Second Announcement

Scientific rationale - List of topics

The Istituto di Radioastronomia (INAF) on behalf of the European VLBI Consortium, will host the 9th European VLBI Network Symposium on "The role of VLBI in the Golden Age for Radio Astronomy" and the EVN Users Meeting from September 23 to 26, 2008. The Symposium will be held in Bologna at the Conference Centre of the Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche and Istituto Nazionale di Astrofisica.

The purpose of this conference is to report on the very latest VLBI and e-VLBI results, including both recent scientific and technical developments in an era during which many new powerful radio facilities, e.g. e-MERLIN, e-VLA, LOFAR, ALMA, SKA, etc. are coming along. The meeting will have an informal character and includes reviews, contributed talks, and posters.

The provisional list of topics includes AGNs and jet physics, Starburst Galaxies, VLBI surveys, gravitational lenses, masers, supernovae and their remnants, active stars, transients, new developments in hardware and software techniques. During the conference, also the EVN Users Meeting will be held.

Registration - Call for papers

Registration for the conference can be made using the on-line registration form.

Participants who wish to present a contribution to the conference are requested to submit title, abstract, and type of presentation (poster or 15-20 min talk) along with the registration form. The deadline for the Abstracts and Registration is June 15, 2008. The presentations (oral/poster) accepted for the conference will be made known soon after the selection by the SOC.

Payment - Financial support

There is a registration fee which includes admission to all scientific sessions, coffee breaks and lunches during the meeting, conference dinner, and conference material. The registration fee is EUR 200. Information about payment details will be circulated at a later stage.

A limited amount of funds will be made available for financial support to participants who make a request in their registration form. Priority will be given to students and post docs. Please indicate in your registration form your present status.

Accommodation and miscellaneous

Participants have to make their own arrangement for accommodation. We recommend to make reservations as early as possible as hotel rooms can be strongly demanded, in particular in times of trade fairs.

Please check the accommodation page for the relevant information. Special rate made available in the hotel listed in the Conference web site using the reservation code "CNR".

The symposium will take place at the "Area della Ricerca del CNR" in Bologna. The EVN Users Meeting will be held at the Medicina Radio Observatory Visitor Centre. The traditional football match will also be organized (start your training!).

Travel information are available on the web site.

Further details will be provided in following announcements. Please also keep an eye on our web site.

Important dates

Organizing Committees

Scientific Organizing Committee

Rafael Bachiller (Chair) (IGN, ES), Simon Garrington (Vice-chair) (MERLIN/JBO,UK), Rene Vermeulen (WSRT/ASTRON, NL), Anton Zensus (MPIfR, DE), Franco Mantovani (Chair, IRA, IT), Hans Olofsson (OSO, SE), Roy Booth (HRAO, ZA), Andrzej Kus (TCfA, PL), Huib van Langevelde (JIVE, NL), Merja Tornikoski (MRO/HUT, FI), Wang Na (UAO, CN), Hong Xiaoyu (SHAO, CN), Robert Brown (NAIC, USA), Wolfgang Schlüter (Fundamentalstation Wettzell, DE), Harald Schuh (Vienna Univ. of Technology, AT), Tiziana Venturi (IRA, IT), Patrick Charlot (Bordeaux, FR)

Local Organizing Committee

Daniele Dallacasa, Marcello Giroletti, Karl-Heinz Mack, Franco Mantovani (Chair), Mauro Nanni, Barbara Neri (Secretary), Carlo Stanghellini.