Monday 10th January 2022

Dear Massive Stars community,

It is more than two years(!) since we first opened registration for IAUS361, and we are now finally confident of holding a safe and well-attended conference in the week 8-13 May 2022.

Although most of the world is currently in the middle of a new wave of COVID, we anticipate (based on current government statements and experience from last year) that restrictions on travel and meetings will have eased well before the meeting begins.  We don’t intend to impose any of our own COVID-related rules for the Symposium, but we will follow all local regulations for meetings that are applicable at the time of the conference.  The following webpage will be kept updated with a summary of current restrictions and links to the latest government information:
https://www.massivestars2020.ie/meeting-info/covid-19/

The venue will be the same as before, the Slieve Russell Hotel in County Cavan, Ireland.

Because it is now more than two years since the original abstract submission deadline, the SOC has decided to issue a new call for abstracts of contributed talks and posters and will then assemble a new programme.  Unfortunately this means that if you were allocated a contributed talk in the original programme, this no longer holds and you will need to submit a new abstract for consideration by the SOC.  We recognise that some may be disappointed by this decision, but the SOC saw no other way to give a fair chance for new and cutting-edge results to be presented at the Symposium.

We are opening abstract submission TODAY at the Symposium website:
https://www.massivestars2020.ie/registration/abstract-submission/

PLEASE SUBMIT YOUR ABSTRACTS BEFORE 24TH OF JANUARY FOR CONSIDERATION BY THE SOC!

If you presented your work at the Virtual Preview Meeting in May 2021 this will be included in the Proceedings; you may still submit a new abstract but it should be based on different research and results.

We have been allocated €20,000 in travel support from the IAU to help participants attend the Symposium. You will have the opportunity to apply for this when submitting an abstract.  Please give careful thought to how you justify your request, because we expect to be oversubscribed and it will be difficult to share out the funds in an equitable manner. If you are an early-stage PhD student you may ask your academic supervisor to write an email to info@massivestars2020.ie in support of your request for travel funding.

Uncertainty with COVID restrictions means that the timeline for abstracts and registration will be more compressed than before, to give people enough time to apply for visas (if needed).  The indicative timeline is as follows:

• 10 January:  Abstract submission + travel support requests opens
• 24 January:  Abstract submission + travel support requests closes
• 08 February: SOC communicates decision on programme and travel support
• 08 February: Registration opens for Symposium
• 08 May:  Symposium begins with a welcome reception (TBC)
• 13 May:  Symposium ends at approx. 17:00

Please bear with us if the timeline changes slightly; we will do our best to communicate the travel support and the programme by the 8th of February so that everyone has at least 3 months to plan their travel and obtain visas if required.

COVID has obviously limited our ability to plan far in advance, especially for social, education, and public engagement activities. These may not happen exactly as originally planned, and such events have become significantly more expensive to organise in the past two years. We will do our best while keeping costs under control.

Finally, many of you communicated with Anne Grace back in 2019/2020 about the symposium.  Anne has now taken well-deserved retirement and in her place Dr Sophie Murray of DIAS has joined the LOC.  Please don’t write to Anne’s email address with queries but continue to use info@massivestars2020.ie to communicate with the organisers.

Best regards,
The SOC and LOC of IAUS361