GoingToMeet

These are exciting years for galaxy formation and evolution studies. From the observational side enormous progress has been made thanks to forefront instrumentation which allows us to view galaxies at unprecedented detail and at the same time to break statistical problems with large galaxy surveys. From the modeling side, the increased computing power allows to simulate at growing sophistication the evolution of structure in the Universe from the dark ages up to the present accelerating Universe. In parallel, progress in stellar evolution and population modeling allows for a much improved interface between observations and interpretation.

Yet many problems remain. We still do not understand why the most massive galaxies assemble first and host the oldest stars and which feedback mechanisms are effective. We need to disentangle the role of mergers vs. steady accretion and clarify the need for dry mergers. We have a problem in reconciling the cosmological star formation history with the global mass density. We keep discussing exotic exponents for the IMF.