Participant Support for the First Penn State SETI Symposium; July, 2020; University Park, PA

数以千计的系外行星的发现使得我们对银河系中潜在的宜居行星的数量有了可靠的估计。天文学家估计有多达400亿个这样的世界。后续观测表明，一些系外行星的大气中存在水蒸气，这为我们银河系其他地方可能存在生命的想法提供了新的证据，并为寻找生命提供了新的紧迫性。宾夕法尼亚州立大学将主办第一届宾州州立大学SETI研讨会（PSETI2020），科学家们聚集在一起讨论这个快速发展的领域的计划和新方法。会议的目的是通过制定严格的技术特征搜索计划，使SETI研究建立在更坚实的基础上。该研讨会将重点关注各种波段的地基和天基望远镜的新努力，强调数据驱动的结果和新研究人员的培训。宾夕法尼亚州立大学，大学公园，将主办第一届宾夕法尼亚州立大学SETI研讨会（PSETI2020）。PSETI2020是SETI研究年度系列会议的第一次。会议系列的主要目标之一将是培训新的和早期职业研究人员。会议组织者寻求通过提供NSF赞助的旅行和会议注册资金来鼓励早期职业研究人员参与PSETI2020。会议将持续四天，将包括专门讨论最近成果的会议，以及该领域现状的审查和短期课程。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的知识价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

The discovery of thousands of exoplanets has led to credible estimates of the number of potentially habitable planets in our galaxy. Astronomers estimate that there are up to forty billion of these worlds. Follow-up observations have suggested the presence of water vapor in the atmospheres of some exoplanets, lending new credence to the idea that there might be life elsewhere in our galaxy, and new urgency for the search for life. Pennsylvania State University will host the first Penn State SETI Symposium (PSETI2020), a gathering of scientists to discuss plans and new approaches in this rapidly evolving field. The aim of the conference is to put SETI research on firmer footing by developing plans for rigorous technosignatures searches. The workshop will focus on new efforts involving ground-based and space-based telescopes in a variety of wavebands, emphasizing data-driven results and the training of new researchers.Pennsylvania State University, University Park, will host the first Penn State SETI Symposium (PSETI2020). PSETI2020 is to be the first in an annual series of conferences on SETI research. One of the principal aims of the conference series will be the training of new and early-career researchers. The conference organizers seek to encourage participation in PSETI2020 by early-career researchers by offering NSF-sponsored funding for travel and conference registration. The conference will last four days, and will include sessions devoted to recent results, as well as reviews and short courses in the current status of the field. There will also be workshops where early-career researchers can learn about new data sets and analysis tools, and where they can work intensively with experts in the field.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.