September 1, 2015

Proposal for the Duke HEP group to host the summer

2016 ATLAS week

We would like to propose that next summer’s out-of-CERN ATLAS week be held at DukeUniversity in June 2016. We have excellent conference facilities, and Duke’s location in NorthCarolina, on the east coast of the US, is convenient for both European and US colleagues.

The Duke ATLAS group is heavily involved in various areas of physics analysis, TRT per-formance, and the phase II silicon strip detector upgrade. Our ATLAS personnel is comprisedof five faculty, one senior scientist, two postdocs, and five graduate students. In addition weare currently involving numerous undergraduate students in our research activities. At Dukewe also have a strong theory group focusing on heavy ion and LHC phenomenology.

Duke University offers many attractive features for hosting conferences. Conference roomsare all located within easy walking distance from each other and from the physics department,and have excellent modern facilities. Local accommodations are very attractively priced andare either within walking distance or connected to the Duke campus via free shuttle services.There is no need for a rental car once at Duke, but if you do rent one, parking is plentiful andcheap on campus.

The following provides an outline of the facilities and some organizational details for thisproposal to host the 2016 out-of-CERN ATLAS week at Duke.

1 Previous HEP conferences/meetings at Duke

Over the last 20 years the only other major HEP conference at Duke was HCP in 2006. Thisproposal offers our ATLAS colleagues the opportunity to see a beautiful region of the US thatperhaps is not as frequently visited and yet is still very easy to get to.

2 Proposed conference dates

We propose to hold ATLAS week during the week of June 27 2016. This is during a periodat Duke when most students have left for the summer and when we have more flexibility forbooking facilities/accommodations.

3 Duke University and the surrounding area

Gothic in style and dominated by the soaring 210-foot tower of Duke Chapel, Duke is hometo about 13,000 undergraduate and graduate students. There is a lot to see and do at Duke,from the gorgeous architecture to the glorious Duke gardens (Figure 1).

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Figure 1: Duke Chapel and a glimpse of the extensive Duke gardens, both a short walk from the PhysicsDepartment.

Duke University is located in Durham, North Carolina, a two and a half hour drive fromthe Atlantic Ocean where the Outer Banks provide a plethora of beach activities. For golfenthusiasts, world class courses abound in the area, including the beautiful Duke UniversityGolf Club course on the grounds of the Washington Duke Inn, less than a km walk from thePhysics Department. Lakes and forests nearby provide picturesque trails for a casual walk ora more vigorous hike.

Durham itself has a fascinating historical downtown area, with many cafe’s, pubs andbars, restaurants, and shopping. For food enthusiasts, Durham is considered a mecca for restau-rants using locally grown produce. More information on many of the acclaimed restaurants inthe downtown area can be found at http://www.durham-nc.com/restaurants/ .

4 Getting to Duke University

Raleigh-Durham international airport (RDU) is about 20 minutes from the Duke campus andprovides convenient travel options from almost anywhere. There are direct flights from LondonHeathrow to RDU which our European colleagues might find particularly convenient. The flighttime from RDU to London is about 7 hours. Other one-stop options from Europe include goingthrough Washington DC, or New York.

5 Facilities at Duke

We have a number of convenient possibilities for an auditorium for ATLAS week. Our prefer-ence is the Griffith Theatre in the Bryan Center, right next to the Physics Department, whichholds about 350 participants (see Figure 2). This is currently open for June 27 to July 1 of2016, and we have discussed with Duke conference services what we need (they also do thecatering for coffee breaks). The costs detailed in section 9 are assuming this option. There arealso other good options within walking distance of the physics building that we are pursuing

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as back-up until we make a firm commitment to the Griffith Theatre. The Bryan Center alsohas board rooms and smaller meeting rooms as needed.

Figure 2: The Griffith Theatre in the Bryan Center at Duke University with a capacity of 350, and aview from outside the Bryan Center.

