ASP2026 IOC+LOC Meeting

Tuesday 10 Mar 2026, 13:55 → 15:15 UTC

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 (Brookhaven National Laboratory (USA))

• Student selections. We should correct the number of students not selected. We list 12 Kenyan students to be covered by Kenya; however, this could be 18. The LOC should identify the additional 6 Kenyan students from the preselected list and inform the IOC to communicate with the ICTP.
• Scientific program for students.

1. LOC may compare the program suggested by the IOC and of Lydia. Should there be something significant missing, LOC may inform us. Under “Small Detector Labs” we list some proposed experiments, including the CosmicWatch. The LOC may add other experiments. 
2. The LOC should look at the program and suggest speakers where it is relevant. We would like to receive these suggestions well before our next meeting on March 24. At that meeting, we will discuss any adjustment to the program and the proposed lecturers. 
3. Scientific Program for teachers and leaners. A meeting is planned for next week to discuss this in detail. Some talks or lectures on the students’ program may be of interest to teachers; we suggest taking this into consideration when developing the program for teachers.
4.  ASP Forum. The LOC should communicate to the IOC who form the LOC should work with Mounia to develop a joint Forum program that considers both the interests of the LOC as well as of the IOC.
5. Meals. We suggest receiving from CEMESTEA the basic menu that is covered in their package. Then, we may consider adjustment to the menu proposed by the LOC and extra cost of such adjustment to ensure variety and dietary restrictions.
6.  Transportation. We expect the international students to arrive on July 4-6. Groups of students may arrive at different times through the days. A van or minivan may be needed to collect large groups of students at a time. Lecturers will arrive throughout the first or second week or during the weekend, maybe a just a few at a time. A minivan or car might suffice to Collect them. Ad hoc transportation should be foreseen, for example, to take a patient to the hospital while a driver went to fetch someone from the airport. 
7. Lecturers' accommodation. This is confirmed at the Roussel House. Transportation to/back from UoN is already arranged and covered.
8. Dinner at the end of the Forum. Because of cultural etiquette and importance of delegates, the LOC would like to upgrade the lunch. Form IOC side, we cannot upgrade both lunch and dinner within our budget. Furthermore, some people may want to change at the end of the Forum and before the dinner; people living at CEMESTEA or Karen cannot return to change if the dinner is at UoN or in the city. We suggest that instead of upgrading the dinner, we may update the lunch—dinner time speeches should be lunch time speeches. Cultural entertainment may also happen during lunch time; then, the students and delegates staying at CEMESTEA or Karen may travel back to have their normal dinner and entertainment there. 
9. Excursion. We decided to postpone the discussion about the excursion to the next meeting on March 31.

14:00 → 14:10 ASP2026 Student Applications – Pre-selected students

Selection status:

• 65 students selected for in-person participation (11 of whom are Kenyan)
• 67 students selected for online participation
• 26 students on the waiting list (12 of whom are Kenyan and are expected to be supported by Kenya; confirmation from the Kenyan authorities is pending)
• 40 students not selected

Current update on the Local students supports:

• Housing, ASP dinner, Excursions, ...

14:10 → 14:40 Scientific agendas

14:40 → 14:55 Logistics

14:55 → 15:05 ASP Form & ASP Dinner on July 10, 2026

ASP Form & ASP Dinner — venues and costs

15:05 → 15:15 Excursions on July 12, 2025