The International School for Space Simulations (ISSS) has a history of more than 20 years. The first ISSS was held in 1982 in Kyoto, organized by Professor Maha Ashour-Abdalla from UCLA, Professor Hiroshi Masumoto from Kyoto University and Professor Roger Gendrin from France. The idea was to promote what was then a new field, i.e., numerical simulations for space plasmas, to help understand and interpret experimental results from spacecraft observations. A school/symposium was initiated to teach students basic numerical simulation techniques and to expose them to the latest research results in the field. Tutorial sessions with hands-on computer experience were led by simulation experts during the first week and a more traditional type of conference with invited speakers in the field of space plasma physics (both experimentalists and theorists) was held during the second week after the tutorials. The response from both the students and the scientists was so overwhelmingly positive to the first ISSS that it was agreed that future ISSS conferences would be held every 2 to 3 years rotating between the USA, Japan and Europe. The most recent ISSS-7 conference was held in Kyoto, Japan in March 2005 and the next ISSS-8 conference is scheduled to be held in Kauai, Hawaii in February 2007. The format has changed somewhat over the years with ISSS now being held over 1 week rather than 2, and the student tutorial sessions now are held concurrently with the conference portion of the school, but the overall philosophy has remained the same, which is to teach the next generation of undergraduate and graduate students both the basics and more sophisticated simulation techniques with the ability to apply them to understanding satellite data and space plasma physics processes in general.

Much theory in Geospace now is numerical and involves simulations and models. This school and conference offers those doing this type of theory an opportunity to get together and share ideas, learn about new methods, and see the latest applications. For students ISSS provides a view into the different types of simulations and a chance to meet with a large fraction of the simulators in the field. The conference will concentrate on problems that are important to Geospace researchers.

Abstracts of the talks at the meeting will be available at the conference website and in the abstract volume distributed at the meeting. We are in the process of investigating the publication of the ISSS-8 proceedings.

The conference will consist of 3 tutorial sessions, 7 symposium sessions and 2 poster sessions:

Tutorials:

• Magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) simulations
• Hybrid simulations
• Particle in cell (PIC) simulations

Scientific Symposium:

• Solar Processes and the Solar Wind
• Simulation Techniques
• Bow Shock and Magnetopause
• Multi-scale Processes and Reconnection
• Waves and Wave-Particle Interactions
• Magnetotail
• Inner Magnetosphere and MI Coupling

Posters:

• Solar Processes
• Shocks
• Planets
• Magnetopause
• Reconnection
• Inner Magnetosphere
• Ring Current
• Wave-Particle Interactions

ISSS-8 will be open to all members of the scientific community but participation by graduate students and post-docs is particularly encouraged. The seven previous ISSS have had on average about 200 attendees per conference with about one quarter (~ 50) of these being students. For example, at ISSS-7 last year, there were 228 attendees and 53 students. Students are typically from fields that include Physics, Earth and Space Sciences, Atmospheric Sciences, Mathematics, and Computer Science. To maximize student attendance, support has traditionally been provided for the majority of students attending ISSS. Students will be requested to fill out applications for travel assistance and decisions on funding will be made by an independent panel.

This policy has proven to be very successful. Many students who may not otherwise have been able to attend ISSS have become space physicists, and they are now the ones giving the expert tutorials and scientific talks. The conference is limited to the Geospace and Solar and Heliosphere disciplines so it concentrates on problems that are important to Geospace researchers. We are expecting approximately 180 attendees to participate in ISSS-8.

Partial travel support for students to attend ISSS-8 is provided by:

• National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA)
• The National Science Foundation (NSF)
• Raytheon Space and Airborne Systems
• Union of Radio Science (URSI)