6 Accommodations and local travel

Accommodations close to Duke are reasonably priced and include a wide variety of options.These also include some boutique Bed and Breakfast’s such as the King’s Daughter’s Innlocated adjacent to Duke’s East Campus. Some of these options are included in the followingtable.

$US/night Website for more informationWashington Duke Inn $220 www.washingtondukeinn.comMuseum Hotel (downtown) $170 www.21cmuseumhotels.com/durham/Marriott (downtown) $149 www.marriott.com/hotels/travel/rducv-durham-marriott-city-center/

Millenium Hotel $99 www.millenniumhotels.com/usa/millenniumdurham/King’s Daughter’s Inn thekingsdaughtersinn.comResidence Halls $40 On Duke West CampusCentral Campus Apartments $60 Duke Central Campus

The prices quoted are the current rates, and shown only as a guideline. From our pastexperience we can get significantly better rates with block deals, which we’ll look into if thisproposal goes through.

Single air-conditioned dorm rooms on campus offer an attractive low cost option, and arecurrently available for about 50 participants in June 2016.

There are also several options in the vibrant and eclectic downtown area. If staying indowntown Durham, there is convenient transportation to and from Duke, either via a short busride, or free shuttle service. Everything is very conveniently located once on campus, makinga rental car unnecessary.

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Figure 3: Two of the options for accommodation: the Washington Duke Inn and Golf Club locatedjust off Duke campus (left) and the Marriott in downtown Durham.

7 Meeting Banquet

We propose the meeting banquet to be held on the Wednesday or Thursday evening (June29/30, 2016). We have two excellent options for the banquet, both of which are currentlyavailable on these dates. We will choose one soon after discussing preferences.

The first option is to hold the banquet in Bay 7, formerly a tobacco warehouse in thehistoric American Tobacco Campus. Bay 7 is catered and managed by the legendary AngusBarn. The second option is to hold the banquet in the Nasher Art Museum, convenientlylocated on Duke’s campus, where Parazade restaurant (Mediterranean style food) does thecatering for large events. The Nasher is available on the Wednesday evening, but not theThursday evening. The Nasher Museum is also an option for a reception on the Mondayevening.

Figure 4: Bay 7 in the American Tobacco Campus (left), walking distance from downtown Durham,and the Nasher Art Museum on Duke’s campus.

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8 Possible Excursions

We will work out and detail possible excursions at a later date. These could include visitsto the Eno River State Park, the Outer Banks (about 2.5 hours away), golf outings, and ahistorical tour of downtown Hillsborough (about 30 minutes away).

9 Funding and Budget

Below is a draft of expected costs. The proposed registration fee of $320 includes the banquet,but would be about $80 less for those not attending the banquet. We might also be able toget some support from Duke, in which case the registration fee will be reduced.

Item Cost per person Total CostVenuesAuditorium (Griffith Theatre) 10,200Bryan Center Board Room (9hrs/day) 1,500Reception venue (Duke Gardens or Nasher) 1,500Venue Costs Total 13,200

Food (assuming 300 attendees)Catering for Monday evening reception 30 9,000Catering for coffee breaks 20 (×5 days) 30,000Thursday banquet (Bay 7) 80 25,500(Alternative banquet option (Nasher)) (70) (22,800)Food and beverage tax and gratuity (20%) 7,800Meals/beverages Costs Total 72,300

Other costsDuke Conference Services (Website/registration/etc.) 2,000Additional administrative costs 2,500

Estimated Budget Grand Total 90,000Contingency on Total Budget (5%) 4,500

Proposed Registration Fee (Incl. banquet) 320

The cost of Griffith Theatre includes the venue, projectors, microphones, and labour foron-call technical help. The two options for the banquet are discussed in section 7 above. Notethat the Nasher option is only available on the Wednesday of the week of June 27, 2016. TheBay 7 banquet total cost includes a $1,500 facilities fee, and the Nasher Art Museum banquetcost includes a $800 facilities fee and $1000 security fee. Lunches are not included, to give youthe opportunity the explore the many local options available, but we can offer catered boxedlunches for those that might prefer that option on given days.

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