BiD4BEST Final Conference 6th – 8th February 2024, University of Southampton, United Kingdom

The final conference of the BiD4BEST was organised by the University of Southampton. It was a 3-day event, held from the 6-8 February 2024, with the participation of numerous renowned experts external to the BiD4BEST network. The conference included presentations from all the ESRs as well as externals. It offered an excellent opportunity to the ESRs to communicate their results and interact with a community of internationally recognised researchers in the field of supermassive black-hole growth. The small number of participants (~50) created a relaxed atmosphere that encouraged in depth discussions and the exchange of ideas.  

Participants

Early-Stage Researchers

Carolina Andonie (UDUR), Brivael Laloux (NOA), Blessing Musiimenta (UNIBO), Giovanna Speranza (IAC), Mathilda Avirett-MacKenzie (UBATH), Ivan Munoz Rodriguez (NOA), Ivan Lopez (UNIBO), Nischal Acharya (DIPC), Alexander Sicilia (SISSA), Evgenii Chaikin (ULEI), Alba Vega Alonso Tetilla (SOTON), Hao Fu (SOTON), Luca Sala (LMU).

Principle Investigators

Prof. Francesco Shankar, Project Coordinator, University of Southampton, UK (SOTON); Prof. Marcella Brusa, Alma Mater Studiorum Universita di Bologna, Italy (UNIBO); Dr Antonis Georgakakis, Institute for Astronomy, Astrophysics, Space Applications and Remote Sensing, National Observatory of Athens, Greece (NOA); Dr Klaus Dolag, Ludwig Maximilians University, Germany (LMU); Prof. Andrea Lapi – Scuola Internazionale Superiore di Studi Avanzati (SISSA), Italy (SISSA); Dr Carolin Villforth University of Bath, UK (UBATH); Dr Silvia Bonoli – Donostia International Physics Centre, Spain, (DIPC); Dr Cristina Ramos Almeida, Instituto de Astrofisica de Canarias, Spain (IAC); Prof. David Alexander, University of Durham, UK (UDUR); Prof. Joop Schaye, Leiden Observatory, The Netherlands (ULEI).

University of Southampton guests

Prof. Ian McHardy, Dr Sandra Raimundo, Dr Manda Banerji, Dr Annagrazia Puglisi, Dr Matthew Middleton, Dr Daniel KynochProf. Christian Knigge, Prof. Ian Jones.

External Speakers

Dr Sotiria Fotopoulou, University of Bristol; Prof. Marc Huertas-Company, Paris Observatory and Paris Diderot University; Dr Mara Slavato, Max Planck Institute for Extreaterrestial Physics; Prof. Giulia Rodighiero, University of Padova; Prof. Andrew C. Fabian, University of Cambridge; Dr Hannah Übler, University of Cambridge; Prof. Claudia Maraston, University of Portsmouth; Lumen Boco, SISSA.

Schedule

Tuesday 6^th February 2024

• Synopsis of Work Package 1 led by Dave Alexander
• “The accretion and host properties of rapidly accreting black holes” – Carolina Andonie
• “The impact of obscuration on the AGN accretion rate“ – Brivael Laloux
• “Probing AGN obscuration via galaxy orientation and evolution in comprehensive semi-analytic models” – Alba Vega Alonso Tetilla
• Synopsis of Work Package 2 led by Marcella Brusa and Cristina Ramos Almeida
• “Incidence and energetics of AGN winds in the distant universe” – Blessing Musiimenta
• “Multiphase outflows in local type-2 quasar” – Giovanna Speranza
• Synopsis of Work Package 3 led by Carolin Villforth & Silvia Bonoli
• “The Radial Distribution of Star Formation Rate in AGN host galaxies“ – Nischal Acharya
• “The role of galaxy mergers in fuelling active galactic nuclei” – Mathilda Avirett-MacKenzie
• “SMBH Accretion and its Feedback at the lowest luminosities” – Iván Ezequiel Lopez
• “Semi-empirical models of X-ray AGN in galaxy clusters” – Iván Munoz Rodriguez
• Debated Issues in AGN and SMBHs by Hannah Übler & Christian Knigge

Wednesday 7^th February 2024

• Synopsis of Work Package 4 led by Klaus Dolag
• “Calibrating stellar and AGN feedback in cosmological simulations that include a cold interstellar gas phase” – Evgenii Chaikin
• “Testing the quenching mechanisms in galaxy star formation” – Hao Fu
• “Supermassive black hole spin evolution in cosmological simulations with OpenGadget3“ – Luca Sala
• “Deep Learning the physics of galaxy formation” – Marc Huertas-Company
• “Signals from the abyss – hunting for QPOs in AGN“ – Matthew Middleton
• “High redshift quasars in multi-wavelength surveys” – Manda Banerji
• “Optical Reverberation Mapping of AGN” – Ian McHardy
• “Line-Driven Accretion Disks Winds” – Christian Knigge
• “SMBH infancy: the route to seed formation” – Lumen Boco
• “Star formation and feedback in massive galaxies at cosmic noon“– Annagrazia Puglisi
• “Fuelling black holes with misaligned gas” – Sandra Raimundo
• Round table training – ESR next steps in academia and beyond by Annagrazia Puglisi and Sandra Raimundo

Thursday 8^th February 2024

• “Gravitational Wave Astronomy: Opening A New Window on the Universe” – Ian Jones
• “Tidal disruption events – histories and mysteries” – Philip Wiseman
• “Hidden Cooling Flows” – Andrew C. Fabian
• “Cosmic detective: how Euclid will shed light onto the dark side of the Universe” – Sotiria Fotopoulou
• “AGN environment(s)” – Manuela Magliocchetti
• “Scaling relations in simulations vs observations through stellar population models” – Claudia Maraston
• “High-z dusty sources in the JWST epoch” – Giulia Rodighiero
• “eROSITA DR1 and its AGN content“ – Mara Salvato
• “Continuum reverberation mapping of a bright Seyfert AGN” – Daniel Kynoch
• “Active black holes during the first billion years in the JWST/NIRSpec GTO surveys” – Hannah Übler
• Key Takeaways by Andrew Fabian & Claudia Maraston