IOC+ASP2024 LOC Meeting

Tuesday 26 Dec 2023, 15:00 → 16:25 Europe/Zurich

Bobby Samir Acharya (Abdus Salam Int. Cent. Theor. Phys. (IT)), Christine Darve (European Spallation Source), Fernando Ferroni (Sapienza Universita e INFN, Roma I (IT)), Ketevi Adikle Assamagan (Brookhaven National Laboratory (US)), Mounia Laassiri (University of Helsinki)

chat.txt

video1774784522.mp4

Present: Kétévi, Farida, Mohamed Ouchrif, Lawrence, Diallo, Funmi, Sanae, Mounia

Apologies: Ferroni, Uli, Ulrich, Kenneth

Action Items / Salient Points from the Meeting on December 26, 2023:

1. Prof. Fassi and Prof. Chabab had a meeting with the head of the Department of Scientific Research and Higher Education of the Minister in Morocco on December 26.

   • Endorsement received from the Minister, and support for our event confirmed.

   • Invitation letter from the Minister will be issued following their protocol.

   • The head will check with several bodies.

   • A single letter will be issued under the name of the Lab, listing all IOC representatives.

   • The letter will be released on January 10th.

2. Invitation letters from UM5 and UCA:

   • Prof. Fassi will discuss with Prof. Chabab to prepare an additional letter in case of any delay from the Minister's letter.

   • Chairs will follow up and provide feedback.

3. Comments on the ASP2024 poster were addressed, and a few changes need attention, need to add:

   • One representative from CNRST.

   • Two representatives from UM6P.

   • Minister of Higher Education.

   • Minister of National Education.

4. Site visits, dates:

   • February 12-16: Meeting officials in Rabat & Marrakesh to motivate support for ASP2024.

   • April 15-19, 2024: Review logistics in Marrakesh and carry out learners' outreach.

   • Dates have been confirmed.

5. Funding:

   • Chairs had a meeting with the head of the Department of Scientific Research and Higher Education of the Minister.

   • €17k-€20k will be provided from Moroccan Universities.

   • Create a channel between National Education and Higher Education to prepare the site-visits.

   • Chairs will prepare a presentation note to send to both Ministers.

   • Request to select more students from Master level.

6. Housing for students:

   • The hotel has graciously increased the number of rooms to accommodate 100 students, totaling 50 rooms.

   • A pro-forma invoice for accommodation has already been received, including payment details.

7. Housing for teachers:

   • Coverage for the participation of these teachers should be extended by the Ministry of Education or the pertinent government branch overseeing teachers' affairs.

   • Prof. Fassi will discuss with Prof. Chabab to use the UCA housing for teachers, including catering for breakfasts and dinners for 7 days.

8. Catering:

   • Housing mentioned above includes half-catering for breakfasts and dinners.

   • For lunches and coffee breaks, the LOC provided another estimate from the same company service, including 2 options for lunch and 4 options for coffee breaks.

   • Regarding the pricing, there seems to be a discrepancy between the first estimate (devis) being inclusive of taxes and the new one with taxes added; clarification needed from Prof. Chabab.

   • To explore all available options, seek estimates from two other catering companies for comparison.

9. Visas:

   • LOC to identify one member to liaise with the Ministry of African Affairs for easing visa applications for African students and lecturers requiring a visa.

10. Students Program:

    • 231 applications received so far; the target is to reach 500 applications by January 15.

    • Ramp up outreach efforts; encourage sharing the application link within networks.

    • The database of applications will be accessible to the selection committee during the review, evaluation, and final selection stages.

11. Meetings will be bi-weekly. The next one will be on January 9 Insha Allah.

 

15:00 → 15:15 General

To be discussed today:

    Poster — updated list of the LOC needed
    Site visits, dates: February 12-16 and April 15-19, 2024
    Housing — for students and for teachers
    Catering — for students and teachers
    Funding 
    Visas

Airport transfers and local transportation
Computing
Internet connectivity
Lecture halls / experimental labs
etc.

ASP2024-CateringQuoteDec13.2023.pdf

ASP2024-Poster.jpg

Devis-lunch-2coffeeBreaks.pdf

Housing-FACT-PROFORMA-halfBoard.pdf

15:15 → 15:30 Students Program

To be discussed today:

   Applications, to apply, student should go here: https://indico.ictp.it/event/10493
   Application database https://e-applications.ictp.it/management/loggedin/home_page/selection
   Selection Committee: interested in reviewing student applications, let us know.

Scientific Program

15:30 → 15:45 Teachers Program

Event date: July 8-12, 2024
Selection of Teachers
Housing and catering for teachers
Program of activities for teachers

15:45 → 16:00 High School Students Program

dates of events: April 15-19, 2024 & July 15-19, 2024 or only July 15-19, 2024?
Participating high schools
selection of high school learners
logistics for attendance
scientific program for learners

16:00 → 16:15 ASP Forum

Date: Saturday, July 13, 2024
Invitations to policymakers
Agenda

16:15 → 16:25 School dinner and excursion

School dinner: date: Saturday, July 13, 2024; generally about 400 Dh, with artistic show. To be confirmed later.