Light Symposium 2026 – Sensing Light

Light Symposium 2026 will take place from 23–25 September 2026 at Aalborg University in Copenhagen, Denmark. Organized by the Lighting Design Lab at Aalborg University, the symposium continues a strong tradition of interdisciplinary exchange in lighting research and design. Light Symposium 2026 is organized in close collaboration with leading international partners, including KTH Royal Institute of Technology (Sweden), University of South-Eastern Norway (Norway), Wismar University of Applied Sciences (Germany), and Dansk Center for Lys (Denmark). These institutions represent strong academic and professional expertise in architectural lighting, engineering, design research, and industry engagement. Their active participation strengthens the symposium’s Nordic–European network and ensures a rich exchange between research, education, and practice across borders. 

Light Symposium 2026 marks the 12th edition of this established international event. The symposium has rotated among partner institutions in recent years: it was hosted in Wismar (2025), USN Kongsberg (2024), KTH Stockholm (2023), and in AAU Copenhagen (2022) – the latter being a particularly successful edition, attracting more than 170 international participants. This continuity reflects a strong and growing international community committed to advancing lighting research, design, and interdisciplinary collaboration. 

The theme “Sensing Light” of Light Symposium 2026 reflects an expanded understanding of light as more than illumination. Light is approached as a dynamic, measurable, perceptual, biological, and experiential phenomenon that shapes how we inhabit and understand environments. Advances in sensing technologies, data analytics, neuroscience, and adaptive systems now allow researchers and practitioners to explore how light interacts with the human body, cognitive processes, emotions, and behavior. At the same time, artistic and phenomenological approaches continue to deepen our understanding of atmosphere, spatial perception, and meaning. The symposium brings these perspectives together to explore how sensing light – technically and experientially – makes sense in contemporary design and research.

Alongside the academic track of peer-reviewed presentations, Light Symposium 2026 will include an industry exhibition where companies can showcase technologies and solutions, as well as dedicated sessions and workshops designed for students and participants to encourage learning, exchange, and collaboration.

Topics of interest (but not limited to)

  • Daylight benefits and optimization: Daylight and lighting meeting human needs for natural environments, Dynamic lighting, Responsive facades, Daylight design
  • Light, health and behavior: Indoor climate and comfort, Light and well-being, Biological impact of lighting, Integrative lighting, Flicker
  • Adaptive & responsive lighting systems: Dynamic control responding to human presence, Activities or environmental cues.
  • Light and perception: Human visual and non-visual responses; Physiological, Psychological, and neuro-cognitive effects of temporally or spatially modulated lighting.
  • Data-driven lighting and smart environments: Integration of light with sensors, IoT, AI/machine learning for responsive and context-aware environments.
  • Light for wellbeing and comfort: Personalized lighting solutions, Circadian-aware design, Light for mental and physical health in indoor and outdoor settings.
  • Designing with darkness: Darkness-aware planning, Reduced illuminance strategies, Balancing light and darkness.
  • Urban Lighting: Lighting for cultural heritage, Light as an urban narrative tool, co-creation through community participation.
  • Architectural lighting design: Architectural form and materiality; Façade lighting, Spatial hierarchies, and composition; Atmosphere and scenography; Performance-driven and sustainable architectural lighting strategies.
  • Artistic & experiential perspectives: Light in art, Installations, Immersive environments, Experiential architecture.
  • Light and environment: Sustainable sensing, Light-based systems for monitoring biodiversity, Urban environment, climate or ecological parameters.
  • Ethical, social and cultural aspects: Privacy, Human experience, Accessibility, Social equity in lighting spaces; Societal implications of light as data medium.
  • Methodologies, standards and evaluation: measuring and evaluating light, Technical methods, Usability studies, Human-centric evaluation, Design frameworks.
  • Approaches in Lighting Research and Education: Cross disciplinary methods

Who should submit

We welcome submissions from early-career researchers, seasoned academics, industry professionals, practitioners, artists, students and multidisciplinary teams.

Abstract submission should describe a work that fits one of the following two options. Please note that authors may indicate their preferred track after the abstract has been reviewed and accepted.

  • Abstract of a Full paper: Upon acceptance following double-blind peer review, the work will later be submitted as a full paper, presented during the conference, and published in the conference proceedings.
  • Abstract of a Conference presentation only: Upon acceptance following double-blind peer review, the work will be presented during the conference but will not be submitted as a full paper or published in the proceedings. This track welcomes case studies, design projects, work-in-progress, reflections, and artistic or creative proposals.