Conference on Time Domain Astronomy in the High Redshift Universe – 23 – 26 June 2020, George Washington University, Washington DC

This conference has been postponed due to the COVID-19 situation! The organizers are considering new dates for the conference in 2021.

The high redshift Universe (z > 6) encompasses the time when Hydrogen was re-ionized, when the first generation of stars were born, lived and died, and when the first black holes were formed and began growing into Active Galactic Nuclei (AGN). This early period is expected to be rich with time variable objects including Supernovae, Gamma-Ray Bursts, Quasars and Black Hole Mergers. This Conference on Time Domain Astronomy in the High Redshift Universe will explore the required observational capabilities to study high redshift transients and how their multi-messenger studies can be used as probes of the formation of the modern Universe.

This will be a four-day meeting (June 23-26, 2020) at the Foggy Bottom campus of the George Washington University in Washington, DC. The first three days (June 23-25) will be a mix of invited and contributed talks, with a panel discussion and posters. On the fourth day (June 26) we will make rooms available for participants to hold self-organizing discussions, workshops and meetings that focus on specific conference related topics, future facilities and other related discussions.

A preliminary list of invited speakers has been published. Registration and abstract submission are now open. Limited support for graduate students and childcare will be available, and can also be requested via the registration page.

Tentative Conference Schedule & Deadlines

October 2019: 1st announcement
December 2019: 2nd announcement - open registration and call for abstracts
January 31, 2020: 3rd announcement - invited speakers finalized
February 28, 2020: abstract and early registration deadline ($350)
February 28, 2020: students and childcare support proposal deadline
March 20, 2020: 4th announcement - preliminary program
March 27, 2020: late registration deadline ($400) and workshops finalized
June 23-26, 2020: meeting dates (on-site registration $450)

Scientific Organizing Committee

Chryssa Kouveliotou (George Washington University) – Co-Chair
Nicholas White (George Washington University) – Co-Chair
Jeff Cooke (Swinburne University)
Neil Cornish (Montana State University)
Derek Fox (Penn State University)
Andrew Fruchter (Space Telescope Science Institute)
Jonathan Gardner (NASA Goddard Space Flight Center)
Giancarlo Ghirlanda (INAF Brera)
Erin Kara (Massachusetts Institute of Technology)
David Alexander Kann (Instituto de Astrofísica de Andalucía)
Julie McEnery (NASA Goddard Space Flight Center)
Raffaella Margutti (Northwestern University)
Paul O’Brien (University of Leicester)
Elena Pian (INAF Bologna)
Daniel Stern (Jet Propulsion Laboratory)

Local Organizing Committee

Alexander van der Horst (George Washington University) – Chair
Sylvain Guiriec (George Washington University)
Sarah Chastain (George Washington University)
Michael Moss (George Washington University)
Brendan O’Connor (George Washington University)
Rachael Stewart (George Washington University)