Dark Matter (DM) is the substance that fills about 26% of the total matter-energy budget of the Universe and that accounts for about 80% of the total matter. While the evidences of its existence are numerous and compelling, its real nature is still a mystery and a subject of intense research.
By its very nature the topic lies at the intersection of different research fields. DM is obviously a problem of astrophysics and cosmology, but the solution could possibly come from fundamental particle physics, which could provide the new elementary particle that is the DM. For this reason, a coordinated approach among different disciplines is crucial to achieve progress.
This School aimed to train the next generation of students and young researchers in the field with two main guidelines in mind: 1) starting from the basics, without taking for granted any theoretical (or experimental) prejudice on the nature of the problem of DM; 2) making the most of the interdisciplinarity of the topic, approaching it from the cosmological, astrophysical and particle physics points of view via the participation of experts/lecturers from different fields.
COVID-19 statement: please see Practical information page.
UPDATE [July 25th 2021]: The School will kick off on Monday as planned. Lectures will start on Tuesday at 9am (Geneva time) in person on site and online. The Zoom link has been sent to all registered participants.
All lectures are confirmed, but the timetable has been modified slightly.
The travel and access rules have been updated. Now a certificate of full vaccination is enough to access the School premises. Please see the Practical information page.
UPDATE [June 24th 2021]: As of now, the School is still planned to be held in person on site. The option for online attendance has been offered to selected registered participants.
Some lecturers will not be able to come in person and will lecture remotely (see the Lecturers and Courses page). The timetable will therefore be slightly modified in the near future.
The current status of the travel and access rules is summarized in the Practical information page. Please read it carefully and check regularly for updates.
UPDATE [April 28th 2021]: As of now, the School is planned to be held in person on site, with a reduced number of participants and strict sanitary measures enforced. An option for online attendance is also foreseen, for a selected number of participants. As the situation continues to evolve, please note that the program and the schedule might be modified in the future.
All applicants are being notified by email of the outcome of their application. The participants will receive more detailed information, including on the sanitary measures, in the next few days.
For urgent questions, please contact the organizers or the Les Houches administration.
Organizing committee
Marco CIRELLI (LPTHE CNRS & Sorbonne U, Paris, France)
Babette DÖBRICH (CERN, Geneva, Switzerland)
Jure ZUPAN (Cincinnati University, OH, USA)
Scientific Advisory Committee
David BERGE (DESY Zeuthen & Humboldt U, Berlin, Germany)
Bertrand LAFORGE (LPNHE, CNRS & Sorbonne U, Paris, France)
Joachim KOPP (CERN, Geneva, Switzerland)
Hyun Min LEE (Chung-Ang University, Seoul, South Korea)
Teresa MARRODAN-UNDAGOITIA (Max-Planck-Institut für Kernphysik, Heidelberg, Germany)
Marc SCHUMANN (University of Freiburg, Germany)
Tracy SLATYER (MIT, Cambridge, MA, USA)
Jesús ZAVALA-FRANCO (University of Iceland, Reykjavík, Iceland)