The 3rd SA COSMO workshop will be hosted at the University of KwaZulu-Natal on Feb 9, 2007.The 2nd SA COSMO workshop was held at the University of the Western Cape on July 8, 2006, immediately following SAIP 2006. The 1st SA COSMO workshop was held at the Centre for Theoretical Physics at WITS in November 2005.

With AIMS, HESS, KAT, NASSP, NITHeP, SALT and STIAS, there are an extraordinary number of exciting programs underway in the South African natural sciences related to cosmology. The SA COSMO workshops are seen as an innovative way of contributing to this unity and linking to other programs in theoretical physics, with a view to transferring skills between members of the various programs to maximize benefit for all.

One of the biggest challenges for South African students and researchers is the relative isolation of the community from international regions of research excellence. This makes it expensive to travel to conferences where critical skills could be gained. In addition, research groups in SA tend to be small and often lack critical mass. The combined impact of this is that students and post-docs do not experience the same intense interaction found in larger, first world, academic communities. The SA COSMO series aims to counter these problems by providing a dynamic, informal, meeting which is cheap to attend and where students and post-docs can learn the skills of presenting and defending their work, as well as being exposed to the cross-disciplinary knowledge base that is the hallmark of modern cosmology.

Based on the successful UK model, we aim to hold the SA COSMO workshops twice per year on average at a venue that rotates every time, with very low organizational overheads and small budget requirements.

There are usually no invited speakers and while permanent staff are welcome and encouraged to speak and contribute, the majority of talks are usually given by students and post-docs allotted on a first-come-first-served basis. Usually 50% of talks are reserved for students and post-docs to ensure the meeting succeeds in addressing the needs of training students.

It is well-known that students learn a large quota of their skills from their peer group and the aim of the SA COSMO meetings is to bring the national peer group of MSc and PhD students and Post-docs together in all fields related to cosmology. In the UK COSMO meetings the talks cover all aspects of experimental and theoretical cosmology and indeed astronomy, astrophysics and theoretical physics, where there is some link to the general audience. The UK COSMO meeting provides an addition invaluable service of giving students exposure to future potential employers and facilitating discussions about joint grant applications as well as initiation of research collaborations. As a result, the whole community benefits from the meetings.

Underlying the philosophy and success of these meetings is the insight that many skills required for top-flight research are common to all disciplines. Presentation skills, the ability to work in teams, the ability to start new collaborations – all these are skills that are not specific to cosmology and hence students from neighbouring areas can benefit greatly from attending and presenting at the meeting.

Initially we expect only one or two meetings per year, but the frequency is solely determined by demand – first from potential organizers and secondly from the students and post-docs themselves.

The SA COSMO series will provide a low-cost, home-grown alternative to expensive international schools and conferences which we hope will attract students and post-docs from beyond the borders of SA, forming a nucleus for Southern Africa.