2009 SUMMER PROGRAM

PROGRAM:

The annual physics-astrophysics program at the Aspen Center for Physics will be held from May 24 to September 13, 2009. The Center provides a place for physicists and astrophysicists to work on their research with minimal distraction in a stimulating atmosphere, and in a location of great natural beauty.

Applications are welcome from any physicist or astrophysicist who has a serious program of research to be carried out at the Center. The Aspen Center for Physics is committed to a significant participation of women and under-represented groups in all of the Center's programs.

Individual Research:

The main Center program is unstructured and concentrates on individual research and the informal exchange of ideas. About 490 physicists and astrophysicists from about 100 institutions participate in the Center's summer program, with 80-90 in residence at any time. (About 40% of the participants in the 2008 program attended for the first time.) The research interests of the participants cover a number of fields, including astrophysics, biophysics, condensed matter physics, dynamical systems, elementary particle physics, mathematical physics, and statistical physics. The interactions between participants with different interests and backgrounds are one of the most stimulating aspects of the program. Applicants can be sure that colleagues from all subfields of physics will be present throughout the summer.

Collaborations:

The Center provides a location where physicists from distant institutions can meet for intensive research collaboration. Small informal collaborations are encouraged and efforts will be made to accomodate people wishing to work together.

Workshops:

Equally important to the Aspen Summer Program are the informal workshops that serve as focal points on topics of current interest. Workshops are very informal, with an extremely limited number of talks so that participants have ample time for informal discussion and to initiate new work. The informal workshops scheduled for summer 2008 are:

All participants are welcome to attend and to participate in the workshop sessions.

Facilities:

The facilities of the Center consist of three quiet office buildings within easy walking distance from the center of Aspen. The Center has indoor and outdoor seminar areas, very modest computing facilities, and a library. The library receives over 30 standard journals, with many complete back to 1962. The library also has many of the standard reference works, as well as important new books, conference proceedings, and preprints.

Fees, Salaries, and Travel and Dislocation Allowances:

A registration fee of $400 will be charged all participants. $400 (the registration fee) together with a $400 housing deposit, is payable at the time an invitation to participate in the 2009 program is accepted. This deposit is non-refundable if cancellation occurs after May 1, 2009.

Individual participants are to provide their own salaries from their own contracts, grants, fellowships, or regular appointments. Academic and research institutions and the funding agencies have recognized the value of participating in the Center and have been willing to pay summer salaries for work performed here. No funds are available for salaries for physicists without support.

We expect to be able to provide housing at a substantial savings to all participants. Some funds may be available for additional dislocation grants for foreign participants, but these are very limited, and foreign participants are urged to obtain travel funds from their own institutions.

The Jacob Shaham Fellowship Fund has been established in his honor by his family and friends to provide limited additional financial support for first-time attendees who would otherwise be unable to participate in Center activities.

Housing:

The Aspen Center for Physics rents fully furnished apartments and condominiums for the summer season, and sublets them to participants. While not luxurious, they are generally comfortable and well-equipped with all linens and kitchen necessities. NEITHER SMOKING NOR PETS ARE ALLOWED IN OUR HOUSING.

Housing is assigned primarily on the basis of immediate family needs. Since we always operate at or near capacity, there is very little flexibility in the housing arrangements, and it is not practical to give questions of rank, etc., more than secondary consideration. It should be noted also that large (3 or 4 bedroom) apartments are very scarce and expensive in the Aspen area. Unaccompanied physicists will be asked to share large apartments, with each person having a private bedroom ("bachelor housing") and sharing the living spaces.

Participants will be billed for their housing costs. The rents for 2009 are not known. There is no longer a separate dislocation computed for each physicist, but the funding will be reflected in the decreased costs based on housing size. In 2008, the weekly subsidized rates were: $155 for shared bachelor housing (plus a $70 cleaning fee), $320 for studio aparmtents (plus a $90 cleaning fee), $420 for one-bedroom apartments (plus a $120 cleaning fee), $520 for two-bedroom apartments (plus a $160 cleaning fee), and $630 for three-bedroom apartments (plus a $190 cleaning fee). The cleaning fees are assessed once per stay.

Day Care:

The Aspen Center for Physics is committed to helping participants bring their families with them to Aspen in the summer. You may Google "Aspen Childcare" for childcare information and activities available. In addition, by early May, a list of all summer participants who have a family member interested in babysitting or in need of babysitters is available. We hope that this will allow families to contact one another to arrange babysitting and daycare.