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<p><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);" class="">Dear all,</span> </p>
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<div style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);" class="">We are happy to
announce the international conference<br class="">
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<div style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);" class=""><br class="">
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<div style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);" class=""><b class=""><font class="" size="4">Bridging scales: star clusters and their
host galaxies from the Local to the high-z Universe</font></b></div>
<div style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);" class=""><br class="">
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<div style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);" class="">which will be held
in <b class="">Matera (Italy) from the 1st to the 5th of
September 2025.</b></div>
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</b></div>
<div style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);" class="">Website:<b class=""> </b><font class="" face="Roboto, Arial, sans-serif" color="#0433ff"><span style="letter-spacing: 0.2px;" class=""><a href="https://sites.google.com/inaf.it/bridging-scales-in-matera-2025/home" target="_blank" class="" moz-do-not-send="true">https://sites.google.com/inaf.it/bridging-scales-in-matera-2025/</a></span></font></div>
<div style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);" class="">Contacts: <a href="mailto:bridgingscales2025@gmail.com" target="_blank" class="moz-txt-link-freetext" moz-do-not-send="true">bridgingscales2025@gmail.com</a></div>
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<div style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);" class=""><b class="">Rationale</b></div>
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<p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; text-align: justify; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 6pt;" class=""> <span style="font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;" class="">Observations of the local and high-z Universe confirm that star formation is an inherently clumpy and clustered process and,
as a consequence, the physical properties of star clusters are expected to be intimately linked with those of their hosts. In particular, the long-lived massive star clusters can be used to trace galaxy assembly and the gas properties at the time of their
formation, and they may be one of the primary sources of reionization of the Universe. </span></p>
<p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; text-align: justify; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 6pt;" class=""> <span style="font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;" class="">This field is currently undergoing a revolutionizing phase. Large surveys carried out with ground and space based telescopes
(such as Gaia, HST, Euclid, ALMA, ESO/VLT) have enabled unprecedented photometric and spectroscopic studies in the Local Universe and the JWST’s access to rest-frame optical wavelengths at z>3 along with the magnification power of gravitational lensing are
opening a new era in the study of the star-forming modes well within the reionization epoch allowing us to directly probe star cluster formation and constrain unprecedented/unexpectedly dense stellar systems as possible sites of GC formation. </span></p>
<p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; text-align: justify; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 6pt;" class=""> <span style="font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;" class="">The formation and evolution of star clusters is definitely a multi-physics and multi-scale problem, involving star formation
and feedback, galaxy formation and evolution, </span><span style="font-style: italic; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;" class="">N</span><span style="font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;" class="">-body
dynamics, stellar and binary evolution. As a consequence, the broad range of interconnected issues concerning the study of star clusters and their host galaxies can be addressed only with an interdisciplinary approach. </span></p>
<p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; text-align: justify; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 6pt;" class=""> <span style="font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;" class="">In this exciting and rapidly changing context, we aim at bringing together observers and theorists from both the local and
high-z Universe communities. The goal is to inspire discussions and exchange ideas about how to perform a transformative leap in the field, build a comprehensive picture of star cluster formation and evolution, explore the link between old massive, young star
clusters and high-z proto-globular clusters, their connection to galaxy formation and their potential role in the reionization of the Universe. Focus will be given to how efficiently leverage available observations spanning different spatial, temporal and
physical scales, along with those that will be soon on-line thanks to the several upcoming new giant facilities (such as E-ELT, Vera Rubin Telescope, Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope, GMT), and the new generations of dynamical and cosmological hydro-dynamical
simulations at spatial scales suitable to resolve stellar clusters. </span></p>
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<div style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);" class="">The <b class="">key
scientific topics</b> that will be covered at the conference
are the following.</div>
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<div style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);" class="">
<ul class="">
<li style="margin-left: 15px;" class="">Local young clusters:
insights on cluster formation and early evolution</li>
<li style="margin-left: 15px;" class="">Local globular
clusters and globular cluster systems and their link with
galaxy assembly and evolution</li>
<li style="margin-left: 15px;" class="">High-z observations of
proto-clusters and dense stellar systems: their role in the
early Universe</li>
<li style="margin-left: 15px;" class="">Cluster formation in
the context of cosmological simulations</li>
<li style="margin-left: 15px;" class="">Next generation of
observational facilities </li>
</ul>
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<div style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);" class=""><b class="">SOC</b></div>
<div style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);" class="">Emanuele Dalessandro
(INAF OAS; co-Chair)</div>
<div style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);" class="">Alison Sills (McMaster
University; co-Chair)</div>
<div style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);" class="">Mario Cadelano
(University of Bologna)</div>
<div style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);" class="">Michela Mapelli
(Heidelberg University)</div>
<div style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);" class="">Florent Renaud
(Observatoire Astronomique de Strasbourg)</div>
<div style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);" class="">Eros Vanzella (INAF
OAS)</div>
<div style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);" class="">Enrico Vesperini
(Indiana University)</div>
<pre class="moz-signature" cols="72">--
Alison Sills
Professor, Physics & Astronomy</pre>
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