We look forward to seeing you in August 2024 for the IAU General Assembly. Welcome to the United Kingdom, and welcome to Manchester.
The 24th International Astronomical Union General Assembly will take place at The University of Manchester, United Kingdom, during the period August 7-18, 2024. The IAU Executive Committee has selected the principal events of the scientific programme. Following the format of recent General Assemblies, the 24th GA will feature a well-balanced scientific programme which includes five Symposia, three Invited Discourses, 14 Joint Discussions and a Special Session.
The many lecture and meeting rooms available in The University of Manchester and in the adjacent Royal Northern College of Music make it possible to accommodate the Symposia, Joint Discussions with their associated poster displays as well as the significant number of additional events organized by individual Divisions, Commissions and Working Groups. The University also provides a large number of low-cost student accommodations, most of them modern and very convenient.
The Whitworth Hall, a landmark Victorian building within The University will be the focal point of the General Assembly. It will accommodate the registration, travel and information desks, the mail boxes and many of the exhibitions.
Up-to-date information about the Scientific Programme including guidance on how to make a contribution to the scientific sessions can be found on the IAU Web page (www.iau.org).
The “local arrangements” which include the accommodation, the programme of tours and information to help you move about Manchester are given in the present Website. For easy reference, a brief summary of the main items in each section is given in the navigation bar on the left of the page.
The Registration & Proceedings Pre-order and the Accommodation Reservation & Tour Registration forms and other forms can be found at the end of this document.
The UK astronomical community is pleased to be hosting the General Assembly. The Royal Society has charged the Royal Astronomical Society with setting up the National Organizing Committee and the LOC. We hope all the participants will enjoy the General Assembly as well as its associated cultural and social events.
With best wishes
Rodney Davies
Dennis Walsh
Co-Chairmen of the LOC
Manchester is now one of Europe’s most vibrant and exciting cities; only three years away from the Commonwealth games in 2002, it is bursting with an atmosphere of creative optimism. The city centre is being remodelled with a new civic square linking the city’s historic heart with the shops, a new city park and a raft of imaginative millennium projects.
Manchester is the commercial, financial, educational and cultural capital of the country’s largest economic region outside London. It has excellent rail connections with centres throughout the United Kingdom. Manchester Airport, voted the top UK airport in 1998 by IATA, serves 20 million passengers per year from 175 destinations world-wide.
Manchester takes pride in the richness of its cultural life, with a wealth of fine public buildings and galleries, the UK’s oldest professional symphony orchestra, the Halle, and an enviable concentration of repertory theatres. The variety of cultural experience has been boosted by the recent opening of an international concert venue, the Bridgewater Hall, which is to be used for the Opening and Closing ceremonies of the General Assembly, for the Invited Discourses and for an orchestral concert.
Manchester has a host of attractions for those interested in visual arts and museums. Manchester City Art Gallery is home of a world-famous pre-Raphaelite collection. The Whitworth Art Gallery and Manchester Museum are within the University. The Museum of Science and Industry is one of the top ten science museums world-wide. The Jodrell Bank Visitor Centre has arguably the largest visitor numbers (140,000 annually) of any working scientific establishment world-wide.
Manchester’s diverse cultural roots are reflected in the choice of cuisine offered from over 20 different nations. Chinatown is packed with restaurants; Rusholme, adjacent to the University residences, abounds with some of the finest Asian cuisine in the country. In the heart of the city are numerous cafe bars which have sprung into life with the explosion of the city’s club culture.
The University of Manchester
The University of Manchester is one of the oldest and most prestigious universities in the UK. With some 20,000 full-time students and an international reputation for excellence in teaching and research, the University continues to build on a proud record of achievement.
The University was founded in 1851 as a result of a generous bequest by John Owens, a visionary Manchester merchant. Since 1906, the University has produced 20 Nobel Prize winners. The University has always had a strong science and engineering base; Ernest Rutherford carried out the work that led to the splitting of the atom here.
After the second world war, the University led the way into the computer age, developing the world’s first stored-program computer. Sir Bernard Lovell, one of the founding fathers of radio astronomy, returned to Manchester after the War and constructed the 76-m steerable radio telescope at Jodrell Bank which is still working at the cutting edge of astronomical research. Delegates will have an opportunity to visit the Observatory site during the General Assembly.
