Note: The conference is now full. You may still apply but acceptance will be subject to space coming available.

POSTER OPPORTUNITY: There is an opportunity for registered participants to present a poster at the conference. Please e-mail a poster title to the Conference Coordinator, Jocelyn Quick, if you are interested in presenting a poster, along with a Word document copy of the poster abstract, no pdfs.

DEADLINE DATE: January 15, 2012

The current paradigm of structure formation (LCDM) makes definite predictions for the formation path, abundance, and structure of dark matter-dominated systems in the Universe. The current challenge is to design observational tests of these predictions, and to turn the LCDM scenario into a successful galaxy formation theory. This conference aims to bring together researchers with interest in extreme manifestations of structure growth: the collapse of the first objects capable of harboring stars and galaxies, and the assembly of the faintest systems that warrant appellation as galaxies. These seemingly disparate topics probe the LCDM spectrum of fluctuations on regimes well removed from the large scales used to constrain the main LCDM parameters, thus enabling powerful tests of the paradigm.

The conference will focus on the following topics:

a) Cosmological Reionization
b) First Galaxies
c) Distant QSOs
d) First Stars

a) Dwarf Galaxies
b) Ultra-Faint Galaxies and First Stars in the Local Group
c) The Structure of Substructure in CDM Halos
d) Relics of Hierarchical Assembly: Stellar Halos, Streams, Chemical Tagging
e) Direct and Indirect Dark Matter Detection
f) Observational Probes of CDM Substructure