Workshop Programme
Last updated: 31/08/2025
Monday 1st September
For those in town on Monday evening, we have a designated pub for an informal meet-up and chat. We will be in the King's Arms from 7pm onwards. The Oxford people will get there a little beforehand to see if we can find a suitable area. There is seating outside and in, and the place does food if you have not eaten. The King's Arms is on the corner of Parks Road and Holywell Street, very central and is about a 10 minute walk from Christ Church.
Tuesday 2nd September
08:30 - 09:10: Welcome desk open for registration
09:10 - 09:15: Stephen Smartt: welcome and scope of workshop
Topic: Gravitational Wave detections and prospects (CHAIR: Susanna Vergani)
| Time | Speaker | Topic |
| 09:15 - 09:40 (20+5min) | Patrick Brady | Distant collisions: adapting our observational strategies |
| 09:40 - 10:05 (20+5min) | Barbara Patricelli | GW Observations with LVK: Preliminary results from O4b/O4c, Virgo contribution to O4 and future prospects |
| 10:05 - 10:30 (20+5min) | Stephen Fairhurst | . Gravitational Wave Observations and Observing Plans |
| 10:30 - 10:45 (15min) | Gianluca Gemme | Discussion session and Q&A on the GW detectors and plans |
| 10:45 - 11:15 | Tea/Coffee Break |
Topic: The GRB-kilonova connection and EM counterparts (CHAIR: Jesper Sollerman)
| Time | Speaker | Topic |
| 11:15 - 11:35 (15+5min) | Daniele Malesani | The GRB - kilonova connection |
| 11:35 - 11:55 (15+5min) | Andrew Levan | Prospects for kilonovae with the James Webb Space Telescope |
| 11:55 - 12:15 (15+5min) | Samantha Oates | The follow-up of GW alerts with Swift/UVT and J221851-48240 |
| 12:15 - 12:45 (30min) | Gavin Lamb and Nikhil Sarin | Discussion session: Observation meets theory and what can we learn from coincident multi-messenger detections |
| 12:45 - 13:45 | Lunch |
Topic: X-ray transients, counterparts and locating mergers (CHAIR: Rob Fender)
| Time | Speaker | Topic |
| 13:45 - 14:05 (15+5min) | Peter Jonker | Fast X-ray transients as probes of binary neutron star mergers |
| 14:05 - 14:25 (15+5min) | Janet Chen | Search for the optical counterpart of Einstein Probe discovered fast X-ray transients from Lulin observatory |
| 14:25 - 14:45 (15+5min) | Hamid Hamidani | Early kilonova emission as a tool to probe the central engine and map the merger ejecta |
| 14:45 - 15:00 (15min) | Eric Burns | Discussion session: The future of astrophysics mission in the US |
| 15:00 - 15:20 (20min) | Tea/Coffee break |
Topic: Analysis of kilonova emission (CHAIR: Kate Maguire)
| Time | Speaker | Topic |
| 15:20 - 15:40 (15+5min) | Masaomi Tanaka | Understanding light curves and spectra of kilonovae |
| 15:40 - 16:00 (15+5min) | Darach Watson | The rapid evolution of kilonovae |
| 16:00 - 16:20 (15+5min) | Christine Collins | Understanding kilonovae with radiative transfer simulations |
| 16:20 - 16:40 (15+5min) | Anders Jerkstrand | New models for kilonova IR emission - guidance for observation planning |
| 16:40 - 17:00 (20min) | Masaomi Tanaka and James Gillanders | Discussion session: understanding the thermal emission from kilonovae and r-process production |
18:00 - Public Lecture - Martin Wood Theatre
19:15 - Pre-dinner drinks in the Ante-Hall at Christ Church
19:45 - Workshop Dinner - Christ Church
Wednesday 3rd September
Topic: Chemical evolution and the r-process (CHAIR: Maria Grazia Bernardini)
| Time | Speaker | Topic |
| 09:15 - 09:40 (20+5min) | Kim Venn | Chemical enrichment in ultra faint and microgalaxies |
| 09:40 - 10:05 (20+5min) | Freeke van de Voort | r-process enrichment in cosmological simulations |
| 10:05 - 10:30 (20+5min) | Chiaki Kobayashi | Galactic Chemical Evolution |
| 10:30 - 10:50 (20min) | Chiaki Kobayashi | Discussion session: Can neutron star mergers produce all the r-process material in the galaxy |
| 10:50 - 11:20 (30min) | Tea/Coffee break |
Topic: Binary black hole mergers, multi-messenger signals and dark sirens (CHAIR: Lauren Rhodes)
| Time | Speaker | Topic |
| 11:20 - 11:40 (15+5min) | Aleksandra Olejak | The Origin and formation channels of LVK gravitational wave sources: current status |
| 11:40 - 12:00 (15+5min) | Max Briel | BBH formation using detailed binary models and the observability of pair-instability supernovae |
| 12:00 - 12:20 (20min) | Rachel Gray | Discussion session: GW cosmology prospects and targeted EM follow-up of dark sirens |
| 12:20 - 12:30 | Sergio Campana | WEDGE - Wide-field explorer for discovering graviational wave electromagnetic counterparts |
| 12:30 - 12:40 (10min) | Discussion session: S250818k / SN2025ulz | |
| 12:40 - 13:40 | Lunch |
Topic: Electromagnetic follow-up in O5 (CHAIR: Sergio Campana)
| Time | Speaker | Topic |
| 13:40 - 14:00 (15+5min) | Igor Andreoni | Gravitational wave follow-up in the era of Rubin and Roman |
| 14:00 - 14:20 (15+5min) | Sean MacBride | The Rubin Observatory Target of Opportunity Program |
| 14:20 - 14:35 (15min) | Francesco Pannarale | Discussion session: Localizing and detecting gravitational-wave sources in O5 |
| 14:35 - 14:50 (15min) | Danny Steeghs and Dan Perley | Discussion session: The global landscape of optical multi-messenger facilities beyond O4 |
| 14:50 - 15:05 (15min) | Kate Maguire and Silvia Piranmonte | Discussion session: Synergies and efficiencies: what do we need to do now to be more efficient in O5? |
| 15:05 - 15:30 | Tea/Coffee |
Topic: The 3G era of Einstein Probe and Cosmic Explorer (CHAIR: Heloise Stevance)
| Time | Speaker | Topic |
| 15:30 - 15:50 (15+5min) | Eleonora Loffredo | Prospects for optical detections from binary neutron star mergers with the next-generation multi-messenger observatories |
| 15:50 - 16:10 (15+5min) | Alberto Colombo | Multi-messenger observations in the Einstein Telescope Era: Binary Neutron Star and Black Hole - Neutron Star Mergers |
| 16:10 - 16:30 (20min) | Om Sharan Salafia | Discussion session: How many kilonovae do we need in the 3G era, and what data do we need for them? |
| 16:30 - 16:50 (20min) | Nial Tanvir and Nic Walton | Discussion: Gravitational wave facility horizon toward 2040 and planning for multi-messenger astronomy in the 3G era |
| 16:50 | Close |