After 52 years of continued success, the International Symposium on Photochemistry remains one of the most important scientific events for the international photochemical community. The vitality and impact of this community can be also appreciated by the fact that the IUPAC subcommittee on photochemistry has been one of the most active ones within the Organic and Biomolecular Chemistry Division and this symposium is the main driver for the activities of the subcommittee. Over the years, participation in the Symposium has included a healthy number of delegates from North America, Asia, and Europe, with a smaller but sustained participation of delegates from Australia and New Zealand, Africa and Latin America. The IUAPC symposium in Photochemistry brings together many of the world experts in various scientific areas and strongly encourages the participation of younger scientists, postdocs and students.

The scientific topics to be covered in the Symposium include areas of unparalleled impact in the world today: renewable energy sources, green chemistry, atmospheric photochemistry, single molecule microscopy and super resolution imaging. The latter are key for biosciences and trace analysis of proteins, nucleic acids, and small bioregulators. With more efficient light sources and means to collect solar energy, there is an on-going resurgence in the development of photochemical reactions using flow process, which are beginning to make an impact in an industrial context. This will be an excellent opportunity to engage scientists from pharmaceutical, materials, and other industries. The symposium will also cover advanced spectroscopic methods with increased time and space resolution and methods for analysing complex samples.