Starbursts are important features of early galaxy evolution. Many of the distant, high-redshift galaxies we are able to detect are in a starbursting phase, often apparently provoked by a violent gravitational interaction with another galaxy. In fact, if we did not know that major starbursts existed, these conference proceedings testify that we would indeed have difficulties explaining the key properties of the Universe! These conference proceedings cover starbursts from the small-scale star-forming regions in nearby galaxies to galaxy-wide events at high redshifts; one of the major themes of the conference proved to be "scalability", i.e., can we scale up the small-scale events to describe the physics on larger scales. The key outcome of this meeting - and these proceedings - is a resounding "yes" to this fundamental, yet profound question. The enhanced synergy facilitated by the collaboration among observers using cutting-edge ground and space-based facilities, theorists and modellers has made these proceedings a true reflection of the state of the art in this very rapidly evolving field. TOC:Session I: Local Starbursts as Benchmarks forGalaxy, Evolution 1Local Starbursts in a Cosmological Context, Starbursts in the Evolving Universe: A Local Perspective, Are there local analogs of Lyman break galaxies?, The disk Wolf-Rayet population of the nuclear starburst galaxy M83, Laser Illuminates Compact Galaxies, First Spectroscopic Results from the Spitzer Infrared Nearby Galaxies Survey , Near-Infrared Super Star Clusters in Starburst and Luminous Infrared Galaxies, High-resolution imaging of the SSCs in NGC 1569 and NGC 1705, Massive Star Clusters, Feedback, and Superwinds, 30 Doradus - a Template for "Real Starbursts"?Session II: The Initial Mass Function in Starburst, Regions: Environmental Dependences?The Initial Mass Function in Starbursts, Dynamical models of star formation and the initial mass function, Red supergiants, mass segregation and M/L ratios in young star clusters, IMF Variation in M82 Super Star ClustersSession III: Starbursts as a Function ofWavelengthColourful starbursts, A Far-Ultraviolet View of Starburst Galaxies, Local Starbursts: Perspectives from the Optical, The starburst phenomenon from the optical/near-IR perspective, Dissecting starburst galaxies with infrared observations, What fraction of stars formed in infrared galaxies at high redshift?, SHADES: The Scuba HAlf Degree Extragalactic Survey, Compact Extragalactic Star Formation: Peering Through the Dust at Centimeter Wavelengths, Dust attenuation and star formation in the nearby Universe, Theoretical Pan-Spectral Energy Distributions of Starburst GalaxiesSession IV: Triggering and Quenching of Starbursts and the Effects of Galactic InteractionsMerger-Induced Starbursts, Galaxy Collisions: Modeling Star Formation in Different Environments, Star and cluster formation in extreme environments, The Recurrent Nature of Central Starbursts, Efficiency of the dynamical mechanism, 2D kinematics and mass derivations in ULIRGs, Internal Kinematics of LCBGs, Fuelling starbursts and nuclear rings Session V: Star-Formation Rates in Relation to the Host Galaxy Properties Starburst Galaxy Demographics, Star-forming, recently star-forming, and "red and dead" galaxies at 1 < z < 2, Global Star-Formation Rates, Star Formation Efficiencies and Star Cluster Formation, Star Cluster Populations in Nearby Starburst Galaxies, Young Massive Clusters in Non-interacting Galaxies, Nascent starbursts in synchrotron-deficient galaxies, HST/STIS Spectroscopy of the Starburst Core of M82 Session VI: Starburst Tracers: Gas, Dust and Star Formation Starburst Galaxies: an Infrared Perspective, Dusty starbursts as a standard phase in galaxy evolution, Is the interstellar gas of starburst g... Starbursts are important features of early galaxy evolution. Many of the distant, high-redshift galaxies we are able to detect are in a starbursting phase, often apparently provoked by a violent gravitational interaction with another galaxy. In fact, if we did not know that major starbursts existed, these conference proceedings