Summer Workshop Proposals


Proposal Instructions

Aspen workshops provide a format for the investigation of unsolved problems in physics and related fields, including biology and climatology.

If you are interested in submitting a summer workshop proposal, we recommend you to send a Letter of Intent by May 15. Only one organizer, the designated contact person, should submit the Letter of Intent, which should contain at least the title of the workshop, and the name of one organizer, his/her affiliation and email address.

Please submit a Letter of Intent using this form.


For full consideration, proposals must be submitted by June 15. Only one organizer, the designated contact person, should submit the proposal. You will be notified of your status by the second week of August. More than 3-4 organizers is strongly discouraged. Flexibility in dates will enhance the likelihood of the success of a proposal. Your proposal should include:
  1. Workshop title. The topic should be related to physics.
  2. A three-page-or-less description/abstract and justification that presents a compelling case aimed at all members of the selection committee, not only specialists in the topic of the proposal. This should include a discussion of the timeliness of the proposed topic and potential impact for the field.
  3. A list of preferred, acceptable and impossible weeks for the workshop, ranked by how many of the organizers are available for each week, and the preferred workshop length (generally workshops are a minimum of three weeks). Other scheduling notes you could add are:
    • potential timing conflicts with national or international meetings or other workshops
    • a preference for a time adjacent to another meeting to increase international participation
    • other serious constraints
  4. A list of organizers, with email addresses and institutions.
  5. The organizer responsible for working to ensure diversity in the group of people who apply to participate in the workshop
  6. A list of about 40 possible participants. An effort should be made to include under-represented groups in physics, as Aspen is committed to a diversified participant base.

A confirmation email will be sent to the organizer who submits the proposal. That organizer can then share it with the other organizers.

Please submit your proposal using this form.


I particularly liked the loose structure of the workshop, which allows participants time to actually implement ideas that come up during discussions rather than attempting to remember the details of a suggestion after the fact.