry.

 

IEEE Photonics Society Awards 

The IEEE Photonics Society Awards Program was established to honor the outstanding achievements of its members by recognizing their contributions in advancing the fields of interest to the benefit of society, and enhancing the quality of life for all people throughout the world.  For eligibility/submission requirements, please visit photonicssociety.org/awards.

 

Optica Awards and Medals

Optica recognizes and celebrates the field's technical, research, engineering, education, business, leadership and service accomplishments. The awards program spans all areas of optics and photonics, as well as contributions made to the community. Use the award category guide to find the appropriate award.