testify that we would indeed have difficulties explaining the key properties of the Universe! These conference proceedings cover starbursts from the small-scale star-forming regions in nearby galaxies to galaxy-wide events at high redshifts; one of the major themes of the conference proved to be "scalability", i.e., can we scale up the small-scale events to describe the physics on larger scales. The key outcome of this meeting ¿ and these proceedings ¿ is a resounding "yes" to this fundamental, yet profound question. The enhanced synergy facilitated by the collaboration among observers using cutting-edge ground and space-based facilities, theorists and modellers has made these proceedings a true reflection of the state of the art in this very rapidly evolving field. Conference Participants xxi Preface xxvii Session I: Local Starbursts as Benchmarks for Galaxy Evolution 1(54) Local Starbursts in a Cosmological Context 3(8) Timothy M. Heckman Starbursts in the Evolving Universe: A Local Perspective 11(6) John S. Gallagher, III Are there local analogs of Lyman break galaxies? 17(4) James D. Lowenthal, R. Nick Durham, Brian J. Lyons, Matthew A. Bershady, Jesus Gallego, Rafael Guzmán, and David C. Koo The disk Wolf-Rayet population of the nuclear starburst galaxy M83 21(6) Paul A. Crowther, Lucy J. Hadfield, Hans Schild, and Werner Schmutz Laser Illuminates Compact Galaxies 27(4) J. Melbourne First Spectroscopic Results from the Spitzer Infrared Nearby Galaxies Survey 31(4) John-David T. Smith, Robert C. Kennicutt, and the SINGS Team Near-Infrared Super Star Clusters in Starburst and Luminous Infrared Galaxies 35(6) Almudena Alonso-Herrero High-resolution imaging of the SSCs in NGC 1569 and NGC 1705 41(4) M. Sirianni, G. Meurer, N. Homeier, M. Clampin, R. Kimble, and the ACS Science Team Massive Star Clusters, Feedback, and Superwinds 45(4) Andrea M. Gilbert and James R. Graham 30 Doradus - a Template for "Real Starbursts"? 49(6) Bernhard R. Brandl Session II: The Initial Mass Function in Starburst Regions: Environmental Dependences? 55(24) The Initial Mass Function in Starbursts 57(8) Bruce G. Elmegreen Dynamical models of star formation and the initial mass function 65(6) Ian A. Bonnell Red supergiants, mass segregation and MIL ratios in young star clusters 71(4) Ariane Lançon and Christian Boily IMF Variation in M82 Super Star Clusters 75(4) Nate McCrady, James R. Graham, and William D. Vacca Session III: Starbursts as a Function of Wavelength 79(62) Colourful starbursts 81(8) Jürgen Knödlseder A Far-Ultraviolet View of Starburst Galaxies 89(8) Claus Leitherer Local Starbursts: Perspectives from the Optical 97(6) Daniela Calzetti The starburst phenomenon from the optical/near-IR perspective 103(6) Nils Bergvall, Thomas Marguart, Göran Östlin, and Erik Zackrisson Dissecting starburst galaxies with infrared observations 109(6) Paul P. van der Weirf and Leonie Snijders What fraction of stars formed in infrared galaxies at high redshift? 115(6) Neil Trentham SHADES: The Scuba HAIf Degree Extragalactic Survey 121(6) James S. Dunlop Compact Extragalactic Star Formation: Peering Through the Dust at Centimeter Wavelengths 127(6) James S. Ulvestad Dust attenuation and star formation in the nearby Universe 133(4) Véronique Buat and Jorge Iglesias-Páramo Theoretical Pan-Spectral Energy Distributions of Starburst Galaxies 137(4) Michael A. Dopita Session IV: Triggering and Quenching of Starbursts and the Effects of Galactic Interactions 141(44) Merger-Induced Starbursts 143(10) François Schweizer Galaxy Collisions: Modeling Star Formation in Different Environments 153(4) Chris Mihos Star and cluster formation in extreme environments 157(6) Richard de Grijs The Recurrent Nature of Central Starbursts 163(4) Curtis Struck Efficiency of the dynamical mechanism 167(6) F. Combes 2D kinematics and mass derivations in ULIRGs 173(4) M. Garcia-Marin, L. Colina, S. Arribas, and A. Monreal Internal Kinematics of LCBGs 177(4) Matthew A. Bershady, M. Vils, C. Hoyos, R. Guzmán, and D.C. Koo Fuelling starbursts and nuclear rings 181(4) Johan H. Knapen Session V: Star-Formation Rates in