Abstract

The past few years have seen continued progress in our ability to observe and characterize the very early universe within the first one billion years of cosmic history before the end of cosmic reionization. The first generations of galaxies are being studied in unprecedented detail using large multi-wavelength datasets from the Hubble, Spitzer, and Chandra Space Telescopes, as well as 8-10 m-class ground-based telescopes. ALMA is probing galaxies from the reionization era at millimeter wavelengths, providing revolutionary insights into molecular gas, dust, and dynamics at high redshift. Early galaxy and quasar searches are being pushed into new territory with deep near-infrared surveys covering several square degrees. New advances in computation have led to a new generation of early universe simulations reaching unprecedented mass resolution over large volumes. Future capabilities (JWST; SKA precursors; etc), combined with current ground and space observatories, will greatly enhance our ability to explore the reionization epoch in even greater detail. The goal of this meeting is to bring together a wide community of observers and theorists to discuss both recent progress as well as future perspectives for galaxy studies within the first billion years and for cosmic reionization.