Cosmology has seen a profound transformation over the past two decades: from a data-starved science to a big-data science.

The development of cosmology into a precision science has been so fast that there is one "special" generation of researchers that has seen it all, and 2015 sees the 60th birthday of a "special" one of them, Sabino Matarrese. Since the early 1980s, Sabino has been a prominent player in the development of the new science of cosmology.
  • He has seen ”first hand” the birth of the theory of inflation, and has contributed crucially to its development and its confrontation to data.
  • He has witnessed the build-up of the evidence for an accelerated Universe and the cosmological constant.
  • He was a key player in the tantalising hunt for CMB anisotropies and their discovery by the COBE satellite. His students and postdocs went on to work on later missions such as WMAP and Planck, and his own first-hand involvement continues through the Planck mission.
  • Perhaps most importantly, Sabino has formed an entire generation of scientists. Many of them now hold permanent positions in prestigious institutions scattered around the world and are now educating a third generation of scientists - Sabino's scientific grandkids. Their collective area of expertise gives a wonderful snapshot of the current status of cosmology.
We would like to make the most of this wonderful opportunity and reunite all these researchers, from three continents and as many academic generations, under the same roof for a three-day conference. Other eminent cosmologists from this "special" generation will also be present. We will retrace the path that cosmology has taken since the 1980s, review the current status of our understanding, discuss the new challenges and open questions, and design fruitful directions for the future of this amazing science.