All papers have been peer-reviewed. Our star is a very effective particle accelerator. Energies up to GeVs have been observed in Solar energetic particle events. These events are often associated with solar flares and/or Coronal Mass Ejections. Understanding how particles are accelerated in these phenomena has been an outstanding problem in space plasma physics for a long time. Part of the reason is its practical (e.g. Space weather) and fundamental (cosmic ray origin) importance. In this conference we review recent progresses on this problem, with a balance between observations, theories and numerical simulations. Specific topics include 1) particle acceleration at flare site, 2) turbulence properties of the solar wind, 3) particle acceleration and transport in the inner heliosphere, 4) particle acceleration at the termination shock and heliosheath, and 5) particle acceleration at supernova remnant shocks.
Janet G. Luhmann has authored or co-authored over 600 publications in areas of space and planetary physics and served as Senior Editor for the Journal of Geophysical Research, Space Physics. She has been awarded AGU's Fleming medal and COSPAR's Science award. She has been an Investigator on numerous NASA and NSF projects involving the Sun's control of the space environments of the Earth and planets, most recently the STEREO mission to observe the 3D effects of solar activity in the inner solar system, and the MAVEN mission to study Mars atmosphere escape to space.