The formation of galaxies and supermassive black holes is one of the most important researching subjects in modern Astrophysics. With the help of the large telescope, our understanding of the cosmology, the formation of galaxies and the properties of supermassive black holes has greatly improved in recent years. Especially the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) with its unprecedented observational data has proven instrumental for this progress. Very recently, the Large Sky Area Multi-Object Fiber Spectroscopic Telescope, which is the largest newly constructed telescope in China, received its first light. This world-class instrument will allow Chinese investigators to work with their own observational data.

On Feb 23-28, 2009 we will host the 8th Sino-German Workshop on "The tumultuous lives of galaxies, supermassive black holes and their dark matter halos".

The workshop will cover the following topics

*Physical cosmology

*The large-scale structure of the Universe

*Clusters of galaxies

*Galaxy formation and evolution

*Supermassive black holes and active galactic nuclei

*High-energy astrophysics

--There is no registration fee for the workshop.

We would like to invite you to attend this workshop in Kunming just after Chinese New Year (the Spring Festival). If you want to attend this workshop, please fill the registration form.