New Astronomical Challenges In Surface Science.
13 – 15 June, 2007
Heriot-Watt University, Edinburgh, UK
The second meeting of the EPSRC-supported AstroSurf Network will once more bring together astronomers, molecular astrophysicists and laboratory surface scientists with a common interest in understanding the contributions to be made by surface science experiment and theory in unravelling the complexities of the chemically controlled cosmos.
Confirmed invited speakers are;
Professor Eric Herbst (Ohio State)
Professor Steve Price (UCL)
Professor Maria Elisabetta Palumbo (Catania)
Professor Glenn White (The Open University)
Dr. Herma Cuppen (Leiden University)
Further contributions to the meeting are also invited, with posters and presentations in;
Observations on Gas, Dust and Ices
From the Laboratory to Observations via Models
Synthesis of Small Molecules on Grains
Photon-, Electron- and Ion-induced Physics and Chemistry on and in Grains and Ices
Models of Surface Reactivity
The deadline for registration is the 31st of May 2007 and is now open. Bursaries are also available for younger scientists wishing to contribute to the event with a poster or presentation.
Accommodation for the conference can be booked directly through the Edinburgh Conference Centre at Heriot-Watt University online, by email or by phone (0131 451 3669/3117). Please book your accommodation well in advance to ensure availability.
The first event was a great success, the posters and presentations of which can be accessed from the 2005 Programme page. The meeting in 2005 acted as the launch pad for a new EPSRC-sponsored network in surface science applications in laboratory astrophysics (AstroSurf), which brings together scientists from a range of disciplines with a common interest in understanding the interaction of the gaseous interstellar medium with the surfaces of dust grains. Only relatively recently have astronomers realised the importance of this gas-grain interaction in the chemical evolution of the interstellar medium. Surface scientists, both experimental and theoretical, are now investigating many aspects of this interaction; the formation of H2 and other molecules from atoms, the behaviour of the icy mantles that coat the grains and how these mantles are processed to yield complex, pre-biotic molecules by light, electrons and ions. It is the role of the network to encourage communication between scientists from different communities to ensure that a proper and complete understanding of these complex interactions is forthcoming.