Last week, over 200 IceCube collaborators descended on Grand Valley State University in Grand Rapids, Michigan, for the fall 2023 collaboration meeting. The meeting ran from October 18 through October 23 and was hosted by Michigan State University (MSU).
Before the official start of the collaboration meeting, a number of pre-meetings were held on October 18 that covered topics such as IceCube-Gen2, the IceCube Upgrade, and IceAct. A welcome reception launched the meeting that evening at the Grand Rapids Public Museum.
Later in the week, discussions and talks were held, presenting activities and updates on the IceCube Upgrade, IceCube-Gen2, software, calibration, and education and outreach. The meeting also included presentations on results of the latest IceCube analyses, such as neutrino oscillations, neutrino sources, physics beyond the Standard Model, and cosmic rays.
The meeting was interspersed with special events that included an early career scientist discussion, a women and gender minorities workshop, an LGBTQ+ allies lunch, and a women of color coffee meetup.
As per tradition, IceCubers also had plenty of opportunities to mingle and have fun, including a rock climbing session, a board game night, and self-guided trips to the Grand Rapids Art Museum.
“It was a pleasure to welcome everyone to Michigan and I hope everyone had a fun and productive meeting,” said Tyce DeYoung, an associate professor at MSU and a member of the local organizing committee. “Huge thanks to the Wisconsin IceCube Particle Astrophysics Center and MSU support staff for all of their hard work making sure the meeting ran smoothly.”
The next collaboration meeting will take place on March 18-22, 2024, in Münster, Germany.