The title of the conference reflects two particularly important themes. "Beyond the Spherical Sun" refers on the one part to "beyond the spherical", the exciting developments in local helioseismology in particular which have enabled imaging of the full three-dimensional nature of the solar interior and the beginning of understanding of its workings beyond the traditional spherically symmetric picture of the inside of a star.

For the second part, the title brings out the theme "beyond the Sun", as new developments of asteroseismology take us beyond our nearest star to probe the interiors of other stars using seismic techniques and hence to test and improve our understanding of the physics of stars of different masses, ages and chemical composition across the Hertzsprung-Russell diagram.

The science programme will cover topics within the following session themes:

• Local helioseismology methodologies
• Seismology of the solar cycle and solar activity
• Seismology above the photosphere
• Modelling of the Sun and stars
• Low-degree seismology: from the Sun to the stars (session dedicated to the memory of George Isaak)
• Mode physics
• A new era of asteroseismology