XVIIIth Oporto Meeting on Geometry, Topology and Physics
		9th to 12th July 2009

Information for Participants

Information for Participants

• Marco Zambon and David Martinez Torres will give an introdutory course on Poisson and Sympletic Geometry in the afternoon of the 8th of July. Those interested in attendind this course should tick the appropriate box in the registration form.
  

• Geometry Summer School in Lisbon: there will be a summer school (July 13-17) in Lisbon on algebraic/differential/symplectic geometry aimed at graduate students and recent PhDs. Short courses will be given by:
  

• Other informations:

Those wishing to participate should fill in and return the registration form, not later than May 31st, 2009. Decisions about talks and requests for financial support will be made by June 6th.

Participants should aim to arrive by the 8th of July, since the meeting will start in the morning on the 9th. The meeting will continue until the middle or end of the afternoon of the 12th of July.

There are many international direct flights to Oporto International Airport. If no convenient flight to Oporto is available participants from abroad may fly to Lisbon and catch an internal connecting flight or take a train to Oporto. The train journey from Lisbon to Oporto lasts a minimum of 2.5 hours.

ARRIVING BY PLANE:
There is taxi and metro connection of the airport with the city of Oporto.
By taxi:
Costs around 15 euros. (A small tip of around 5 percent is appreciated but not essential.)
By metro:
There is good metro connection from the airport to the city centre. Information can be found in the metro web page and here (some info about tickets is provided below). The closest metro station to the conference venue (and hotels) is “Casa da Musica”.
From Casa da Musica metro station to the Conference Venue / Hotel:
The conference venue is approximately 15 minutes walk from Casa da Musica, and the hotel 30 minutes walk. Alternatively, one may take one of the following buses from the bus station at the main exit of the Casa da Musica metro Station:

The stop for the conference venue is “Planetario”, situated a few meters from the entrance to the Mathematics building.
The stop for hotel Ipanema Park is “Lordelo” (3rd stop after “Planetario”), situated 50m from the hotel entrance.

** Caution: there is also a hotel “Ipanema Porto” on Rua Campo Alegre, before the conference venue (and the conference hotel). This is NOT the hotel of the conference – “HF IPANEMA PARK” is our hotel.

**Regarding the bus station at Casa da Musica: This is a complex of bus stops situated in front of the main exit of the Metro station (there are more than one exits). One arrives at this exit directly from the metro platform using the elevators.

ARRIVING BY TRAIN:
See train schedules and prices on the web page of CP. The train arrives at Campanha railway station.
By metro:
Metro station “Campanha” is adjacent to the railway station.
By bus:
However, the easiest way to reach the conference venue and hotel Ipanema Park is by bus 207 (direction Foz-Mercado). The bus stop is approximately 100m from the exit of the railway station, to the right (info about tickets below).
By taxi:
Alternatively one may take a taxi. There are taxis right in front of the exit of the railway station. The fare to the hotel is 10-15 euros.

FROM THE CONFERENCE VENUE TO THE HOTEL
Hotel Ipanema Park is 15 minutes’ walk from the conference venue. Details about the route are provided here:
Central building, Mathematics building, Hotel, etc (to print)
The following buses may be used alternatively: 200, 504, 204, 207 (to and fro).
Note that the same buses connect the conference venue / hotel with the city center.

TICKETS IN METRO AND BUSES:
Ticketing for public transportation (metro and buses) is mainly by the "Andante" cards, although bus drivers also sell tickets. Andante cards can be bought from machines at any metro station in the city (e.g. upon arrival at the Airport metro station, or Campanha metro station for those arriving by train). An Andante is (re)chargeable with credit allowing it to be used for more than one journeys. It has to be validated every time, on special machines at the entrance of the metro stations (or inside the buses).
Here are some indicative prices:
- From the Airport to “Casa da Musica” by metro, the Andante needs to be charged with a Z4 trip, which costs 1.45 euros (single ticket).
- From Campanha to Ipanema Park by the 207 bus the price of the ticket is 0.95 euros (with an Andante card or from the driver) (single ticket).
** 0.5 euros should be added to the above prices for the cost of the Andante card the first time metro or buses are used.

Due to the limitations of the budget it is unlikely that financial support will be available except for the main speakers and some Portuguese students.

The meeting is to be held in Oporto, Portugal's second-largest city, offering many attractive sightseeing possibilities.

Oporto's historical centre was awarded UNESCO World Heritage status. Local food and wine is excellent, and in particular Oporto (Porto in Portuguese) is the home of Port wine.