Relation to the Host Galaxy Properties 185(46) Starburst Galaxy Demographics 187(14) Robert C. Kennicutt, Jr., Janice C. Lee, Jose G. Funes, S.J., Shoko Sakai, and Sanae Akiyama Star-forming, recently star-forming, and "red and dead" galaxies at 1 less than z less than 2 195 Roberto G. Abraham, Karl Glazebrook, Patrick J. McCarthy, David Crampton, Sandra Savaglio, Stephanie Juneau, Damien Le Borgne, Hsiao-Wen Chen, Raymond G. Carlberg, Richard Murowinski, Inger Jørgensen, Kathy Roth, and Ron Marzke Global Star-Formation Rates 201(8) Joseph Silk Star Formation Efficiencies and Star Cluster Formation 209(6) Dta Fritze - v. Alvensleben Star Cluster Populations in Nearby Starburst Galaxies 215(4) Jason Harris, Daniela Calzetti, Denise A. Smith, John S. Gallagher, III, and Christopher J. Conselice Young Massive Clusters in Non-interacting Galaxies 219(4) Søren S. Larsen, Jean P. Brodie, Deidre A. Hunter, and Tom Richtler Nascent starbursts in synchrotron-deficient galaxies 223(4) Hèléne Roussel, George Helou, James Condon, and Rainer Beck HST/STIS Spectroscopy of the Starburst Core of M82 227(4) L.J. Smith, M.S. Westmoquette, J.S. Gallagher, R.W. O'Connell, and R. de Grijs Session VI: Starburst Tracers: Gas, Dust and Star Formation 231(24) Starburst Galaxies: an Infrared Perspective 233(8) Natascha M. Förster Schreiber Dusty starbursts as a standard phase in galaxy evolution 241(6) David Elbaz Is the interstellar gas of starburst galaxies well mixed? 247(4) Vianney Lebouteiller and Daniel Kunth Star Clusters in M51: Connection between Molecular Gas, Stars and Dust 251(4) Eva Schinnerer, Axel Weiß, Susanne Aalto, Nicolas Z. Scoville, Michael P. Rupen, Robert C. Kennicutt, Rainer Beck, and Andrew Fletcher Session VII: Starbursts at Intermediate Redshifts and the Starburst versus AGN Paradigm 255(28) Starbursts in nearby radio galaxies 257(6) Clive Tadhunter Starbursts in Low Luminosity Active Galactic Nuclei 263(6) Rosa M. González Delgado and Roberto Cid Fernandes GALEX U1traViolet Spectroscopy of Luminous InfraRed Galaxies 269(4) Denis Burgarella, Véronique Buat, Todd Small, Tom A. Barlow, and the GALEX Team A recent rebuilding of most spirals? 273(6) François Hammer, Hector Flores, Xianzhong Zheng, and Yanchun Liang Evolution of the IR energy density and SFH up to z ~ 1: first results from MIPS 279(4) E. Le Floc'h, C. Papovich, H. Dole, E. Egami, P. Pérez-González, G. Rieke, M. Rieke, E. Bell, and the Spitzer/MIPS GTO team Session VIII: Violent Star Formation and the Proper-ties of Star-Forming Galaxies at High Redshift 283(48) Understanding Infrared-Luminous Starbursts in Distant Galaxies 285(4) C. Papovich, E. Le Floc'h, H. Dole, E. Egami, P. Pérez-González, G. Rieke, and M. Rieke (for the Spitzer/MIPS GTO Team) Starbursts in the Ultra Deep Field 289(4) Rodger I. Thompson Properties of Lya and Gamma Ray Burst-selected starbursts at high redshifts 293(6) Johan P.U. Fynbo, Brian Krog, Kim Nilsson, Gunnlaugur Björnsson, Jens Hjorth, Páll Jakobsson, Cédric Ledoux, Palle Møller, and Bjarne Thomsen High-z Galaxies in the FORS Deep Field 299(4) D. Mehlert, C. Tapken, I. Appenzeller, S. Noll, D. de Mello, and T.M. Heckman Star-Forming Galaxies at z ~ 2: Stellar and Dynamical Masses 303(4) Dawn K. Erb, Charles C. Steidel, Alice E. Shapley, Max Pettini, Naveen A. Reddy, and Kurt L. Adelberger Metallicity of Star-Forming Galaxies 307(4) Lisa Kewley and Henry A. Kobulnicky New Metallicity Diagnostics for High-Redshift Star-Forming Galaxies 311(4) Samantha A. Rix, Max Pettini, Claus Leitherer, Fabio Bresolin, Rolf-Peter Kudritzki, and Chuck C. Steidel UV Luminosity Function at z ~ 4, 3, and 2 315(4) Marcin Sawicki and David Thompson Massive galaxies at z = 2 319(4) Kentaro Nagamine, Renyue Cen, Lars Hernquist, Jeremiah P. Ostriker, and Volker Springel K-luminous galaxies at z ~ 2 323(4) Duilia de Mello and the K20 Team Resolved Molecular Gas Emission in a QSO host galaxy at z = 6.4 327(4) Fabian Walter Session IX: Conference Summary 331(10) Conference Summary: Starbursts and Galaxy Evolution 333(8) Robert W. O'Connell Memorable Quotes 341(2) Author Index 343(6) Object Index 349