The 7th International Conference on Strange Quarks in Matter will be held from March 12-17, 2003 at the Sheraton Atlantic Beach Oceanfront Hotel in Atlantic Beach, North Carolina. This meeting is jointly organized by Brookhaven National Laboratory, Duke University, and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

The conference will focus on the physics of strange quarks in matter and heavy flavor (c,b) production by nuclei, including their role in characterizing hot hadronic matter and quark-gluon plasma formation. In addition to recent theoretical work, new results from experiments at the GSI, AGS, SPS, and RHIC will be presented. The future heavy-ion program at the LHC will also be discussed.

Young researchers (Ph.D. students and postdocs) are especially encouraged to attend the conference, and some travel assistance will be available to help support their participation in the meeting.

The Sheraton Atlantic is an oceanfront hotel located on the island of Bogue Banks on the southern Outer Banks of North Carolina. The location is a popular resort destination, featuring miles of unspoiled beaches, unique and interesting wildlife and aquatic habitats, and a broad selection of restaurants, pubs, and eateries. The nearest airport is New Bern, NC, which is easily accessible by air from all major centers via several daily flights on US-Air through Charlotte. The nearest major airport is Raleigh-Durham, North Carolina.

The fee for the Conference will be US $350 which includes breaks, breakfasts and lunches, the conference banquet, and a copy of the conference proceedings. The permanent URL of the conference website is: http://www.phy.duke.edu/SQM2003. Please bookmark the site. More details on the conference and the site will be posted soon.

A lively, informative discussion is anticipated at the meeting, leading to progress in advancing the state of the knowledge concerning the role of strange quark and heavy flavor production in nature. On behalf of the local and international organizing committees, we invite you to participate and hope you will be able to attend. A second circular with further details about the program and the conference venue will be distributed early in the Fall of 2002.

Sincerely,

Steffen Bass, Berndt Mueller, George Stephans, Thomas Ullrich