Abstract

This meeting will celebrate the many and varied contributions that Hans Zinnecker has made to the study of star formation during his long and active career, and the inspiration that working with Hans has given countless astronomers both young and old. Understanding how stars form continues to be one of the most compelling problems in astrophysics, and a new generation of instruments is set to maintain the excitement of this field into the foreseeable future. We will explore the key observations, theories, their contradictions and limitations and the steps being taken to overcome them, in the beautiful city of Edinburgh, where Hans was a postdoc 35 years ago. The aim will be to chart the progress that has been made since then, to identify the problems that still need to be addressed, and how best to go about solving them. We hope you will join us and help make this a memorable meeting.