This symposium will offer a forum for discussion on current and upcoming exoplanet science. Its 'bright and nearby' subtitle refers to the exciting possibilities that new instruments and missions are opening up, but it points also to the shift to brighter and more nearby planet samples that we expect, in particular from the TESS and PLATO missions. Such a brighter sample will lead to new developments and opportunities in their characterization, from which we can expect that data that currently exist only for very few systems will become available in quantities that permit much more advanced interpretations. We welcome presentations that report on any kind of exoplanet discovery and characterization, but in particular those who address any of these questions:

Programme

• 1) Overview on missions and projects to detect and characterize exoplanets operational projects
• 2) Characterization of exoplanets
• 3) Potential of the closest exoplanets (habitability, biomarkers)
• 4) Future missions
• 5) Architecture of planetary systems
• 6) General discussion about future heading of exoplanetary research

Invited speakers

• Dr. Beth Biller (Royal Observatory, Edinburgh (ROE))
• Dr. Pierre Ferruit (ESA)
• Prof. Artie Hatzes (Thueringer Landessternwarte Tautenburg )
• Prof. Ravit Helled(Center for Theoretical Astrophysics & Cosmology, Institute for Computational Science, University of Zurich )
• Dr. Nikku Madhusudhan (Institute of Astronomy, University of Cambridge)
• Dr. Francesco Pepe (Observatoire de l?Université de Genève)

Scientific organisers

Contact
kabath @ asu.cas.cz