Recent advances in sub-millimeter (ALMA, NOEMA) and IR (Spitzer, Herschel, SOFIA) observational facilities and modeling have started to shed more light on the physical and chemical processes governing the evolution of interstellar clouds into pre-stellar cores, protostars, protoplanetary disks, and, eventually, planetary systems. Molecular spectroscopy has played a crucial role in these advances, as only lines can unveil the underlying dynamics and can provide information on the physical and chemical structure across clouds, cores and protoplanetary disks. Furthermore, chemo-dynamical models have become more and more detailed, thanks also to the great advances in (gas phase and surface) laboratory work as well as quantum chemistry calculations, while magneto-hydrodynamical simulations have included simplified chemical codes to test theoretical predictions. We believe this is the right moment to try to summarize a current status quo in this exciting field of astronomy, and to facilitate and foster future directions of astrochemistry research.
Since astrochemistry is the trait d'union of different communities, the main goal of this well-focussed meeting will be to bring together observers, theoreticians and experimentalists to present their recent advances, to discuss about the main uncertainties and to plan future developments. Interaction between the different communities will be encouraged and mixed, lengthy discussions will be organized at the end of each session, and in the end of each conference's day. We will particularly encourage young scientists (students, PhD students, post-docs) to participate, with the main aim to help them to shape their knowledge and understanding of modern and forthcoming ideas about details of planet- and star-formation from a cohort of the world-leading experts.
