Call for application

Following our first announcement and your request to be included in the mailing list, we invite you to apply for the 25th Course of the International School of Geophysics on "Numerical Modeling of Mantle Convection and Lithospheric Dynamics". The meeting will be held from September 8 to 14, 2005, at the Ettore Majorana Foundation and Centre for Scientific Culture in Erice, Sicily, Italy.

Y. Ricard	ENS Lyon, FR	Introduction
O. Cadek	Charles Univ., Prague, CZ	Global mantle dynamics
K. Lambeck	ANU, AU	New constraints on postglacial rebound
D. Sandwell	UCSD, USA	Lithospheric dynamics
A. Bonaccorso	INGV Catania, IT	Volcano geodesy and dynamics
J. Ritsema	IPGP, FR	Mantle dynamics constrained from tomography
J. Korenaga	Yale, USA	Thermal history of the Earth
M. Hirschmann	UMN, USA	Water, fluxes and role
G. Hirth	WHOI, USA	Melting effects on mantle dynamic

Tutorials

*A. Hofmann*	MPI Mainz, DE	Geochemical constraints on geodynamics
*J. Schmalzl*	Univ. Muenster, DE	Numerical methods for convection modeling
*P. Cordier*	Univ. Lille 1, FR	Rheology
*M. Sambridge*	ANU, AU	Inverse methods

Thursday, September 8	Arrival, registration and room check-in; Icebreaker party (7.30 pm)
Friday, September 9	Scientific sessions
Saturday, September 10	Scientific sessions
Sunday, September 11	Field excursion to the archaeological site of Segesta and the white sandy beach of S. Vito lo Capo;Social dinner (8.30 pm)
Monday, September 12	Scientific sessions
Tuesday, September 13	Scientific sessions
Wednesday, September 14	Departure from Erice

The conference format will be as specified in our first announcement: two talks in the morning, one talk/tutorial in the afternoon, and extended poster sessions. We will send the final program with invited talk titles as soon as possible.

Deadline for application: May 15, 2005
Letter of acceptance from the scientific committee: June 15, 2005
Abstract submission: AUGUST 15, 2005

Given the great number of people who expressed interest in this meeting, we expect that a selection of applications will be necessary. Priority will be granted to applicants with scientific interests close to the meeting topics, young students and researchers, and applicants from low income countries. Other priority factors might be the attendance of the whole duration of the school and an early date of registration.

The cost for the course is 600 EUR per person, including food and lodging for six days, meeting costs (e.g. registration, abstract book, ice-breaker, coffee breaks, social dinner, one-day excursion), transportation from/to Palermo airport (or Palermo/Trapani train station, if necessary).Our policy about the financial support will be the following: 1) students and post-docs will have free admission to the school; 2) in special cases of deserving young scientists (especially from low income countries) support will be granted also for the travel to Erice. Requests for financial support must be specified in the application form and well documented. Thanks to the generosity of the sponsoring institutions, we expect that the conference fee will be reduced for all the participants. However, we are not able to provide an estimate right now, but will communicate the exact amount in the letter of acceptance.

Please note that few places will be available for accompanying persons. The cost for accompanying persons is 300 EUR, which includes all food and lodging for 6 days and nights, ice-breaker, conference dinner, transportation to/from Palermo airport (or Palermo/Trepan train station only if strictly necessary), and the field excursion. Please send your request by e-mail to erice2005@ingv.it.

Participants are expected to attend the entire meeting (arrival on Thursday, September 8 and departure on Wednesday, September 14, 2005). Please note that the Centre cannot accommodate participants before and after these dates. Therefore, if you intend to expand your stay in Sicily you will have to arrange your housing independently.

Alternatively, applications can be sent by email, filling out the form liked below, to any of the following addresses: erice2005@ingv.it or nardi_s@ingv.it The attached application form can be as well printed and faxed to the following number: +39 06 51860507 (att. Carlo Giunchi / Silvia Nardi). To facilitate the meeting organization, we encourage applicants to fill out all the fields in the form. Any other communication and integration of the application form should be addressed by e-mail to erice2005@ingv.it. We invite graduate students to ask their advisor to send a short letter of support indicating how attendance at the conference will benefit them. Applicants will be informed by mid-June by the Scientific Committee whether they have been selected to participate in the course.