Understanding the formation and evolution of structure in the Universe is driving most of the current efforts in observational cosmology. Galaxies are thought to form inside the dark matter halo produced by gravitational instability from the seed initial fluctuations now revealed by the maps of the microwave background, which are believed to be the relict of quantum fluctuations during the inflationary phase of the Universe. While the evolution of the DM component is straightforwardly derived from first principles, because it evolves under the sole action of gravity, the predictive power of theory drops dramatically when it comes to the luminous, baryonic component of the Universe. Complex physical processes come into play and attempts at modeling galaxies have so far achieved limited success. On the other hand, over the last decade a tremendous progress has been made in the direct observational study of galaxies all the way to extremely high redshifts, i.e. to lookback times covering over 90% of the age of the Universe. Similar progress has been achieved in computer simulations, which are following the formation process with ever increasing accuracy and detail.

The purpose of the School is to give to about 50 young scientists the opportunity to enlarge their knowledge of cosmology and extragalactic astrophysics, comparing recent theoretical and experimental key results, as well as to foster an interactive exchange among participants belonging to the astrophysical and particle physics sectors. We seek to establish an atmosphere in which observers and theorists will review, confront, and discuss with young scientists recent progress and future directions.

The school is addressed to PhD students and young scientists with a Post-doc experience of less than 4 years. Outstanding upper level undergraduates may also be considered. Each subject will be covered by 3-4 lectures of one hour each, given by a scientist who has made significant contributions to it.