Advanced Summer School
Galaxy Formation and Evolution
AKSS, Spetses (Greece), 16th – 22nd July 2025
Pre-registration deadline: 11th April 2025
Attendance is limited to 27 participants to keep the School lively and interactive.
Lecturers:
- Veronica Biffi (Osservatorio Astronomico di Trieste)
- Andy Bunker (University of Oxford)
- Andrea Cattaneo (Observatoire de Paris) - School Coordinator
- Claudia Cicone (Institute of Theoretical Astrophysics, Oslo)
- Andrea Ferrara (Scuola Normale Superiore, Pisa)
- Chiaki Kobayashi (University of Hertfordshire)
- Sandro Tacchella (University of Cambridge)
Aim:
To provide an overview of the state of the art of research in the field.
Andrea Cattaneo and Olivier Le Fèvre (deceased in 2020) started the first Summer School Galaxy Formation and Evolution in a Cosmological Context at the Laboratoire d’Astrophysique de Marseille in 2013. In 2017 the School moved to Spetses, where it is hosted by the AKSS Foundation and has attracted a more international audience.Since 2013 the School has already trained 145 students from 26 countries.
This year's School differs because of its more advanced character. There will be less emphasis on seminal articles and methodological aspects and more emphasis on where the field is heading. The lectures will focus on reviewing recent results and progress in our understanding of the formation and evolution of galaxies with a particular emphasis on those from JWST.
Programme
The School is structured around 7 lecture courses:
- Dynamics, thermodynamics and chemistry of the intracluster medium (Veronica Biffi)
- The first stars and cosmic reionisation (Andrea Ferrara)
- Extra-galactic archeology: understanding the formation and evolution of galaxies from their elemental abundances (Chiaki Kobayashi)
- Galaxy formation: an observational perspective (Andy Bunker)
- Measuring star formation rates and morphologies from observational data (Sandro Tacchella)
- Galactic outflows (Claudia Cicone)
- Models and simulations of galaxy formation in a cosmological context (Andrea Cattaneo)
| Date | Time | Topic | Lecturer |
|---|---|---|---|
| Wed 16/7 | 18:00-20:00 | The ICM: hydrostatic equilibrium, kinematics and thermodynamics | Veronica Biffi |
| Thu 17/7 | 09:00-11:00 | Star formation in primordial gas | Andrea Ferrara |
| Thu 17/7 | 11:30-13:30 | Stellar nucleosynthesis and galactic chemical evolution | Chiaki Kobayashi |
| Thu 17/7 | 18:00-20:00 | The ICM: chemical signatures | Veronica Biffi |
| Fri 18/7 | 09:00-11:00 | Population III stars: properties and detectability | Andrea Ferrara |
| Fri 18/7 | 11:30-13:30 | The Galactic archaeology and hunting the signatures of the first stars | Chiaki Kobayashi |
| Fri 18/7 | 18:00-20:00 | Galaxy formation across the Hubble time: an observational perspective | Andy Bunker |
| Sat 19/7 | 09:00-11:00 | Cosmic reionization | Andrea Ferrara |
| Sat 19/7 | 11:30-13:30 | Cosmic chemical enrichment | Chiaki Kobayashi |
| Sat 19/7 | 18:00-20:00 | The high-redshift frontier with JWST | Andy Bunker |
| Sun 20/7 | 09:00-11:00 | From light to physical quantities: stellar population analysis of high-z galaxies | Sandro Tacchella |
| Sun 20/7 | 11:30-13:30 | Molecular outflows: extracting physical properties from 3D sub-mm data | Claudia Cicone |
| Sun 20/7 | 18:00-20:00 | Semianalytic models of galaxy formation | Andrea Cattaneo |
| Mon 21/7 | 09:00-11:00 | Star formation on cosmic and resolved scales | Sandro Tacchella |
| Mon 21/7 | 11:30-13:30 | Ionised outflows: extracting physical properties from 3D optical/NIR data | Claudia Cicone |
| Mon 21/7 | 18:00-20:00 | Simulating realistic galaxy populations: progress and challenges | Andrea Cattaneo |
| Tue 22/7 | 09:00-11:00 | Structure and morphology of galaxies in the light of JWST | Sandro Tacchella |
| Tue 22/7 | 11:30-13:30 | Interpreting outflow studies: comparing data and theory | Claudia Cicone |
| Mon 22/7 | 18:00-20:00 | Feedback in galaxy formation : simulating what cannot be resolved | Andrea Cattaneo |
Venue/Accommodation
The School will take place at the Anargyrion and Korgialenion School of Spetses (AKSS), on the beautiful Greek island of Spetses, at two hours' boat from the Athenian port of Piraeus. Once a prestigious school for boys, the AKSS is now a non-profit foundation with the educational mission to host cultural and academic events.
The AKSS seafront complex comprises five buildings labelled A, B, C, D and E. Building A contains: on the ground floor, the School's lecture theatres, an indoor self-service cafeteria, and a coffee shop with outside tables (the Magus Art Café); on the first floor the offices of the AKSS's administration. Building C will accommodate the School's participants. The registration fees include accommodation at the AKSS with breakfast included, and two dinners (on Wednesday and Sunday evening).
How to reach the AKSS
The bus X96 connects Athens International Airport Eleftherios Venizelos to the port of Piraeus. The journey from the Airport to Pireaus takes about 90 minutes and there is a bus every twenty minutes throughout most of the day (view route and timetable). The price of a one-way ticket is 6 euros. Alternatively, a taxi will take you from the airport to the port of Piraeus in a time between 40 and 60 minutes. The typical taxi fare is around 50 euros.
The AKSS Foundation is at 1.4 km from the port of Spetses, connected to the port of Piraeus (Athens) by at least four boats back and forward every day. Two companies assure this connection: Alphalines and Hellenic Seaways. The sea journey from Piraeus to Spetses takes about three hours.
With the exception of a few taxis (difficult to find), there are no cars in Spetses. However, for 10 euros, a horse-drawn carriage can take you and your luggage from the port of Spetses to the AKSS so that you arrive at the School in style.
Pre-registration
The School has a registration fee of 995 euros, which includes accommodation and lunch at the AKSS. The registration fee is paid in two instalments: an advance of 495 euros before the registration deadline (25th April 2025) and the rest (500 euros) at the AKSS on the first day of the School.
To pre-register, please fill in the online application form below before the 11th April 2025:
Contact/Enquiries
For all enquiries, please send an e-mail to the School's coordinator:
Andrea Cattaneo
advancedgalaxyformationschool2025@observatoiredeparis.psl.eu