This award provides support for the 2009 Miami Topical Physics Conference on Elementary Particles, Astrophysics, and Cosmology. This is a successful annual conference which is essentially the replacement for the previous Coral Gables Conference, which had run successfully for many decades. The subject matter is highly topical, as the intersection between elementary particle physics, astrophysics, and cosmology is increasingly at the forefront of modern theoretical physics research. The funds provided through the award are exclusively for the support (travel and local expenses) of young participants (graduate students and postdocs) for whom attendance at such a conference can have a profound effect on their development as scientists.
The purpose of this project was to provide graduate students and young post-doctoral researchers the opportunity to participate in topical conferences on elementary particles, astrophysics, and cosmology. These conferences were intense, week-long workshops, with approximately 80 advanced seminars per workshop. Participants were expected to present details of their own research in these seminars, and to actively engage in discussions of research reported by other speakers. Such participation is an integral part of the advanced training of scientists consistent with the overall goals of the funding agency. These results were achieved by partially supporting 25 participants (9 graduate students and 16 post-docs) during two conferences, in December 2009 and December 2010. Financial support was uniformly spread among the 25 recipients. Senior conference participants, including the principal investigator, were not supported by project funds. No indirect costs were incurred All of the supported participants presented talks that described in detail various aspects of their own research. All regularly attended the other conference talks, which ranged over the full scope of particle physics today, as well as related matters in astrophysics and cosmology. All joined in the discussions associated with the talks, presenting their own ideas and opinions, and all benefited from interactions with established physicists in the areas under consideration. The conferences were excellent face-to-face learning/teaching experiences of the highest quality. Conference talks are available on-line, at http://cgc.physics.miami.edu/Miami2009/ and http://cgc.physics.miami.edu/Miami2010/
