The Olympian Symposium

The interstellar medium plays a fundamental role in the life cycle of galaxies, acting as the reservoir from which stars and planetary systems form, and as the matter returned through stellar feedback processes. Tracing the evolution of the ISM from the early universe to the present day is essential to understanding galaxy formation, chemical enrichment, star formation histories, and the emergence of habitable environments.

Recent advances in both observations and numerical models, from JWST and ALMA to high-resolution simulations, now allow us to study the ISM across a wide range of epochs and environments. At the same time, the rapid development of artificial intelligence and machine learning is opening new avenues in numerical modeling, data analysis, and predictive simulations, enabling us to tackle the ISM’s complexity in unprecedented ways.

This Symposium aims to bring together experts in galactic and extragalactic ISM studies, star formation, astrochemistry, and cosmology to synthesize our current understanding and chart future directions.

• Thomas Bisbas (Zhejiang Lab; co-chair)
• Brandt Gaches (University of Duiburg-Essen; co-chair)
• Munan Gong (University of Texas at El Paso)
• Kathryn Grasha (Australian National University)
• Francois Lique (Universite de Rennes)
• Desika Narayanan (University of Florida)
• Hsi-An Pan (Tamkang University)