This award will provide participant support for the 2009 Snowbird Particle astrophysics, Astronomy, and Cosmology workshop (SnowPAC 2009, Feb 1-7, 2009 in Salt Lake City, Utah). The SnowPAC conference is an international conference that seeks to review the current status of recent developments in particle astrophysics, dark matter, dark energy and cosmology, to establish new cross-connections between these disciplines, and to establish new collaborative ties between individuals working in these research areas.
The funds will be used for increasing participation in the conference by young scientists, including graduate students, postdocs, and young faculty members. These funds will be used to waive registration fees, travel, and local expenses of these individuals in order to enable their participation in the conference. Improving the participation by under-represented minorities is a high priority for use of these funds.
The Broader Impact of this proposal derives through three elements: 1) Development of new, cross-disciplinary research ties between young scientists; 2) Potential start of a new, yearly conference series in particle astrophysics, astronomy and cosmology that can result in a long term effort to provide a forum to integrate research ideas between particle astrophysics, astronomy and cosmology; and 3) Providing increased national visibility and research connections for the growing astronomy and astrophysics community in the Intermountain West.
