Reuniting the Antipodes
Constructive and Nonstandard Views of the Continuum
Symposion
16 - 23 May 1999
Organised by
U. Berger,
H. Osswald,
P. Schuster
and by the Italian Institute for Philosophical Studies
All this comes with absolutely no warranty!
Location: The symposion (but not the accommodation!) takes place at Venice International
University (VIU). This is situated in the buildings of a former Benedictine monastery, which covers the garden island of
San Servolo in the lagoon of Venice.
In order to get to the island of San Servolo, one has first to go by boat to San Zaccaria
which is quite close to Piazza San Marco. There are frequent connections to
San Zaccaria from the train station (Santa Lucia), the bus terminal (Piazzale Roma), and from Lido. Second, one has to take the boat no. 20 heading to San Servolo, which departs from San Zaccaria in front of the Hotel Londra Palace.
Note that the connection from San Zaccaria to San Servolo is the one and only boat connection to the island of San Servolo, and that
boats are running regularly, but not very frequently, especially in the evening. We will distribute a boat timetable upon registration; in the morning of
Monday 17 May, we strongly recommend to take the boat departing at 9:00 from
San Zaccaria. In case the boat staff
is asking you why you want to enter San Servolo, tell them that
it is because of a congress ("congresso").
Accommodation: Note that VIU cannot offer accommodation on the island of
San Servolo. However, they have made a special arrangement with the ex-convent
San Nicolò in Lido di Venezia, offering double rooms
(ITL 32.500; single use ITL 65.000) and single rooms (ITL 45.000); these rates are per
person and night including breakfast. The ex-convent San Nicolò is a
simply, but carefully restored monastery, with shower in each room.
The phone number of San Nicolò is ++39-041-5265485, the fax number is
++39-041-5262927 (don't omit the 0 in between from abroad, and dial the
local prefix 041 even from anywhere in Venice).
In order
to get to San Nicolò from any gate to Venice, take first any boat heading to Lido. Second, take the bus
line A for San Nicolò departing in front of the Lido boat stop. After a couple of minutes, the bus crosses a bridge and arrives at a church square with some trees; the church is on the right hand side of the bus. Get out of the bus, walk down the doorway on the right hand side of the church, and ring the bell you will find next the door at the end of the doorway; the
porter is said to be there till 2:00 a.m.. Note
that a way not to miss the right bus stop is to ask the bus driver for
"ex-convento San Nicolò" when you enter the bus; if you miss it nevertheless,
don't worry: the bus usually returns to this stop very soon.
Meals: On the island, the only place to go is the VIU cafeteria
(Monday--Friday, lunch and dinner).
Each participant has to opt for a full weekly meal plan; the meal coupons
must be bought in advance (ITL 9.000 for each meal, including drinks and coffee). Since we do not have dinner there on Tuesday evening and Thursday evening, the total for each participant is ITL 72.000 for 8 meals. Only people arriving late or departing early might buy a reduced number of meal coupons. Additional meal coupons for accompanying persons can be bought as long as the capacity of the cafeteria is not exceeded, but they have to be booked and bought
in advance. Since most restaurants in Venice are not cheap,
and the food in the cafeteria is said to be quite good, we strongly recommend to check whether the accompanying persons really do not need meal coupons.
Coffee breaks: Unfortunately, there is no bar service on the island, and establishing an extra one for this meeting had even exceeded the expenses for the meals. However, there are vending machines for coffee and soft drinks both in San Servolo and in San Nicolò, which are said to work quite well. Please be prepared and keep always some coins (ITL 100-200-500-1000). People
who need to drink a lot also between the meals might consider to bring a bottle of water every day.
Conference fee: ITL 105.000 (ITL 75.000 for younger participants). Please notice the reduction which has been possible because of the high number
of participants.
Payment: Internal accommodation in San Nicolò, registration fee, and meal plan
have to be paid in advance, i.e. upon registration; we can accept neither
cheques nor credit cards but only cash (Italian currency, Lira Italiana, ITL). Please be prepared to bring the necessary amount of money to the registration, that is slightly less than ITL 450.000 in case of a single participant who has booked share accommodation in San Nicolò.
External accommodation has to be paid in any case by the participants. Most
hotels accept credit cards though many of them are doing this reluctantly.
Just in case one might consider bringing some traveller or euro cheques
(or cash).
We apologise that we will neither be able to subtract the support from the
debits, nor to pay any accommodation expenses directly.
Support: The Volkswagen foundation has decided to support this
symposion. They will pay for travelling and accommodation of those
participants who cannot cover their expenses from their own sources.
Please understand that younger scientists, retired scholars,
and persons from developing or former Eastern countries will have some
priority.
We apologise once more that we will neither be able to subtract this support from the debits, nor to pay any expenses directly. There is also no support
available for the registration fee.
On the other hand, the expenses for the conference dinner will be
covered entirely by the Italian Institute for Philosophical Studies, which will
also add a reasonable amount to the travel expenses,
and provides very helpful assistance in
local organisation and public relations; in addition, they printed the program
of the symposion.
Travel hints: Local ones are mentioned above (see "Location" and "Accommodation"). In general, they can be found via the homepage of the Venice International
University (VIU), which we strongly recommend to visit before departing.
Luggage: We strongly recommend to use only very little luggage, since there is not much room on most boats. Maybe you bring your swim suit.
Public transport ticket: There are 24 hours tickets for ITL 18.000,
72 hours tickets for ITL 35.000, and weekly tickets ("biglietto settimanale")
for ITL 60.000. The
last option is perhaps the best one for most participants. Tickets are
available at the "actv" counters to be found also at all main boat stops,
and are valid on all bus lines as well as on all boat lines (except "alilaguna", "LineaBlu" and "Clodia").
Registration:
Sunday, 16 May 1999, 21:30--23:00, ex-convento San Nicolò, Lido
Monday, 17 May 1999, 09:15--10:15 and 14.30--15.30, Venice International
University (VIU), San Servolo---we strongly recommend to take the boat departing from San Zaccaria at 9:00 on Monday morning.
Opening: Monday 17 May 1999, after registration.
Conference dinner: A conference dinner will be held on Tuesday
18 May 1999 (18:45 departure from San Servolo).
Conference excursion: In the afternoon of Thursday 20 May 1999 we will
have a choice of guided excursions, e.g. a boat tour to the famous islands
in the lagoon (Murano, Burano, Torcello), a stay at the beaches, or a walk through some less known quarters of Venice. Maybe you bring your swim suit.
Closing: Saturday 22 May 1999, before lunch.
A selection of refereed papers and abstracts will be
published in the conference proceedings.
Deadlines: 19 March 1999 for abstracts and completed
registration forms; 31 July 1999 for the submission of papers.
Peter Schuster,
Mathematisches Institut
der
Universität,
Theresienstrasse 39, 80333 München, Germany
phone ++49-89-2394-4401, fax ++49-89-2805248
antipode@rz.mathematik.uni-muenchen.de
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