Cores to Clusters

It was with pleasure that CAUP became for three days the core to the cloud of star formation experts all over the world. Close to the celebration of its 15th anniversary – therefore still in the early stages of institutional evolution – we are proud of our multiple activities in Astronomy: a productive research centre, classi?ed as “Institution of excellence” within the Portuguese research units, but also an “Institution of Public Utility” as recognised by the Government. Fifteen years ago we choose to play a role not only in research, as expected from any research centre but also in the training of the future astronomers and the promotion of science and scienti?c culture. This choice is clearly stated in our by-laws and also in the multiple activities we have carried out since. Along the years we have organized on a regular basis international Workshops similar to “Cores to Clusters”. Sometimes we have chosen to organize int- national conferences of a larger size. On other occasions the choice has been for smaller and more informal discussion meetings. Or even doctoral schools with very different objectives. In common all those meetings have always had, besides the formal registered participants, a group of informal participants, our undergraduate students of Astronomy, so eager to be in touch with the real world.

Toward the second half of this decade, several major telescope facilities operating in the infrared, sub-millimeter, and millimeter wave bands will become operational. These missions are expected to throw much light on our understanding of the star formation phenomenon, which is one of the primary science goals in these wave bands. This book contains the proceedings of the "Cores to Clusters" workshop held at Centro de Astrofisica da Universidade do Porto. The mission of the workshop was to discuss current and future issues in star formation physics in the light of these Next Generation Telescopes.

This book is comprised of a mixture of articles that provide a comprehensive coverage of current topics including both low and high mass star formation. It serves as a practical compendium for graduate students and young researchers working in the field of star formation.