Second announcement
Assembling the Puzzle of the Milky Way
Le Grand-Bornand, France
18-22 April 2011

http://mw2011.obs-besancon.fr
Registration are now opened !!!

Scientific Rationale
The exploitation of large scale surveys, such as Gaia, PanStarrs, 2MASS, and many others, will lead to new perspectives on the formation of our Galaxy. The step from the observations to the theoretical understanding is however a great challenge. It involves modeling of many different physical processes, including star formation, chemical evolution and dynamics. The resolution of this puzzle requires exchange between astrophysics experts in each of these physical aspects. The topics of this conference span a wide range from the Halo of the Milky Way, the thin and the thick disc, the galactic Bulge, star formation and interstellar medium and will cover also large scale and/or dedicated observations of our Galaxy as well as different approaches of Galaxy models. The link between these different topics will give a fresh view on the formation and evolution of our Galaxy and allow to use the Milky Way as better calibrator of extragalactic systems. This meeting will be a starting point to assemble the international community already preparing and required the exploitation of the Gaia data.

Invited speakers
L. Athanassoula, T. Bensby, J. Binney, L. Blitz, C. Brook, F. Bournaud, A. Brown, D. Carollo, E. Churchwell, V. Debattista, J. Dickey, B. Famaey, A. Frebel, S. Kazantzidis, K. Freeman, O. Gerhard, G. Gilmore, M. Haywood, A. Helmi, A. Koch, I. Minchev, J. Navarro, D. Pfenniger, J. Read, A. Robin, R. Schoedel, R. Schoenrich, J. Simon (TBC), M. Steinmetz, P. Tissera, M. Weinberg

Important dates
Early registration until March, 1st

Hotel reservation : March, 17

End of registration : April, 1st

Oral contribution submission deadline : March, 1st

Poster submission deadline : April, 1st

Registration fees
Early 230 Euros

Late 300 Euros

Students 150 Euros

This fee covers the conference dinner, coffee breaks and 4 lunches during the conference.

Scientific Organizing Commitee
Timothy Beers, James Binney, Herwig Dejonghe, Sofia Feltzing, Francesca Figueras, Ken Freeman, Misha Haywood, Amina Helmi, Daisuke Kawata, Xavier Luri, Dante Minniti, Daniel Pfenniger, Alice Quillen, Celine Reyle, Annie Robin, Mathias Schultheis, Manuela Zoccali

Céline Reylé, on behalf of the SOC