Unveiling ALMA Band 2

workshop

24-26 February 2026 (Bologna, Italy)

 

 

Workshop rationale

Installation and testing of the ALMA Band 2 receivers, covering 67 to 116 GHz, is currently underway. These are the first receivers belonging to the ALMA Wideband Sensitivity Upgrade (WSU) Programme. Band 2 includes the Band 3 frequency range (84 – 116 GHz) and extends this down to 67 GHz, offering thus a new frequency domain for spectral line and continuum observations uncharted before by ALMA. 

In anticipation of Band 2 being offered in the near future, this EU ARC workshop brings together astronomers and ALMA/ARC staff to discuss the new potential for various scientific fields. We plan to have a dedicated session focused on looking at the Band 2 Science Verification data. 

The workshop will have a number of invited talks to provide information about the Band 2 receiver, and cover the main scientific areas for which Band 2 is expected to be important. In addition, there will be space for several contributed talks and posters. Participants that are interested in presenting their science and ideas, including synergies with other wavelength regimes, are encouraged to submit an abstract by October 31st (closed).  Abstract evaluation will be done anonymously. 

Confirmed invited speakers:

• José Cernicharo (CSIC, Spain)
• Claudia Cicone (U. Oslo, Norway)
• Carlos De Breuck (ESO, Germany)
• Greta Guidi (U. Grenoble, France)
• Luca di Mascolo (U. Groningen, the Netherlands)
• Neil Philips (ESO, Germany)
• Anna Puglisi (U. Southampton, UK)
• Victor Rivilla (CAB, Spain)
• Eva Schinnerer (MPIA, Germany)
• Olli Sipilä (MPE, Germany)
• Fabrizio Villa (INAF-OAS, Italy)

 

Important dates

• Abstract submission deadline: 31 October 2025, abstract submission form. Closed
• Registration deadline: 16 January 2026, registration form, no fee requested
• Unveiling ALMA Band 2 Workshop: 24 – 26 February 2025

 

Organising committees

SOC: 

• Kazi Rygl (INAF-IRA & Italian ARC node, Italy, chair)
• Maria T. Beltran (INAF-OAA, Italy)
• Leindert Boogaard (U. Leiden, the Netherlands)
• Chiara Circosta (IRAM, France)
• Giuliana Cosentino (IRAM & IRAM ARC node, France)
• Elvire De Beck (Chalmers, Sweden)
• María Díaz Trigo (ESO, Germany)
• Gary Fuller (U. Manchester & UK ARC node, UK)
• Stanislav Gunar (CAS, Czech Republic)
• Pavel Jáchym (CAS & Czech ARC node, Czech Republic)
• Izaskun Jiménez-Serra (CAB, Spain)
• Neil Philips (ESO, Germany)
• Daniel Tafoya (Chalmers & Nordic ARC node, Sweden)
• Joshiwa van Marrewijk (U. Leiden & Allegro ARC node, the Netherlands)
• Catherine Walsh (U. Leeds, UK)

LOC – INAF-IRA & Italian ARC node: 

• Elisabetta Liuzzo (chair)
• Ivano Baronchelli
• Matteo Bonato
• Nicola Marchili
• Marcella Massardi (co-chair)
• Rosita Paladino
• Kazi Rygl (co-chair)
• Alice Tabellini
• Marco Tugnoli

Program

=== TUESDAY 24 FEB =====

10:30-11:00 Coffee & registration

• 11:00-11:05 Welcome
• 11:05-11:35 Philips (i) – Overview of ALMA Band 2
• 11:35-12:05 Villa (i)- The unboxing of the Band 2 receivers
• 12:05-12:20 Camisasca – Testing and characterization of  Low-Noise Amplifier Chains for ALMA Band 2
• 12:20- 12:35 Randriamampandry – Radio Astronomy in Madagascar with MeerKAT/SKA and ALMA Synergy

• 13:30 -14:00 De Breuck (i) – ALMA Band 2 as a powerful redshift machine
• 14:00 – 14:15 Borkar – ALMA Band 2: A New Window to the Core of High-Redshift Radio-Quiet Quasars
• 14:15 – 14:30 del Palacio – Probing the Sizes of AGN Coronae with ALMA-B2
• 14:30 – 15:00 Cicone (i) – Studying feedback in galaxies with ALMA Band 2

• 15:30 – 15:35 Baroncelli (p)- Free-jet rotational spectra of urea analogues: laboratory data for future ALMA Band 2 searches
• 15:35 – 15:40 Song (p)- A radio-submm continuum investigation of dust-obscured nuclei in local IR-bright galaxies
• 15:40 – 16:10 Puglisi (i)- Star formation and molecular gas at z~1 with ALMA Band 2
• 16:10 – 16:25 Salvestrini – Probing the Physical Conditions of Cold Molecular Gas with ALMA Band 2
• 16:25 – 16:40 Decarli – Molecular deep field observations with ALMA band 2
• 16:40 – 17:10 Di Mascolo (i)  – SZ proto-cluster science with ALMA Band 2

