String theory remains the best candidate for a fundamental theory of nature, with continuous progress in both the formal and the phenomenological aspects. On the latter, the past few years have provided a drastic improvement on the potential for string theory models to be confronted with low-energy data.

The understanding of more general backgrounds for compactification, with spontaneously broken supersymmetry, has provided new insights into the long-standing problems of moduli stabilization and supersymmetry breaking. This progress, along with new techniques in model building have led to important new ideas to address various phenomenological problems in particle physics and early cosmology.

The LHC will start running at CERN in summer 2008, triggering a new era of high energy physics, which may uncover physics at the TeV and provide important information about physics at the most fundametal level. It is relevant and timely to compare these outcomes with concrete string models providing fundamental descriptions.

The program has taken advantage of the imminence of LHC and the major
string conference being organized at CERN immediately after. The aim of
the workshop is to bring together experts in the field and
young active researchers, in order to trigger collaborations and define
the open avenues to follow in this area.

The scientific programme has been very relaxed, in order to allow the participants to discuss informally and work during their visit. In addition to the already scheduled programme, we encouraged participants interested in a given topic to propose and organize on the spot improvised discussions or seminars.