Why Galaxies Care About AGB Stars: Shining examples and common inhabitants Vienna, August 16-20 2010 First Announcement Stars are conspicuous components of galaxies, and the sites of the creation of most chemical elements. Due to their brightness and their production of heavy elements, stars on the Asymptotic Giant Branch (AGB) play an important role for understanding stellar and galactic evolution. This conference aims to build a bridge between AGB research and its application to the modelling of stellar populations and the chemical evolution of galaxies. Current developments and challenges on both sides will be discussed to reach an understanding of possibilities, limitations, and needs in both areas, and hence to improve our knowledge about the role of AGB stars in the context of galaxies. This is the follow-up meeting to the Vienna conference on a similar topic in August 2006. This time the focus of the meeting will be: 1) Complex Atmospheres & Interiors: Dynamics, Evolution & Abundances 2) Environment: Mass Loss, Chemistry & Geometry 3) Common Inhabitants: Population Studies & Synthesis Models 4) Out There: Magellanic Clouds, Local Group & Beyond 5) Perspectives Near and Far: ALMA, Herschel, JWST, ELTs, ... The conference will be hosted by the Austrian Society for Astronomy and Astrophysics and the Department of Astronomy at the University of Vienna. The meeting is supported by the IAU Working Group on Abundances in Red Giants, by the IK "Cosmic Matter Cycle" at the University of Vienna, and by the Robert F. Wing Support Fund at Ohio State University. SCIENTIFIC ORGANIZING COMMITTEE H. Olofsson (chair), V. Bujarrabal, J. Gallagher, E. Grebel, M. Groenewegen, F. Herwig, F. Kerschbaum, T. Lebzelter (co-chair), P. Marigo, K. Ohnaka, A. Richichi, R. Wing, and P.R. Wood LOCAL ORGANIZING COMMITTEE T. Lebzelter (chair), J. Hron, F. Kerschbaum, D. Lorenz W. Nowotny, R. Ottensamer, C. Paladini MEETING FORMAT The five sub-topics of the meeting will be presented and discussed in a series of oral and poster contributions. The sessions will be centered around invited reviews with considerable time allocated to contributed talks offering opportunities to highlight exciting new results. Posters will be on display throughout the meeting. INVITED SPEAKERS The list of invited speakers can be found on our web site www.univie.ac.at/galagb. CONTRIBUTIONS The SOC will select a limited number of contributions for oral presentation on the basis of the submitted abstracts. Proposed oral contributions not selected for the programme can be converted to poster presentations at the author's discretion. Deadline for the submission of abstracts for oral contributions is April 30 2010. PRE-REGISTRATION Pre-registration is possible starting now via our webpage www.univie.ac.at/galagb. This ensures you will receive all future announcements by email. REGISTRATION FEE Registration fee will be 180 EUR for early registration and 210 EUR for late registration (after May 31) and will include welcome reception, coffee breaks and a copy of the conference proceedings. Details will be given in the second announcement. CONFERENCE PROCEEDINGS Proceedings of the conference will be published in a similar way as 2006 (see ASPCS Vol. 378, "Why Galaxies Care About AGB Stars: Their importance as actors and probes"). Details will be given in the second announcement. FINANCIAL ASSISTANCE Limited support for PhD students and young researchers will be available. Details will follow. CONFERENCE VENUE AND FACILITIES The conference will be held at the campus of the University of Vienna located close to the city center. Overhead, video and computer display facilities will be available in the lecture room. Special needs can be accommodated if we are advised well in advance. TRAVEL INFORMATION Vienna can be reached 1) by Air: Vienna airport is located about 20 km east of the town. There are shuttle trains and buses to the city center at least every half hour. A second airport close to Vienna is Bratislava which is connected to Vienna by buses (1 hour) or by boat ;). 2) by Train: Vienna is connected to any major city in Europe. 3) by Road: two major European highways (E59, E60) lead to Vienna. ABOUT VIENNA Vienna, the capital of Austria, 2 million inhabitants, is situated on the banks of the Danube, a metropolis with unique charm and flair. The influx of visitors from all over the world has made Vienna the most popular urban tourist destination in Austria. Wander along narrow, medieval alleyways or across imperial squares, view Schönbrunn Palace or the Imperial Palace (Hofburg) and marvel at the majestic architecture along the Ring boulevard. Vienna possesses a lively and vast array of cultural attractions. The city has been synonymous with music for centuries, and was home to Mozart, Beethoven, Schubert, Johann Strauss, Mahler, and Berg. This outstanding musical heritage has been preserved right to the present day. Down the centuries, Vienna has always produced and nurtured world-famous artists. The collecting passion of art-loving rulers and monarchs has made Vienna a treasure house par excellence. In order to supplement these high cultural aspects you can visit one of Vienna's famous coffee houses or traditional wine taverns ("Heurige") and work your way through famous culinary specialities. LANGUAGE The language of the conference will be English. The spoken language in Vienna is the Austrian flavour of German. Nevertheless, there should be no difficulty in finding people with at least a basic knowledge of English outside the conference. WEB SITE Please visit our website for more information! www.univie.ac.at/galagb If you have any questions, please contact us at galagb.astro@univie.ac.at We are looking forward to seeing you in Vienna in August 2010!