The past two decades have seen enormous progress in our theoretical and observational understanding of first star and galaxy formation and the implications of these processes for subsequent cosmic evolution. These advances have been documented in four international conferences, First Stars I-IV, held in Garching in 1999, Pennsylvania in 2003, Santa Fe in 2007, and Kyoto in 2012.

The conference aims at discussing the current theoretical and observational status of our understanding of stellar birth throughout cosmic history, the impact of first star and galaxy formation on the subsequent evolution of the Universe, first supernova explosions and chemical enrichment, cosmic reionization, and formation of supermassive black holes. Specific focus is given to current and future space-borne and Earth-bound observational campaigns and their comparison with predictions from state-of-the-art numerical simulations. We encourage especially young researchers and students to attend the conference.