MODEST-25SPZ

19-23 May 2025, The Netherlands

About

We are organizing a small conference on Advanced Simulations and Modeling in Astrophysics in honor of prof. Simon Portegies Zwart's 60th birthday and a prolific career in computational astrophysics. The meeting will be held from 19 to 23 May 2025 and accommodate some 50 researchers over all career levels in astronomy, computer science and mathematics.
Note: this meeting is not the same as MODEST-25!

Organisers

LOC

The local organising committee consists of:

SOC

The scientific organising committee consists of the LOC, plus:

Location

The meeting will held be at Academiehuis Zwolle (also known as the Grote Kerk), in the center of town.

Zwolle is directly reachable by train from Amsterdam Schiphol Airport, for the train schedule see the NS website

Topics

Advanced Simulations and Modelling in Astrophysics

With MODEST-25SPZ, we celebrate 25 years of MODEST by bringing together experts from diverse disciplines to address cutting-edge challenges at the intersections of astrophysics, planetary science, multi-physics and multi-scale modeling, data science, and high-performance computing. The event will explore emerging opportunities in coupled physical processes geared to astronomy, uncertainty quantification, and interdisciplinary research on Solar System formation and the origins of life. By leveraging advancements in machine learning, exascale computing, and statistical methods, participants will discuss fundamental questions about code design, data synthesis, and inference across fields. The meeting aims to foster collaboration between computationally and theoretically oriented researchers, bridging gaps between disciplines in astronomy, and computer science. Through presentations, tutorials, and collaborative sessions, we seeks to establish a road map for future research, by looking back at the last 30 years during which the discipline of computational astrophysics emerged.

We will promote community-building around shared tools such as AMUSE in astronomy and in other domains, and spark interdisciplinary discussions that accelerate scientific progress. This gathering honors the honoree’s legacy by uniting diverse expertise to address some of the most profound scientific questions of our time.

Programme

Note: subject to change

"Simon's contributions" talks are 20 minutes, other talks 15 minutes. Talks are followed by up to 30 minutes discussion.

Monday 19th (9:30-12:30): Modelling dense stellar systems

Monday 19th (14:00-17:00): Modelling dense stellar systems (continued)

Monday 19th (17:00): Borrel (welcome drinks)

Tuesday 20th (9:30-12:30): Multi-physics and multi-scale simulations

Tuesday 20th (14:00-17:00): Stellar systems, binary and triple population synthesis

Wednesday 21st (9:30-13:00): Stellar systems, binary and triple population synthesis (continued)

Wednesday 21st (15:00-17:00): social event (boat tour)

Wednesday 21st (18:30): dinner

Thursday 22nd (9:30-12:30): Planetary systems, the Solar system and the Oort cloud

Thursday 22nd (14:00-17:00): Planetary systems, the Solar system and the Oort cloud (continued)

Friday 23rd (9:30-12:30): High-performance computing

Registration

Note that the meeting is limited to 50 participants, and registration does not imply admission to the meeting. We will inform participants on their admission by April 30th at the latest.

Important dates

March 14th - registration deadline and abstract deadline
March 31st - notification of acceptance to the meeting and talks
April 30th - extended registration deadline

Registration fee

The meeting will cost €160.

Registration form

Register via this form.

Contact

For questions, please contact the chair of the local organising committee.