The most important things that can happen at a workshop are discussions leading to new research and collaboration, and to new minds entering the field from a variety of scientific backgrounds. Our broad range of topics will bring together a wide range of researchers, none of whom are experts in all the topics. Students may not yet be experts in any.
To promote interaction and broad discussion, we have adopted a format styled loosely after a popular series of research conferences. Sessions include invited introductory reviews in which non-experts can learn enough to follow the research talks and posters in the session. Significant discussion time is built into the schedule and need not be restricted to the immediate topic of the preceeding talk.
See the actual session schedule.
Typical session schedule
| Time | Description |
| 60 | Introductory review.
An advanced-grad-level lecture by a recognized expert introducing the session. |
| 15 | Poster lightning talks. Each poster is a projected slide, which runs on a 60-second timer. When you see your poster, stand and talk for one minute, sit when it changes. 2 seconds of applause between posters. It’s a great spectator sport! |
| 15 | Break in poster room. |
| 90 | Invited talks on topic, including reviews and research results. Most talks will be 20-30 minutes, including 5-10 minutes for questions and general discussion. |
Wednesday – AM
Exoplanet Discovery and Missions
Chair: Andrew Collier Cameron, University of St. Andrews, Scotland
School: Anatomy of a successful search program
Suggested Contribution Topics:
- Transit, radial velocity, microlensing, imaging searches
- Kepler, CoRoT, EPOXI, MOST
- JWST, THESIS, PECO, ACCESS, EPIC, SEE-COAST, NWO, TPF, SIM, and others
Wednesday – PM1
Measurements of Exoplanets
Chair: Drake Deming, NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center
School: Planning measurement and analysis of exoplanets
Suggested Contribution Topics:
- Indirect – RV, astrometry, microlensing
- Combined-light – transits, eclipses, phase curves, spectra
- Resolved imaging – photometry and spectroscopy
Wednesday – PM2
What is a Planet?
Special talk by Alan Stern, Southwest Research Institute
Thursday – AM
Atmospheres and Interiors of Exoplanets
Chair: Adam Showman, University of Arizona
School: Hot planets meet cool theory
Suggested Contribution Topics:
- Thermal evolution
- Precipitates, absorbers, inversions, radiation
- Atmospheric dynamics
Thursday – PM1
Surfaces, Oceans, and Life
Chair: Eric Gaidos, University of Hawaii
School: Physics of Terrestrial Planets
Suggested Contribution Topics:
- Observable biosignatures
- Theory of terrestrial planets unlike Earth:
hot, diamond, ocean, and super Earths
Thursday – PM2
What You Need to Know About Stars to Study Exoplanets
Chair: Jeff Valenti, Space Telescope Science Institute
School: Stars are not blackbodies (and why that matters for exoplanets)
Suggested Contribution Topics:
- Impact on planetary spectra
- Photometric variability, flares
- Surface jitter and RV
Friday – AM
Gravity
Chair: Renu Malhotra, University of Arizona
School: Basics of disks and migration theory
Suggested ContributionTopics:
- Disks, planet formation, migration
- Orbital dynamics of mature systems