The first
MPIK-CDY School
on the Future of Gamma-Ray Astronomy
Heidelberg, Germany
25 June - 3 July, 2024
The first
Heidelberg, Germany
25 June - 3 July, 2024
We are pleased to announce the first MPIK - CDY school focussing on the future of gamma-ray astronomy to be held at MPIK in Heidelberg, Germany, 25 June to 3 July, 2024. Our view of the universe at gamma-ray (~MeV-PeV) energies has seen tremendous growth in the last 20 or so years with the arrival of powerful space-based instruments like Fermi and ground-based instruments such as Imaging Atmospheric Cherenkov Telescopes (IACTs) and wide-field of view Water Cherenkov detector arrays. The very high energy window opened by these instruments allows us to discover and probe extreme physical conditions and processes in new ways. The Universe we have already seen using these instruments is rich and varied, and in some ways more extreme than we anticipated. The best is yet to come, however, with dramatic improvements in sensitivity expected over the next few years as next-generation instruments come online. The goal of the MPIK-CDY school is to provide scientists entering the field with the background knowledge needed to fully exploit these future opportunities.
This one week school will cover topics in VHE-UHE astrophysics including instrumentation and detection techniques.
Pedagogical style lectures will be delivered by experts in the field and each topic will include an overview talk on
the status of the field accompanied by in-depth seminars and hands-on sessions with the gamma-ray analysis toolkit gammapy.
The school will cover the basic physical processes most relevant to very high-energy sources and review our current
understanding of what these sources are and how they operate. The school will also discuss gamma-ray astronomy’s place
in the upcoming landscape of multi-messenger and time domain astronomy where, for example, increasingly powerful neutrino
and gravitational wave detectors will provide complementary information on extreme sources. The school is appropriate for
graduate students as well as early-career researchers in the fields of particle astrophysics, high-energy astrophysics and cosmology.
The school will take place at the Max-Planck-Institut fuer Kernphysik in Heidelberg.
Registration has closed. Please contact the organisers to be added to the waiting list.
A small registration fee of 200 Euro, will be required to cover catering and lunch expenses during the school. Attendees should arrange their own travel and accommodation.
The meeting will take place at the
Max-Planck-Institut
für Kernphysik
Saupfercheckweg 1, D-69117 Heidelberg, Germany
Heidelberg is located in central Germany, approximately 80km south of Frankfurt and is easily accessible by plane, train, or car.
We have not arranged hotel block reservations and instead recommend to use the
usual hotel booking
sites (e.g., HRS or Expedia) as they
often have far better prices.
The conference site (MPIK) is accessible by bus lines 39 and 39A (both running via
Heidelberg's main bus hub: "Heidelberg, Bismarckplatz". The buses depart from "Steig G". From
"Heidelberg, Hauptbahnhof"/main station, there are only some direct connections departing on week
days from Steig L, which is in parallel to the main entrance of the railway station).
The bus line 39 stops directly at the MPIK stop: "Heidelberg, MPI Kernphysik". The line 39A stops
approximately 50 metres away from the MPIK main entrance at the stop: "Bierhelderhof". Alternatively,
the bus line 39A continues to the EMBL campus, which is connected to the MPIK site.
Single tickets can be obtained from vending machines or the bus driver. If you intend to use
local transport several times during your stay in Heidelberg, we recommend buying either day tickets
("Tages-Ticket", EUR 7,70, valid within 24 hours after validation), or a 5-day ticket ("5-Tage-ticket", EUR 30,80-).
Note that 5-day tickets can only be bought at
RNV
servicestores, e.g. in front of Heidelberg's main station.
Detailed information on timetables and tickets can be obtained on the regional
transportation network
webpages.
Heidelberg is located in central Germany, approximately 80km south of Frankfurt and is easily accessible by plane, train, or car.
The closest international airport (80 km, 1 hour by car) is Frankfurt Rhein-Main Airport (Flughafen
Frankfurt) with a wide selection of national and international connections. There are two terminals at the
airport, with Terminal 1 occupied by Lufthansa and its partners and Terminal 2 for all other
airlines.
Transportation between the airport and Heidelberg is available by a regular train service. Frankfurt Airport
is directly connected to the German long-distance rail system by its own train station (without need to use
local transportation to Frankfurt Main station first), with most connections to Heidelberg's main train
station (Hauptbahnhof) involving a change to a regional train (S-Bahn) in Mannheim. One way price: ICE 33.60
EUR , journey time: approx. 1 hour.
Additional modes of transportation to Heidelberg include a dedicated Frankfurt Airport Shuttle
Service
(depature: Terminal 1, Exit 3; journey time approx. 75 min;
return ticket for 58.- Euro; please make sure that you have a reservation) and individual (usually more
expensive) shuttle services like TLS.
Stuttgart Airport is located approximately 125 km (1.5 hours by car) from Heidelberg and has regular European connections including several low-cost airlines. It does not have direct access to the long-distance rail network, but is connected by local transport to Stuttgart Main Station (Stuttgart Hauptbahnhof) with regular train service to Heidelberg.
Many low-cost flights are available to Frankfurt-Hahn Airport (which is not actually in Frankfurt). The distance to Heidelberg is approximately 150 km. The airport is serviced by a regular bus to Mainz or Frankfurt, where trains to Heidelberg can be taken.
Several low-cost connections are as well available to the Airport Karlsruhe/Baden-Baden which is about 90 km (1 hour by car) south of Heidelberg. Travel options to Heidelberg can be found on the airport webpage.
Heidelberg Main Station (Heidelberg Hauptbahnhof) is linked regularly to most German and European destinations by long-distance train service. Information on schedules is available on the homepage of Deutsche Bahn.
Please familiarise yourself with the Visa regulations of the Federal Republic of Germany.
Official
information is provided by the German
Federal Foreign Office.
EU nationals do not require a Visa to enter Germany.
Generally speaking, all other foreigners require a Visa for stays in Germany. A Visa is not required for
semi-annual visits of up to three months for nationals of those countries for which the European Community
has abolished the Visa requirement.
The organizers are committed to making this meeting productive and enjoyable for everyone, regardless of gender, sexual orientation, disability, physical appearance, body size, race, nationality or religion. We will not tolerate harassment of participants in any form. Please follow these guidelines:
