Travelling

You can fly to Novosibirsk via Moscow by Aeroflot, Transaero, UTair or S7. Direct S7 flights will bring you from Frankfurt, Hannover, Seoul or Beijing to Novosibirsk and back. Now you can buy electronic tickets on Aeroflot, S7 and Transaero flights via the websites and pay by VISA and other popular cards. All participants will be met at the Novosibirsk airport and brought to Akademgorodok by a special transport.

Commuting

Upon your arrival in Novosibirsk, you are most likely to be met by an Organizing committee member with PSI 2011 badge and a poster. In this case you are expected to come up to this person and introduce yourself. If you have difficulties with transfer from the airport, please call 8-913-375-6060 (Natalya Cheremnykh, mobile).
If by some reason the Organizing committee failed to meet you, please take a taxi, but NEVER, IN NO CASE take a random taxi in the airport and refuse all offers! Use only the authorized taxi companies – we recommend the Grand-Auto company. The counter of taxi order is located to the right side of the domestic flights arrivals block. The price (Tolmachevo airport - Akademgorodok) is fixed at about 20 EU. Don’t overpay the driver!

Hotel Accommodation

Organizing Committee will book rooms in the Zolotaya Dolina (Golden Valley) hotel for all conference participants. The Conference will take place in the Small Hall of the House of Scientists which is within 10 minutes walk from the hotel. Approximate accommodation rates are given below:

Suite (2 rooms) is appr. EU 90 ($125) per night;
Renovated single room is appr. EU 55 ($85) per night;
Single room is appr. EU 20 ($24) per night;
Double room is appr. EU 36 ($45) per night (EU 18 ($22) per person).

All payments for accommodation are to be made to the hotel receptionist by cash in Russian roubles when checking out.

Please indicate your preference in Registration form on http://psi.nsc.ru/ or inform the Secretary.

Please note that the rates are subject to change according to currency exchange rates that can be found at the website of The Central Bank of the Russian Federation.

Meal

Breakfast is not included in the hotel rates. Buffet is situated on the 8th floor of the hotel. Every conference day (June 27–July 1) a breakfast will be served for participants in the restaurant of the Zolotaya Dolina Hotel starting from 8:00. Lunch will be served in the restaurant of the House of Scientists at 12:30 during the Conference days (June 27–July 1). Please inform us about your meal preferences (vegetarian, etc.) when registering.

Currency and Banking

Euro, US dollars and Russian roubles can be obtained from ATMs with Visa, EuroCard/MasterCard, Maestro Cirrus and other popular credit cards. ATMs can be found in many places - in the hotel, House of Scientists, Post Office (near the hotel), supermarkets, etc.

Registration and Organizational  Issues

When in the hotel, you should introduce yourself as a participant of the PSI 2011 Conference held by the Institute of Informatics Systems.

Registration of PSI participants will be organized in the “Zolotaya Dolina” hotel on Sunday, June 26, from 14:00 till 16:00.

On Monday, June 27 and on Tuesday, June 28, registration will take place in the lobby of the Small Hall of the SB RAS House of Scientists from 09:00 till 14:00.

Conference Secretariat

Conference Secretariat will be located in the House of Scientists, Room 200 that will be open from 9.30 till 18.00 on Monday, June 27, and from 8.30 till 18.00 during the other Conference days. The secretariat members will do their best to provide informational and organizational support to participants.

The Conference Language

The conference language is English. Simultaneous translation of Workshops may be provided upon request.

Social Program  

• Excursion to Museum of Cultural History of Siberian and Far East nations

http://www.archaeology.nsc.ru/Lists/museum02/AllItems.aspx, (sorry, in Russian only);

• Excursion to Open-Air Historical and Architectural Museum

http://www.archaeology.nsc.ru/Lists/IAMphotoa/AllItems.aspx (sorry, in Russian only);

• Excursion to the Zoo

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Novosibirsk#The_Novosibirsk_Zoo
See video about Zoo

• Excursion to  Geological Museum;
• Excursion to  Railroad Museum

http://autotravel.ru/phalbum.php/90191/128 (sorry, in Russian only) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j9nQbI7N0Tw;

• Visiting Opera & Ballet Theatre. "Madama Butterfly", a famous opera by G. Puccini, will be performed in Italian, duration time is about 3 hours.

http://www.opera-novosibirsk.ru/index.php;

• Barbecue Picnic with sauna and steam bath;
• Conference Dinner.

Detailed information on the dates will be provided later. On Sunday, June 26, and Saturday, July 2, free excursions to Novosibirsk will be organized for “early and late birds”, respectively.

Location

The conference will be held in Akademgorodok which is located in a picturesque place near the Ob lake, 30 km South from Novosibirsk, the largest city of Siberia. Silence, beautiful landscape, and pure air are the factors promoting scientific activity and creativity during the conference.

Weather and Nature

The end of June in Novosibirsk is generally warm and sunny, with daytime temperatures in the range of 25-30 C. Akademgorodok is flanked by a large sand beach – a good place for getting suntan, playing volleyball and swimming. Forests and parks are great for hiking and jogging.

Map of Academgorodok

Timezone

Novosibirsk local time is +6 GMT, +3 Moscow Time.

Caution: Ticks

Mosquitoes are a minor nuisance; ticks, however, although few, pose a considerable danger of fevers and viral encephalitis – be careful during forest walks and check your clothes thoroughly afterwards. If bitten by a tick, do not remove it, and tell an organizing committee member immediately! You can find a life-sized image of a tick in your participant’s map. Walking along wide gravel paths and on roads is safe.

Electricity

220V, 50Hz, two pin round plugs.

Local Emergency Station: 03

Contact Persons

Alexander Marchuk
Irina Virbitskaite
Natalya Cheremnykh
Tel. 7-383-3307-352 (off)
8-913-375-6060 (mob)