20th Asian Winter School
on Strings, Particles and Cosmology
IISER Bhopal | 11–20 January 2026
Supported by the Murty Trust
IISER Bhopal | 11–20 January 2026
Supported by the Murty Trust
The Asian Winter School (AWS) on Strings, Particles, and Cosmology is a pan-Asian initiative by high-energy theorists from China, India, Japan, and Korea. It provides young researchers in Asia with an opportunity to learn about recent developments in high-energy theory from leading experts.
Now in its 20th edition, the school is aimed at advanced graduate students, postdoctoral fellows, and active researchers. It offers a platform for participants to engage in discussions with world experts and foster collaborations with peers from different countries, continuing a tradition of building a vibrant regional community in theoretical physics.
This year’s school offers eight intensive mini-lecture courses and four colloquium talks on cutting-edge research, complemented by engaging public outreach events.
For any questions, please email us at aws2025@iiserb.ac.in.
We would like to sincerely thank the Ministry of External Affairs, the Ministry of Home Affairs, and the Ministry of Education for their kind cooperation and support at various stages, particularly in matters related to visas and other administrative requirements.
We would like to express our sincere gratitude to the Director, IISER Bhopal, for his support.
We thank the international steering committee for showing confidence in us to host this event. We also like to thank the course organisers.
We gratefully acknowledge the Murty Trust for their generous support, without which this school could not have been organized at this scale.
We would like to extend our heartfelt thanks to ICTS Bengaluru, and in particular Prof Spenta Wadia, Prof Ashoke Sen, and Prof Rajesh Gopakumar, for supporting us right from the very first day of planning and for helping us at various stages of this school.
We thank our colleagues in the Department of Physics IISER Bhopal, especially HoD Dr. Auditya Sharma, for their support, assistance, and active involvement throughout the course of the school.
We are deeply grateful to all the participants from India and across the globe for attending the lectures, actively engaging in discussions, and for creating a vibrant and stimulating research atmosphere over the last ten days.
We would like to thank all the instructors and speakers for taking the time to come here and for delivering an excellent set of lectures and talks, which truly formed the academic backbone of this school.
We would like to express our sincere gratitude to the Rescue and Relief Foundation, an NGO based in Kolkata, for their meaningful and inspiring work. Through their initiatives, they have created employment opportunities for differently abled individuals, enabling them to be active members of society with equal dignity and respect. The T-shirts and welcome bags for this school were made and printed by these talented individuals.
We would like to thank the Registrar’s Office, in particular Pravin David, Shilpa, and Neha, for their invaluable help with ministry clearances and administrative formalities.
We acknowledge the R&D Office for their support from the early stages of this conference and for efficiently handling a large portion of the post-conference paperwork that will be carried out in the coming weeks.
Our thanks to the DOSA Office for their assistance in arranging hostel accommodation for the participants.
We would like to sincerely thank the hostel caretakers — Dharmendra ji, Sunil ji, and Lata madam — for their continuous support and cooperation.
We also thank the security team at the main gate for their cooperation and smooth handling of logistics.
A very special thanks to the Visitor Hostel team, who truly were the backbone of this event. We would like to especially thank Sashi Tiwari ji and his team for ensuring the smooth functioning of the school throughout.
We gratefully acknowledge the Computer Centre team — Mr. Vinay Bajpai, Mr. Ritesh Thakur, Hari Mishra, Mr. Susil Singh, Mr. Suryakant Raghuwanshi, and Mr. Pappu Singh Chouhan — for their prompt and kind help in setting up and maintaining the digital systems.
We thank the CS2 team — Mr. Bharat Deshmukh, Mr. Lokendra Maithili, and Mr. Dheeraj Sahu — for their technical and logistical support.
Our thanks to Mr. Dube for efficiently managing transport arrangements.
We acknowledge the recording team, Tri Netra Wedding, for professionally handling the recording of the lectures.
We thank Mr. Pankaj and his team for providing refreshment between the lectures.
We thank the Regional Science Centre and Mr. Saket Singh Kaurav for their support in outreach activities.
We would also like to thank our department colleagues, Mr. Deepak Baghel and Mrs. Sarita Thakur, for their support and help during the event.
Last but not the least, we would like to thank our greatest assets — our students and postdocs: Priyanshu, Devansh, Rayaan, Naman, Nitin, Someshekhar, Narendra, Prachiti, Umang, Akshay, Debjoy, Jitesh, Koustubh, Biswajit, Lakshita, Soumava, Shruti, Akash and Ritabrata. This school would simply not have been possible without extraordinary hard work, unwavering dedication, and personal sacrifice.
Sincerely,
Local Organising Committee
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