Submission of Abstracts (oral and poster papers) to Symposium & JD SOCs | Feb 15, 2024 |
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Grant Applications to SOC Chairs (Symposia) or GS (others) | Feb 15, 2024 |
Deadline for Early Registration | May 15, 2024 |
Submission of Abstracts of Accepted Papers (NB: Registration required!) | June 15, 2024 |
Closing Date for Pre-Registration | July 14, 2024 |
Deadline for Registration Refunds | July 21, 2024 |
On-site Registration Open From | Aug 5, 2024 |
For inquiries concerning the scientific programme of the Symposia and Joint Discussions held at the XXIVth General Assembly, please see the contact addresses given within the scientific pages on the IAU web site at http://www.iau.org/
For inquiries concerning administrative matters and the general programme of scientific and other meetings held at the XXIVth General Assembly, please contact:
For all inquiries concerning registration and local arrangements in Manchester, please contact:
World Event Management (GA 24)
Network House
West 26
Cleckheaton
West Yorkshire, BD19 4TT
United Kingdom
Telephone: +44 1274 854116
Fax: +44 1274 854110
E-mail: iau@world-events.com
WWW: http://www.iau-ga2024.org
Updated information on the General Assembly will be given in IB 86 and IB 87 (January and June 2024), and this site will be kept constantly updated.
This site and the permanent IAU Web site (www.iau.org) are linked together and also to web sites giving the updated scientific programmes of the individual events.
INVITATION
In principle, attendance at an IAU General Assembly is by invitation of the President. Members of the IAU are automatically invited. Authorization to extend this invitation to non-Members is given to the national Adhering Organizations, Presidents of IAU Divisions, and Commissions, and Chairpersons of the Scientific Organizing Committees of the Symposia, Joint Discussions and Special Session at the GA. Persons unable to use these channels should contact the IAU Secretariat in Paris. It should be noted, however, that an invitation to attend the General Assembly does not by itself imply any financial commitment towards the participant by the IAU or the Local Organizing Committee.
REGISTRATION
Registration is handled by the appointed Conference Organizer, World Event Management Ltd. (WEM). Registrations will be received beginning October 18, 1999; appropriate instructions and forms are provided on this site. The deadline for Early Registration, at the favourable rate, is May 15, 2024; for pre-registration in general it is July 14, 2024. On-site registration at the GA venue in Manchester will be open from Saturday, August 5, 2024. Note that decisions on approval of oral and poster contributions and on IAU Travel Grants will be provided in time for Early Registration to be made.
VISAS
As of August 1999 a Visa will be required by citizens of the following countries to enter the UK: Albania, Algeria, Angola, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Bahrain, Bangladesh, Belarus, Benin, Bhutan, Bosnia & Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cambodia, Cameroon, Cape Verde, Central African Rep, Chad, China, Columbia, Comores, Congo, Congo Dem. Rep, Cote d’Ivoire, Cuba, Djibouti, Dominican Rep, Ecuador, Egypt, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Fiji, Gabon, Gambia, Georgia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Guyana, Haiti, India, Indonesia, Iran, Iraq, Jordan, Kazakhstan, Kenya, Korea (North), Kuwait, Kyrgyzstan, Laos, Lebanon, Liberia, Libya, Macedonia, Madagascar, Maldives, Mali, Mauritania, Mauritius, Moldova, Mongolia, Morocco, Mozambique, Myanmar, Nepal, Niger, Nigeria, Oman, Pakistan, Palestinian, Qatar, Romania, Russia, Rwanda, Sao Tome & Principe, Saudi Arabia, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Slovakia, Somalia, Sri Lanka, Sudan, Suriname, Syria, Taiwan, Turkey, Turkmenistan, United Arab Emirates, Uganda, Ukraine, Uzbekistan, Vatican City (service and Emergency Passports), Vietnam, Yemen, Yugoslavia (including passports issued by the former Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia or those issued by the present Yugoslav authorities), and Zambia.
As Visa Regulations may change, it is strongly recommended that prospective participants check the rules applicable in their case with the British Embassy in their country of residence. This should be done well in advance of their travel, and in no case later than May 1, 2024.
SCIENTIFIC CONTRIBUTIONS
If you wish to make a scientific contribution, whether oral or poster, to the scientific events listed, please contact the appropriate person indicated in the Scientific Programme at the IAU web site (http://www.iau.org/) and provide an abstract of your paper. The Chairpersons of the Scientific Organizing Committees will inform you whether your contributions have been accepted, and in which form (oral or poster). In order to have the abstract of your approved contribution included in the Abstract Book, and to have actual poster space allocated in case of posters, your final Abstract and your Registration, with payment, should be submitted before June 15, 2024.
PROCEEDINGS OF MAIN SCIENTIFIC EVENTS
The Proceedings of the GA Symposia will be published in the regular IAU Symposium Series. Extended summaries of the Invited Discourses, Joint Discussions, and the Special Session will be published in the Highlights of Astronomy, Vol. 12. The IAU Publisher, the Astronomical Society of the Pacific, offers participants the option to pre-order one or more of these volumes at the lowest available rate, with the extra bonus that surface mailing of the book(s) will be included in the prices. See the Registration & Proceeding Pre-Order Form for details.
