On May 16, 1960, the first laser was invented, opening a new chapter in the exploration of light. Since then, laser technology has grown into a major area of science and technology.

In celebration of the 60th anniversary of the founding of the Shanghai Institute of Optics and Fine Mechanics (SIOM), the institute has launched a public call for questions and challenges that could serve as guidance in the future development of laser science and technology.

SIOM, established in 1964, is the earliest and largest laser research institute in China, focusing on modern optics, lasers, and optoelectronics.

In this event, more than 100 questions were gathered, and experts from related fields were invited to evaluate them. About 100 experts participated in the voting, selecting 20 questions, as listed in the following.

Liangliang Ji is a principle investigator at the Shanghai Institute of Optics and Fine Mechanics. He works on laser–plasma interaction and extreme-field physics. He joined the institute in 2016, after a stay at Duesseldorf University in Germany (2012–2014, Humboldt fellowship) and Ohio State University in the US (2014–2016). He is now leading a group to build an experimental platform based on the world’s first 100 PW-class laser to explore strong-field QED physics and laser-driven particle acceleration.