First Working Group Meeting – Porto (Portugal)
Post-meeting
The First Working Group Meeting in Porto was a truly dynamic and very interactive event, successfully gathering over 70 participants from more than 20 countries and with a strong representation of young researchers and students. From lively presentations to open discussions and planning of new joint activities, this meeting packed a bunch of scientific creativity and fun. If you think an image is worth a thousand words, just check out this short video of the event (special thanks to Fernando Maia, a young student and participant of TUMIEE).
Location and date
The meeting will take place at the Faculdade de Ciências of Universidade do Porto, on March, 4th.
Address:
Rua do Campo Alegre, 1021/1055 (Building FC6)
4169-007, Porto (Portugal)
Date:
It will be a one-day meeting, taking place on March, 4th. Activities will run along the whole day, including a networking dinner. Participants are then advised to arrive to Porto the day before (March, 3rd) and leave the day after (March, 5th) in order to be able to attend all the activities scheduled.
How to get to the campus:
Campo Alegre campus is located near Boavista area.
It is well deserved by public transport. The closest metro station is Casa da Musica (lines yellow, green and blue). It is at walking distance from the campus (around 12 minutes on foot).
You can find further information about how to get to the campus (by car, bus or metro) here.
The plenary sessions will take place in the main lecture hall located in the building of Departamento de Ciência de Computadores, as known as FC6 building. Please, see below for the exact location of the building inside the campus.
How to get to Porto
By plane:
Francisco Sá Carneiro Airport is located on the north outskirts of Porto, about 11 kilometers from the center of the city. It is serviced by some 20 airline companies such as Luxair, TAP Portugal, Ryanair, Air Berlin, Air Transat and Aigle Azur. These airline companies establish connections between Porto and sundry national and international destinations, such as Lisbon itself, Brussels, Milan, Paris, Madrid and Frankfurt, Bordeaux and London.
The airport transfer means are highly reliable, Francisco Sá Carneiro Airport being accessible by both public means of transport (buses and metros) and private means (rented cars and taxis).
By train:
In north Portugal, Porto is the most important railway hub of all the cities. It is services by two main train stations. Estação de São Bento (São Bento Train Station) is located in central Porto, in Praça Almeida Garrett, being the terminal of regional trains, which travel between Porto and sundry north destinations.
Estação de Campanha (Campanhã Train Station) is the terminal of trains leaving for and arriving from the south (Lisbon included). Thus, a train trip between Porto and Lisbon takes about three hours, but what is also worth mentioning is the said Estação de Campanhã is also used by trains which establish international railway connections.
In order to learn more about the railway routes between Porto and sundry other national and international destinations, train schedules, ticket prices and the like, please visit Comboios de Portugal.
By bus:
Getting to Porto by bus is yet another alternative. Several companies offer connections between Porto and Lisbon and some international destinations.
Eurolines offers the best deals when it comes to international connections between Porto and sundry destinations on the continent.
Rede Nacional de Expressos and InterNorte link Porto to the entire Portugal.
By car:
Porto is literally surrounded by motorways, meaning the city enjoys excellent road connections with the entire Portugal. Thus, for instance, A1 links Porto to Lisbon.
Estradas de Portugal offers complete information on the motorway and national road networks of Portugal, which is why foreigners who want to get to Porto are referred to their official website.
Objectives
The First WG meeting is intended to be a forum for detailed discussion on selected cases of interest and ways to tackle them by promoting collaborations among researchers from different fields. Progress on started collaborations, as well as, detailed descriptions of cases relevant to electronic excitation will be presented during the meeting. In particular, in this event, a poster session is considered a good tool to enable face-to-face discussions with potential collaborators on unsolved problems that require multidisciplinary efforts.
Programme
This meeting will include activities during the whole day: oral presentations, poster session (poster size = A0) and working groups discussions will take place during the morning and afternoon. To conclude, a networking dinner will be also organised. You can download the full programme here.
Accommodation
The accommodation is the responsibility of participants. There is a large selection of hotels in the city and close to the University campus.
In order to help participants, local organisers have negotiated special fares with a couple of accommodation providers:
HF Hotels
HF Hotels propose 3 different options (all the three hotels are at walking distance from the Meeting venue):
To get the special price for COST participants, reservations must be done through the following link: https://wgmeeting2019.hfhotels.com/
Seminário de Vilar
Participants who choose Seminário de Vilar can book directly on the site www.seminariodevilar.pt or send an email to reservas@seminariodevilar.pt. In this email you should use the reference “1st WG meeting”. The Seminário de Vilar will then confirm the booking and payment will be made upon check-in.
Offer:
Twin room with breakfast : 65,00€/night (REFURNISHED)
Single room with breakfast : 55,00€/night (REFURNISHED)
Or
Twin room with breakfast : 50,00€/night
Single room with breakfast : 40,00€/night
All rooms equipped with tv, private wc and wi-fi.
Reimbursements
COST provides a certain amount of financial support for organising the meeting and to reimburse participants.
According to the budget allocated to this meeting, a certain number of participants (around 60) can be reimbursed for their travel expenses.
Only participants that have received an official COST invitation via e-mail stating “elegible for reimbursement” will have the right to be reimbursed under COST funds.
Rules regarding participants’ reimbursements can be found on the COST Vademecum (pages 23-27).
Other useful information
Local organiser:
Helder Crespo, Science Communication Manager of TUMIEE Action leads the host team in Porto.
Currency:
The currency in Portugal is the Euro (€).
Power adaptors:
In Portugal the standard voltage is 230 V and the frequency is 50 Hz. You can use your electric appliances in Portugal, if the standard voltage in your country is in between 220 – 240 V (as is in the UK, Europe, Australia and most of Asia and Africa). The plugs and sockets are of type F (this socket also works with plug C and plug E) just as like in most of European countries.
Language:
Portuguese is the official language in Portugal. However, good English is spoken widely in Porto, Lisbon and many other cities and touristic places.
Weather:
At the beginning of March, the mornings are still cool however as the hours go by, the temperatures soar so that in the middle of the day the atmosphere becomes pleasantly fresh. In addition, the precipitation that is relatively abundant, often occurs in the form of showers or fine rains. Average temperature in March is between 7-17 ºC.
About the city:
Porto is beautiful and vibrant city and one of the Europe’s oldest tourist destinations.
The city boasts an extensive history, interesting tourist attractions, and a buzzing nightlife, and outstanding tourist facilities. There is a lot to see and do in Porto!
Further info: www.visitporto.travel