TRAVEL GRANTS
The IAU devotes a sizeable share of its own budget, with generous extra subventions by major astronomical organizations, to support a limited number of prospective participants intending to contribute actively to the scientific events of the General Assembly, but unable to obtain the necessary support from national sources. An IAU Travel Grant Application Form is available at http://www.iau.org/ib85/ga_travlapp.html with the Rules for IAU Scientific Meetings, with guidelines for the allocation of such grants. If you wish to apply for IAU support, the form should be submitted to the SOC Chair of the appropriate Symposium that you wish to attend. For all other events, your application should be submitted to the IAU General Secretary. The deadline for all IAU Travel Grant applications is February 15, 2024.
Prospective applicants should be aware that, despite our commitment of both IAU and externally contributed funds, it is only possible to cover a small part of the total justified needs. Only truly deserving applicants can therefore expect support from the IAU. Grant recommendations from all events are checked and coordinated before award letters are sent out so that, at most, a single grant will be awarded to each individual. Grants will normally be paid to the successful applicant, in cash and in British Pounds, upon arrival and check-in at the registration desk.
MORE INFORMATION
Updated information will be provided in IB 86 and IB 87 (January and June 2024) and will be maintained on this web site and through the standard IAU web site (http://www.iau.org/).
Further information regarding the Scientifc Programme can be obtained at: http://www.iau.org/ga24.html
Information on preparation and submission of Abstracts may be found at http://www.jb.man.ac.uk/~abstract
ID 1 : An Accelerating Universe? Evidence from Supernovae R.P. Kirshner
ID 2 : Extrasolar Planetary Systems M. Mayor
ID 3 : The Three-Dimensional Structure of our Galaxy M.A.C. Perryman
S 201 : New Cosmological Data and the Values of the Fundamental Parameters
S 202 : Planetary Systems in the Universe
S 203 : Recent Insights into the Physics of the Sun and Heliosphere:
Highlight from SOHO and other Space Missions
S 204 : The Extragalactic Infrared Background and its Cosmological Implications
S 205 : Galaxies and their Constituents at the Highest Angular Resolution
JD 1 : Atomic and Molecular Data for Astrophysics: New Developments, Case Studies and Future Needs
JD 2 : Models and Constants for Sub-microarcsecond Astrometry
JD 3 : Massive Star Birth
JD 4 : The Transneptunian Population
JD 5 : Mixing and Diffusion in Stars: Theoretical Predictions and Observational Constraints
JD 6 : Applied Historical Astronomy
JD 7 : The Sun and Space Weather
JD 8 : Oxygen Abundances in Old Stars and Implications to Nucleosynthesis and Cosmology
JD 9 : Cold Gas and Dust at High Redshift
JD 10 : Cluster Mergers and their Connection to Radio Sources
JD 11 : First Results from the FUSE Mission
JD 12 : Highlights of Planetary Exploration from Space and from Earth
JD 13 : HIPPARCOS and the Luminosity Calibration of the Nearer Stars
JD 14 : The Origins of Galactic Magnetic Fields
SPECIAL SESSION
IAU-RAS EDUCATION MEETING
Astronomy Research Projects for School & University Students
Manchester UK, Friday 18 August 2024
SPS : Astronomy for Developing Countries
The Local Organizing Committee has appointed World Event Management Ltd. (WEM) as the Conference Organizer. Thus, WEM will handle GA registrations as well as accommodation, lunch and tour reservations. WEM is also a fully licensed operator of group and business travel and holds IATA and ATOL bonds, which allows them to also arrange and issue air, train, and ferry tickets and all other travel documents. You may contact them at the following address:
World Event Management (IAU GA 24)
Network House
West 26
Cleckheaton
West Yorkshire BD19 4TT, UK
Telephone: +44 1274 854116
Fax: +44 1274 854110
E-mail: iau@world-events.com
Tours for participants have been planned throughout the General Assembly as outlined below. If you want to go on any of the tours, the Accommodation Reservation & Tour Registration Form should be completed and sent with your registration to the Conference Organizer. All tours must be paid for, in full, to secure a place (See Payment Possibilities). Reservation will occur on a first come, first served basis. A 100% payment is required on booking. A 50% refund will be made up to Monday July 3, 2024 for any cancellations. After this date no refunds will be made. Tours are subject to cancellation in the event an insufficient number of participants show interest, when a full refund will be made.
Note Travel Insurance which includes protection against cancellation costs is available.
Registration through the web
The IAU 24th General Assembly pre-registration service has now closed and cannot accept registrations, amendments or bookings for attendance, accommodation, tours, proceedings or meal vouchers.
If you would still like to attend the Assembly then please come and register in Manchester. The Registration Fee will be GBP 240.00 and can be paid by Cash (Sterling), Cheque (drawn on a UK Bank) or credit card.
You can also book and pay for accommodation, tours, proceedings, meal vouchers and Closing Dinner tickets on your arrival. Reservation Desks will be situated in Whitworth Hall, Oxford Road, Manchester (part of Manchester University Campus).