STELLAR Final Conference

The STELLAR project’s final conference was held between July 06-08, 2023 in the historic city of Plovdiv, Bulgaria. It is one of the oldest living cities in the world, with a rich history and vibrant present. Plovdiv was a European Capital of Culture 2019, and regularly hosts art and culture events.

Registration

Registration for the conference is now open online HERE.

Venue and Accommodation

The conference was held at the DoubleTree by Hilton Plovdiv Center hotel, situated conveniently close to the center of the city and the Old Plovdiv neighbourhood. A special hotel rate for participants can be accessed here.

Schedule

Below is the conference schedule, including direct links to the presentations of the meeting.

STELLAR FINAL MEETING AND CONFERENCE SCHEDULE

Thursday, 06.07.2023
9:50 – 10:00 Opening Remarks
10:00 – 10:30 Summary of LOFAR technology, science, and partnership (R. Vermeulen)
10:30 – 11:00 Coffee break
11:00 – 11:30 National Roadmap for Research Infrastructures (K. Mutavchiev)
11:30 – 11:40 Overview of LOFAR-BG (K. Kozarev)
11:40 – 12:00 Overview of STELLAR (K. Kozarev)
12:00 – 12:20 WP2 Report/Overview (P. Petkov)
12:20 – 12:40 WP3 Report/Overview (T. Antonova)
12:40 – 14:00 Lunch
14:00 – 14:20 WP4 Report/Overview (R. Miteva)
14:20 – 14:40 WP5 Report/Overview (T. Antonova)
14:40 – 15:00 STELLAR Data Management (M. Dechev)
15:00 – 15:30 Coffee break
15:30 – 15:50 TUS activities (P. Petkov)*
15:50 – 16:10 VLF observations (I. Nachev)
16:10 – 16:30 Hardware/System development at TUS (P. Petkov)
16:30 – 17:00 Antenna system modeling (P. Petkov)
18:00 – 21:00 Reception Cocktail

Friday, 07.07.2023
9:30 – 9:50 Solar Burst imaging (M. Nedal)
9:50 – 10:30 Solar Studies with LOFAR (P. Zhang)
10:30 – 11:00 Coffee break
11:00 – 11:40 DIAS Activities (P. Gallagher)*
11:40 – 12:00 Stellar Activity (J. Rigney)
12:00 – 12:40 Planning and building an International LOFAR station – The Irish Experience (J. McCauley)
12:40 – 14:00 Lunch
14:00 – 14:40 Development of LOFAR-BG station (R. Halfwerk, N. Ebbendorf)
14:40 – 15:00 Technical Discussion
15:00 – 15:30 Coffee break
15:30 – 17:00 Technical Discussion – LOFAR-BG data processing and archiving (Z. Borisov)
17:30 – 20:00 Tour of Historic Plovdiv
20:00 –  22:00 Conference Dinner

Saturday, 08.07.2023
9:00 – 9:30 IDOLS Overview (P. Zucca)
9:30 – 9:50 Future Plans Discussion (K. Kozarev)
9:50 – 10:00 Final Remarks
10:00 – 18:00 10:00 – 18:00 Visit to NAO Rozhen and LOFAR-BG site

* Presentations under embargo

Getting to Plovdiv

Plovdiv is an 1.5-hour drive southeast from Sofia, and is also located on the classic ‘Orient Express’ train route. It is easily accessible from Sofia airport via the A1 highway. There is a regular bus service from Sofia’s main bus station.
Plovdiv has its own airport, with a number of low-cost flight options.