International Symposium on Nuclear Astrophysics
Nuclei in the Cosmos X, 2008

Report to IUPAP

The 10th International Symposium on Nuclei in the Cosmos (NIC10), organized by Michigan State University , was held from July 27– Aug 1, 2008 on Mackinac Island , Michigan . The NIC series is the most important international meeting in the field of nuclear astrophysics. NIC10 was a great success, bringing together ~240 scientists from ~25 countries spanning the areas of astronomy, theoretical astrophysics, nuclear experiment, nuclear theory, and geochemistry. There were over 200 scientific contributions, with about 67 oral presentations, and 135 posters. The large number of poster presentations was due to the traditional format of having only plenary sessions and ensured that the main purpose of the meeting, discussions across field boundaries, was achieved.

Particular attention was paid to increasing the number of female participants. As was noted by several participants, NIC10 represented a significant step towards this goal. Compared to previous meetings of the NIC series, we achieved a factor of 5 increase in the percentage of invited talks by women, and overall female participation was more than doubled. As in previous meetings of the series, oral presentations were spread across seniority levels with a number of talks given by graduate students. A large participation of graduate students and young postdocs was enabled by the IAUPAP co-sponsorship, which was used for travel support and a reduced conference fee for graduate students.
The meeting was deliberately structured to maximize the opportunity for discussions across field boundaries. Oral sessions were grouped by topic to ensure active participation from all subfields. The large number of posters posed a particular challenge. We chose a new format that turned out to work very well. Posters were grouped by topic on the walls of individual, adjacent rooms, and tables with seating were arranged in the center of each room (food and drinks were also available). This triggered lively discussions and interactions, also among the poster presenters in a room. The audience was able to target topics of interest, and upon entering a room would be immersed in an active atmosphere of scientific exchange.

The scientific sessions focused on the role of nuclear properties in astrophysical scenarios and their signatures. Diverse contributions from nuclear experiment, nuclear theory, astronomy, and theoretical astrophysics covered the following topics at the forefront of nuclear astrophysics.

  • Big Bang nucleosynthesis and the Li problem
  • Signatures and impact of the first stars
  • Stellar nucleosynthesis and measurements and evaluations of reaction rates
  • Abundance signatures (g-ray astronomy, pre-solar grains)
  • The nuclear physics and nucleosynthesis of core collapse supernovae
  • The rapid neutron capture process (the question of the site, new experimental data, new observations and their possible explanations)
  • The slow neutron capture process, especially the production of 60 Fe and advances in modeling the complex hydrodynamics of AGB stars.
  • The nuclear physics of the p-process
  • Challenges in understanding type Ia supernovae from ignition to modeling spectra
  • Galactic chemical evolution
  • Explosive hydrogen burning in Novae and X-ray bursts
  • Crust and interior physics of neutron stars, as constrained by both laboratory experiment and observations
The musical contribution to NIC10 was provided by the Sunny Wilkinson and Ron Newman Trio, with a special arrangement of songs called the "Astrophysics Medley" "Star Stuff", written by "Ima Planet and Merc Curie" and arranged by " Mel Key Way ".
The NIC core program was complemented by several additional activities. Before the NIC meeting, a school for graduate students and postdocs was organized by the Joint Institute for Nuclear Astrophysics at Argonne National Laboratory and the University of Chicago to prepare young people for the meeting. During NIC, JINA sponsored an evening session to discuss the exchange of nuclear data among the nuclear astrophysics community. After NIC, about 20 participants joined for a satellite workshop on nuclear astrophysics experiments with reaccelerated beams at the NSCL at Michigan State University.
We gratefully acknowledge the sponsors of NIC 10: the Joint Institute for Nuclear Astrophysics, IUPAP, the MSU National Superconducting Cyclotron Laboratory, The MSU Department of Physics and Astronomy, the MSU Office of the Provost, the MSU College of Natural Science, Nuclear Physics A, Saint Gobain Crystals, The European Physical Journal, Oerlikon Leybold Vacuum, Hilger Crystals, The University of Chicago Press, and WIENER Plein & Baus Ltd.
We are looking forward to seeing everybody at NIC11, to be held in Heidelberg , Germany in 2010.

The NIC10 Local Organizing Committee at Michigan State University :

  • Sam Austin
  • Timothy Beers
  • Alex Brown
  • Ed Brown
  • Richard Cyburt
  • Chasity Fudella
  • Bill Lynch
  • Barbara Pollack
  • Hendrik Schatz (chair)
  • Remco Zegers