CFTs at large central charge display some universal features which can be inferred from holography. Using these as a guide one can obtain some necessary conditions for a given CFT to admit a classical string dual. I will describe attempts to construct a large class of CFTs satisfying these conditions exploiting some technology of permutation orbifolds.

CFTs at large central charge display some universal features which can be inferred from holography. Using these as a guide one can obtain some necessary conditions for a given CFT to admit a classical gravity dual. I will describe attempts to construct a large class of CFTs satisfying these conditions exploiting some technology of permutation orbifolds. Time permitting I will also outline some tests for the sufficiency of these conditions.

I will discuss how field theories with non-relativistic conformal symmetry, arise naturally in string theory and furthermore describe how one can construct gravitational duals for such theories. Using the gravitational description we will discuss aspects of thermal physics of these theories.