Information for Participants

Jacobs University

The conference is held on the campus of Jacobs University in the Northern German city of Bremen. Accomodation is available on campus within five minutes walk of lecture halls, the library, small group study rooms, cafeterias, and recreation facilities. Besides the formal program, the conference aims at maximizing opportunities to meet, discuss, work in small groups, or just relax.

Arriving by Train

Ask for a connection to Bremen-Schönebeck, a suburban railway station within five minutes walk from campus.

Arriving by Air

Bremen Airport is located close to the city center. It is serviced by major airlines as Lufthansa, Air France, KLM, but also by many smaller airlines. As a hub of Ryan Air, it offers convenient direct flights to many European destinations. On arrival day (Sunday, June 30th), we will provide a shuttle service to campus. At different times, take Tram 6 to Main Station, then a local train in the direction of Bremen-Vegesack, get off at Bremen-Schönebeck for a five minute walk to campus. There is a ticket machine on the tram which takes Euro coins, get a Tarif Zone II ("Preisstufe II") ticket which is valid up to Schönebeck. Budget connections to Hamburg or Hannover are feasible as well. Both airports have train connections to Bremen within two hours travel time.

Arrival and getting to the Jacobs University Campus

The Jacobs University campus is located in Bremen North, approximately 20 km Northwest of the Bremen City Center and of Bremen airport. IF you arrive by AIR on SUNDAY, 30.6, please sign up here. We will try to arrange for group transport from Bremen Airport to campus. For earlier or later arrival dates, and arrival per train, see http://www.jacobs-university.de/visit and consider the following options: A) Tram from airport (60 minutes, 3 Euro). Leave the airport building, and takeTram No 6, direction City/Universität (careful Universität refers NOT to Jacobs University!. Buy a ticket for Zone 2 (around 3 Euro) from a ticket machine (outside or inside the Tram). Ride it for about 15 minutes to Hauptbahnhof (Bremen central train station). Get off at Hauptbahnhof, and enter the train station. Local trains to Bremen-Vegesack (or Farge) leave at least twice per hour at :04 and :34. Take the next train for about 18 minutes, and exit at stop Bremen-Schoenebeck. Walk towards the end of the train, climb one flight of stairs, cross a bridge and follow the road for 400m to campus. B) Train from central train station (30 Minutes, 3 Euro). If you are connecting, you should not need an extra ticket. Else, buy a Zone 2 ticket. Follow second part of directions given in A. C) Take a cab from airport or central train station to Jacobs University (20 Minutes, 35-40 Euros). Make sure to ask for Jacobs University, not Bremen University (a different place). D) By car, see http://www.jacobs-university.de/visit

Check In and Registration on Campus

Checking into campus accommodation and registering for SampTA have to be done separately: A) If you have booked Campus accommodation, stop at the porters (small building on the right when entering Jacobs University's main gate, see Campus map, and pick up your room/apartment key/transponder (against signature), and a Campus map. If you are coming by car/cab/shuttle, ask the driver to wait, and drive you to College Northmetal (all single apartments and rooms in double apartments) or the Guesthouse, as indicated on your key. (You can also walk, it is 5 minutes and enjoyable if your luggage has wheels and the weather is nice.) Locate your room, check it, and settle in. Problems should be reported to the registration desk or by calling the local organizers (6001 from the phone in your room, 0 421 200 6001 from within Germany (from outside replace 0 by +49). PHONE only active starting JUNE 29! Alternatively, call the porters (replace 6001 by 4800). B) The registration desk is located in the IRC and will be open at least till 9 pm on Sunday and most of the following days. There, pick up your conference badge (needed to EAT in the servers) and other materials, settle open bills, confirm your participation in social events, get assistance, etc. Please have in mind that late/additional payments can only be made in cash, we cannot process credit card payments! Those who paid meal plans can go to the College III Cafeteria for breakfast/lunch/dinner (brunch on Sundays, 10am - 1 pm) during the announced opening hours. This applies only to the non-conference days. During the conference days (Monday-Friday, July 1-5, all meals will be served in the College Nordmetall Servery (where you are staying).

What you may want to pack

In addition to standard conference travel, we suggest that you bring A) A LAN cable (there should be wireless internet in your room, but be on the safe side) B) A telephone card. All rooms have phones, but you will need a telephone card to call off campus. This can be bought at the Snack Bar Friseur and we will have a couple for emergencies at the Registration desk. C) An extra pair of shoes/socks if you join us on a walk in the Wadden Sea on Wednesday D) Maybe an extra towel for sports, etc. E) Indoor shoes if you want to make use of the state of the art workout facilities (you can buy 5x user ticket for 12,50€.) F) Outdoor football / basketball shoes (if you want to play some). We will have a SampTA football match for young and old, boys and girls, so bring appropriate shoes!

Conference Dinner on Monday and outing on Wednesday

We are happy to announce some details about the festive event planned on opening day, Monday July 1. Right after the plenary talk by prof. Feichtinger, buses are waiting for the signed up participants. The first two buses will leave Campus at 5pm latest, the remaining two by 5:15pm (if you miss the bus you have to find your way by public transport, and will probably miss the first program item). When we arrive in Bremen downtown, we will split into groups of 25 or less and have guided tours (in English) visiting Bremen's Town Hall, and get a bit of insight into Bremen's history. At about 6:45pm, we visit the Schuetting, another historic building directly opposite to the Town Hall, and start the evening by a small reception dedicated to the 10th anniversary of the SampTA conferences and sponsored by Bremen's Chamber of Commerce. The festive dinner in Bremen's Ratskeller will start at 8pm, earlier arrival is possible. Stated times are approximate, they should allow you to join later if you miss the bus or have conflicting obligations, and want to join later. Please adjust your plans accordingly. Our outing takes us to Cuxhaven to visit the Wadden Sea. At the Wadden Sea we will split into different groups, most of us will join one of the guided groups touring the Wadden Sea (barefoot, or wear an extra pair of shoes with socks), some may just go for coffee, some can visit this site (bring towel, swim wear). In the evening we have a North German Dinner at a close by farm.

Individual outings, going off campus

Jacobs University is a located in a residential area in Bremen North. To accommodate social aspects, we will operate our own SampTA Bar Sunday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday evening. We offer inside and outside seating! We are very close to the Lesum river and it is very nice to take a walk there or to go jogging. Also, you can follow the Lesum river and walk North-West towards the town of Vegesack where you can visit nice restaurants (Grauer Esel, Havenhaus, Strandlust) and the "Strandlust Biergarten"). In case that you take the local train to city center, we suggest you visit the "Schnoor" or the "Schlachte" for dinner and/or drinks. As alternative to having lunch with all of us in College Nordmetall, you can visit a small snack bar near the porters for a daily menu and classics such as "Currywurst" and "Fish and Chips". They also serve a great BREAKFAST. For advise, just ask some of the local organizers!