We are in a golden age to investigate the formation and growth of supermassive black holes. The Event Horizon Telescope has taken the first image of the black hole shadow in M87, and more exciting results are expected before end 2020. Detailed kinematics of gas and stars from ALMA and VLT/MUSE now allow high precision black hole mass measurements and detailed studies of in- and outflows in galaxies, dual-AGN and merging systems. NuSTAR and other X-ray telescopes probe black hole accretion both in the local Universe and over cosmic history, providing unprecedented information about the cosmological origin of supermassive black holes. On the theoretical side, the feasibility of super-Eddington accretion has become more established, and more realistic formation mechanisms are being considered for the first massive black holes. As gravitational wave detections have been established via LIGO and VIRGO, future missions need to be planned to also probe supermassive black holes.

This conference will highlight the current and future science related to the formation and growth of supermassive black holes. These will be covered in the following sessions:

• Formation mechanisms of supermassive black holes
• Black hole mass determinations
• The search for intermediate-mass black holes
• Black hole growth in the local Universe
• Accretion, jets and tidal disruption events close to the event horizon
• Super-Eddington accretion
• Supermassive black holes at z > 6
• Black hole growth over cosmic history
• Black hole binaries from LIGO to LISA
• The nearest SMBHs – M87 and the MW

SCIENTIFIC ORGANIZING COMMITTEE

• Patricia Arevalo, Universidad de Valparaiso, Chile
• Franz Bauer, Pontificia Universidad Catolica, Chile
• Stefano Bovino, Universidad de Concepcion, Chile
• Monica Colpi, Universita degli studi Milano-Bicocca, Italy
• Rodrigo Herrera-Camus, Universidad de Concepcion, Chile
• Nathan Leigh, Universidad de Concepcion, Chile
• Lucio Mayer, University of Zurich, Switzerland
• Neil Nagar, Universidad de Concepcion, Chile
• Priyamvada Natarajan, Princeton University, USA
• Nadine Neumayer, Max-Planck-Institute for Astronomy, Germany
• Dominik Schleicher, Universidad de Concepcion, Chile
• Ezequiel Treister, Pontificia Universidad Catolica, Chile

LOCAL ORGANIZING COMMITTEE

• Stefano Bovino, Universidad de Concepcion, Chile
• Rodrigo Herrera-Camus, Universidad de Concepcion, Chile
• Nathan Leigh, Universidad de Concepcion, Chile
• Neil Nagar, Universidad de Concepcion, Chile
• Dominik Schleicher, Universidad de Concepcion, Chile
• Cielo a Su Lado