Signal in the Noise is a workshop focused on overcoming the instrumental and astrophysical challenges we face in characterising transiting exoplanet atmospheres. JWST has transformed our study of exoplanets with its unprecedented precision in previously inaccessible wavelength ranges. Yet, as we extend our efforts to observe smaller and more complex signals, we increasingly encounter noise sources—both instrumental and astrophysical—that challenge our ability to discern atmospheric signatures. This workshop aims to address these challenges by bringing together ~50 experts on JWST data analysis and stellar activity to share insights and approaches and to collaborate on the analysis of real JWST datasets over a weeklong workshop.
Our workshop will be held at Ringberg Castle, outside of Munich, Germany, from November 17 to 21, 2025. There will be a welcome reception the evening of 16 November 2025.
During the week, participants will have the opportunity to work together in small groups on the analysis of JWST spectroscopic time series observations, the scope and direction of which will be largely set by the participants and their goals and skillsets. The workshop will also feature summary talks and discussion sessions centred around pipeline-level data reduction, light curve-level analysis, stellar observations, and stellar modelling pertaining to transiting exoplanets and JWST.
If you are interested in participating in this workshop, please apply to join us! The deadline for applications is April 1, 2025 at 23:59 EST, though we will keep the form open to applications until we finalise the selection (early May).
The application form is available here: https://forms.gle/u6PpqaDhWcNY8Mdo7
As part of this application form, potential participants are asked to provide an indication of what they would like to work on, what they would like to learn, and what they could teach to others at this workshop, with 50 words for each answer.
The workshop registration will be ~€850, which includes lodging and meals at the castle for the whole week. Due to the nature and location of the workshop, all participants are required to attend the workshop for the entire duration. We anticipate that limited funds to cover part of the conference fee/travel will be available, however we will not be able to cover all costs for all participants.
TBD.
Organising Committee: Eva-Maria (Evie) Ahrer, Lili Alderson, Adina Feinstein, Benjamin Rackham, and Michael Radica
OC Email: signalinthenoise2025@gmail.com
Invited Speakers: Taylor Bell, Aarynn Carter, Daniel Huber, and Alexander (Sasha) Shapiro
Participants: you?
The workshop will take place at Ringberg Castle, Bavaria, Germany.
The conference will be held at Ringberg Castle, overlooking the scenic Tegernsee in southern Germany. With space for roughly 50 participants on a secluded mountaintop, Ringberg is a cozy spot conducive to vibrant scientific discussion, brainstorming new ideas, feasting and merriment, and (if you dare) four-person chess.
Address
Tagungsstätte Schloss Ringberg
Schloßstraße 20, D-83700 Reitrain
The workshop will start with an evening welcome reception on 16 November 2025 and finish at 2 pm on 21 November 2025.
The workshop registration will be ~€850, which includes lodging and meals at the castle for the whole week, paid upon arrival at the venue.
Due to the nature and location of the workshop, all participants are required to attend the workshop for the entire duration. We anticipate that limited funds to cover part of the conference fee/travel will be available, however we will not be able to cover all costs for all participants.
Ringberg castle provides breakfast, lunch, dinner, and coffee breaks on site. Dinner is not served on Sunday and Friday. The cost of food and coffee are included in the workshop fee.
Our hosts at the castle will welcome us with a Bavarian style dinner on Wednesday or Thursday evening.
We are committed to providing an accessible environment for all participants. If you need help or arrangements, don't hesitate to contact the organisers. Ringberg is wheelchair accessible (see this page for more detailed information). If you require any other accommodations for your stay at the castle, please contact the organisers.
Moreover, participants will pay attention not to leave out information for some people in your audience. Some of us might not be able to see well, hear well, move well, speak well, or understand information presented in some ways well or at all. Everyone at the event will be open to diversity in the audience and any accessibility issues.
You may need to apply for a visa to enter Germany. See here for visa requirements. Feel free to contact the organisers if you need a letter of support.
Note: The visa regulations have changed for those travelling from many countries (including the US and UK) to the EU. For more information, see the ETIAS website.
✈️ By plane
We recommend flying to Munich Airport (MUC), as this is the nearest international airport to Ringberg. The easiest way to get to Ringberg from MUC is by train. Starting at Munich Airport, take the regional train (S-Bahn) line S1 or S8 to Munich Central Station. From Munich Central Station take the train to Tegernsee Station. The total travel time from MUC to Ringberg Castle is around 2hr.
🚂 By train
The nearest train station to Ringberg is Tegernsee Station. From Tegernsee, you will need to get a taxi to the castle, which is a 15min drive away.
You can find train travel times by visiting the Deutsche Bahn (German rail) webpage. Train tickets can be bought on the Deutsche Bahn website in advance but we don't recommend the cheaper "saver" tickets as these apply to a specific train – you cannot use them on a different train if you have flight delays.
🚕 Taxis
Given the number of attendees arriving at the same time, a taxi reservation in advance via email is mandatory (Taxi Jasinski, taxi-jasinski@live.de). The organisers will do their best to alert attendees about others who may be arriving/leaving around the same time to try and share taxis.
🚘 By car
If you decide to rent a car and drive, you can follow the directions on the Ringberg website.
All participants will be staying in the Castle. Some of the rooms are shared. Once the participant list is finalised, the organisers will contact all participants regarding lodging and other arrangements (whether they are willing to share and under what conditions, preferred roomates, dietary requirements, etc)
In addition to a general Code of Conduct, we require participants to agree to a Collaboration Policy that ensures transparency and openness at the workshop:
All participants at this workshop will be expected to openly share their ideas, expertise, code, and interim results. Project development will proceed out in the open among participants.
Participants will be encouraged to change gears, start new collaborations, and combine projects. Any participant who contributes significantly to a project can expect co-authorship on any resulting scientific papers, and any participant who gets significant contributions to a project is expected to include those contributors as co-authors.
We will work with JWST exoplanet atmosphere data sets which are publicly available and published. Participants with their own data sets are able to recommend using these during the workshop. However, we note that the above agreement makes inadvisable to bring proprietary data sets or proprietary code to this workshop, unless the participant bringing such assets has the rights to open them or add collaborators.
This collaboration policy was adapted from the Gaia Sprints policy.
During the community workshop, we require participants to follow the code of conduct for the workshop which can be found below. If you have any questions about the workshop, you can reach the organizing committee.
The organizers are dedicated to providing a harassment-free conference experience for everyone, regardless of gender, gender identity and expression, age, sexual orientation, disability, physical appearance, body size, race, ethnicity, religion (or lack thereof), or technology choices. We do not tolerate harassment, abusive behavior, or intimidation of conference participants in any form. As such, we follow the European Astronomical Society Council (EAS) Ethics Statement and Guidelines for Good Practice (https://eas.unige.ch/documents/EAS_Ethics_statement_reviewed_2023.pdf and https://eas.unige.ch/documents/EAS_Good_Practice_reviewed_2023.pdf) and expect all participants to read and abide by their statements.
In addition to the Code of Conduct, all participants must agree that any unpublished JWST results shared at the workshop will remain confidential and may only be used with the explicit permission of the observing program PI. We expect attendees to be respectful of intellectual property and ideas discussed and communicate openly.
We pledge to help the entire community follow the code of conduct, and to not remain silent when we see violations of the code of conduct. We will take action when members of our community violate this code such as notifying a workshop organizer or talking privately with the person. Participants asked to stop any harassing behavior are expected to comply immediately. Attendees violating these rules may be asked to leave the event at the sole discretion of the conference organizers.