=== WEDNESDAY 25 FEB =====

• 9:00 – 10:30  Band 2 Science Verification data

• 11:00 – 11:30 Schinnerer (i)  – Science opportunities for studies of nearby galaxies using the new ALMA Band 2 receiver
• 11:30 – 11:45 Paladino – ALMA Band 2 perspective in the observation of starforming galaxies
• 11:45 – 12:00 Bouvier – Extragalactic carbon chemistry in external galaxies
• 12:00 – 12:15 Cosentino – Feedback from Supernova Remnants in Molecular Clouds: How Shocks May Trigger Star Formation
• 12:15-12:30 Michałowski – Binary nature of supernovae type Ic revealed by molecular gas observations

• 13:30 – 14:00 Cernicharo (i) – Carbonaceous chemistry with ALMA Band 2
• 14:00 – 14:15 Richards – Is there a dry gap?  Looking for the 67.8 GHz water maser
• 14:15 – 14:30 Sanna – Exploring the mid-IR properties of single high-mass YSOs
• 14:30 – 14:45 Nucara – Disappearing cores and early fragmentation in massive clumps: insights from synthetic ALMA Band 2 observations
• 14:45 – 15:00 Minnini – Tracing the impact of the environment on the continuous process of fragmentation with ALMA Band 2

• 15:30 – 16:00 Sipilä (i) – Deuterated molecules in ALMA Band 2
• 16:00 – 16:15 Pineda – Broadband observations at 3mm: The Power of Astrochemistry to study the role of the environment on star- and disk-formation
• 16:15 – 16:30 Melosso – Laboratory Spectroscopy for the Detection of Complex Organic Molecules with ALMA Band 2
• 16:30 – 16:45 Leurini – ALMA Observations of G351.77: Probing Outflow–Filament Alignment in a Star-Forming Ridge

19:30 –  social dinner at Vamola (participants have to pay themselves)

=== THURSDAY 26 FEB ===

• 9:30 – 10:00 Rivilla (i) – Prebiotic molecules in ALMA Band 2
• 10:00 – 10:15 Scibelli – Novel mapping of complex molecules toward low-mass stellar nurseries with ALMA
• 10:15 – 10:30 Maris – 2′-Hydroxyacetophenone: Lab data and ALMA archive screening

• 11:00 – 11:30 Guidi (i)- Dust evolution and planet formation in disks: the potential of ALMA Band 2
• 11:30 – 11:45 Columba – Recovering the mass of young disks through ALMA Band 2 continuum: mock-surveys of Class0/I YSOs from 1mm to 7mm
• 11:45 – 12:00 Napolitano – THE SEARCH FOR CHEMICAL COMPLEXITY IN PROTOPLANETARY DISKS: ALMA Wideband Preview of HL Tauri
• 12:00 – 12:15 Testi – ALMA Band 2 and the initial condition for planet formation
• 12:15 – 12:30 Cacciapuoti – The dust that assembles the youngest protoplanetary disks

• 13:30 – 13:45 Armante – Inside the gap: star-wind disk or dust emission within transitional disks’ cavities
• 13:45 – 14:00 Soave – Unveiling the ENYGMA of magnetic braking in protostars: a study on the inner envelope kinematics in Class 0/I YSO
• 14:00 – 14:15 Gavino – postprocessing of numerical simulations: from RAMSES to polarization maps for ALMA Band 2
• 14:15 – 15:00 Final discussion and farewell

15:00 – 15:30 Farewell coffee

Notes:

Venue, logistics and contact

The meeting is hosted by the Italian ALMA Regional Centre node. It will be held in person at the Congress Centre of the CNR-campus, via Gobetti 101, Bologna, Room 216,  from Tuesday February 24 to Thursday February 26, 2026. 

Directions to reach the campus can be found here

Different bike-sharing services are available in the city, and the most widespread one is RideMovi

The social dinner will be in the Bologna Center at the Vamola Restaurant . Here’s a map showing nearby hotels to the restaurant.

Possible accommodations close to the campus are listed here (with names of Hotels and distances from the venue)

No registration fee is requested. Lunch and coffee breaks will be provided. We will organise a conference dinner on Wednesday 25 February (not provided, should be paid by the participant). When registering you will be asked whether you wish to participate, and whether you have dietary requirements. 

We kindly ask all participants to take note of our Code_of_Conduct.

Please contact the Italian ARC node for any questions: help-desk@alma.inaf.it.

 

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