UCL Astrophysics Short-term Visitor Programme 2010-2012

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The programme supporting short-term visitors in the Department of Physics and Astronomy in UCL has allowed in the past decade to successfully bring many international collaborators and valued research scientists to work in close contact with our research groups. Spanning a broad range of research fields from observational astronomy and astrophysics to cosmology and astronomical instrumentation, these visits have resulted in many successful collaborations and scientific publications. The scheme has provided periods of intensive consultation and additional impetus for current collaborative projects in a very cost effective manner. The direct interactions help to ensure productive research, add the opportunity of further dissemination with additional seminars, promote the timely publication of the results and have sparked new initiatives such as observing campaigns. Many visits have had a scientific return in the invitation of UCL members to attend or deliver their results at conferences and workshops. This program ultimately is also an effective way to broaden the experiences and contacts of postgraduate students and STFC-funded research assistants benefiting their career prospects. We propose to continue our successful and productive short-term visitor programme at UCL to cover STFC-funded astrophysics research in theoretical and observational areas. The grant would support individual visits from overseas and the UK, typically lasting 5 days each to work in direct contact with our astronomy and astrophysics group here in UCL (one of the largest astronomy groups in the UK) which has also undergone a recent major expansion into the areas of cosmology and exoplanets. The visits will provide substantial and highly cost effect benefits to our research groups through direct interactions, output of research publications, access to overseas facilities, and generation of new opportunities for research and funding.