Great Surveys of Astronomy Workshop
_____________________________________________________________________

Dates: 20-22 November 2008
Venue: La Fonda Hotel, Santa Fe, NM

Sponsored by the:
     LANL Institute for Advanced Studies (IAS)
     National Radio Astronomy Observatory (NRAO)

Conference Website:
     http://t8web.lanl.gov/people/salman/grsurveys/

Contact Email and Registration: 
     greatsurveys@lanl.gov

Dear Colleague,

The Scientific Organizing Committee invites you to attend the Great
Surveys of Astronomy workshop to be held 20-22 November 2008 at the La
Fonda Hotel in Santa Fe, NM.  There is also a reception at the hotel
the evening of 19 November from 6:00-7:30 pm.

Meeting capacity is limited, so please register following the
instructions at the conference website.  Priority for attendance and
lodging will go to those who register before October 20.  We may not
be able to accommodate all registrants.

Meeting Information: 

Looking ahead to the next decade and imagining the landscape of
astronomy in 2020, it is clear that astronomical surveys, large and
small, plus extensive follow-up projects, will play a key role.
Surveys have long had a critical role in astronomy, and for the coming
decades, this will be even more important as we probe deeper into the
Universe.  In fact, one might call the next two decades the "Era of
Great Surveys".  This next generation of surveys will probe a huge
range of astronomical objects and phenomena including planets, stars,
gas, galaxies, background radiation, dark matter, dark energy,
degenerate matter compact objects, black holes, magnetic fields,
cosmic ray particles, neutrinos, gravity waves, and exotica
(particles, topological defects, etc.).

The focus of the workshop is the design, development, execution, and
use of the large astronomical surveys and instruments that are planned
for the coming decade(s).  The larger themes include (but are not 
exclusive to):

  1. Great Survey Science Goals

     o Surveys and the Culture of Astronomy, Lessons Learned
     o Cosmology
     o Galaxy Formation and Evolution
     o Star Formation and ISM
     o Extrasolar Planets and Solar System Objects
     o Extreme Objects and Physics
     o Things that ``burst in the night'': Transients and Time Domain
     o New Frontiers
     o Great Surveys in the Decadal Survey

  2. Great Theories

     o Fundamental Physics with Great Surveys
     o Analytic and Semi-Analytic Modeling for Precision Cosmology
     o Next Generation Large-Scale Structure Simulations
     o Models and Simulations for Galaxies and AGN
     o Modeling Star Formation and Stellar Populations

  3. Cross-Cutting Technologies and Survey Issues

     o Data Management and Optimal Processing for Large Surveys
     o Data Mining and Science Extraction
     o Interfacing Simulations/Models with Survey Data
     o Survey Strategies and Maximizing Survey Complementarity
     o Multi-wavelength Follow-up Needs of the Great Surveys
     o Common and Transportable Simulations

This workshop is aimed at building upon the wide interest in
astronomical surveys in the community.  To summarize the spirit of the
meeting: "This meeting will bring together the key workers in the
field to exchange ideas, and identify areas of cooperation,
complementarity, and coordination between surveys and with the greater
astronomical community."  To this end, we would like speakers and
presentations to talk about the larger picture rather than just giving
the usual hard-sell for their favorite project.  The vision is
for a future where a variety of surveys and follow-up programs are
underway and flourishing.

We aim to accommodate in the range of 50-100 attendees.  The list of
current and future surveys and follow-up projects is large, but we
will try to be inclusive in our attendee list.  We are still putting
together the agenda and organizing the sessions, but expect that there
will be around 30 talks of 20-30 minutes each.  Currently,
there is still room for around 10-15 contributed talks.  The final
agenda will be decided by the Scientific Organizing Committee.
Attendess are encouraged to contribute posters, as we will have ample
space for display.  In addition to scheduled talks and posters, we
also plan to set aside sufficient time for some less formal "guided"
discussions that would hopefully spark the exchange of ideas mentioned
above.

To apply for registration, send an email to greatsurveys@lanl.gov.
Do not contact the hotel directly!  Please indicate the days of your
attendance and lodging needs.  If you wish to give a contributed
talk or a poster, indicate this (along with the proposed title and a short
description) in the email.  It will also be helpful if you indicate
your interests and background in the email.  

There will be a $100 registration fee.  We plan to cover the 
hotel costs for meeting participants for the nights of the meeting,
but do not have the budget for reimbursing other travel expenses such
as airfare.

See the conference website for more registration details.

Please pass this announcement along to your group, department, and
colleagues.

This workshop is being held as part of the LANL Institute for Advanced
Study Astrophysics & Cosmology Center (ACCent):
     http://ias.newmexicoconsortium.org/accent

Hope to see you in Santa Fe in November!

On behalf of the Scientific Organizing Committee (SOC): 

     Steve Myers (NRAO, Chair), 
     Ken Chambers (U Hawaii/Pan-STARRS), 
     Josh Frieman (FNAL/UChicago), 
     Salman Habib (LANL), 
     Michael Strauss (Princeton), 
     Martin White (UC Berkeley)