Conferences location
The Winter School (scheduled from February 15 to 18) as well as the first two days of the Session on "Mathematical Biology" (February 19 and February 22) will be held at the "Salón 250 Aniversario de la UH" in the Varona Building, located at one side of the Faculty of Mathematics and Computer Science inside the Campus of the La Havana University (Universidad de La Habana).
The university is located at the intersection of the San Lázaro St., the Neptuno St. and L St. in the Vedado district, Ciudad Habana. This is the main entrance with the stairs (escalinata) and the sculpture with the Alma Mater (see the picture on the right). Another entrance is located at the intersection of J St. and 27 de Noviembre St. in Vedado District. A map of the location can be found on Google Maps (http://maps.google.xx/): enter "23.134046, -82.382183".
Current information will be located in front of the building of the Faculty of Mathematics and Computer Science, inside the Campus.
From Tuesday 23 to Friday 26, every session will be held in the Hotel Parque Central, located in Neptuno street between the interceptions of Prado and Zulueta, in front of the Parque Central.
9th ICOR Registration
Monday 22 is the opening day of the 9th ICOR. Besides the Mathematical Biology session and the Opening Plenary Lecture, it is devoted to individual registration. People already attending the Winter School on Matematical Biology but also interested to attend the 9th ICOR, should be registrated.
Talks
Speakers will find slides projector and video projector connected to a computer which will accept your USB key (for a presentation with Acrobat or Power Point files) both in the University and in the Hotel Parque Central.
Accommodation/Hotel
According with your preferences, we recommend to be booked at a Hotel near the Campus or near the Capitolio. In addition, you can rent good rooms (can do so via internet) in hostals or family houses if they satisfy the official regulations (to our knowledge, can be booked good rooms near the Campus).
Near the Campus (Vedado area):
Medium standing: Hotel Vedado, Hotel Colina, St.Johns
High standing: Hotel Tryp Habana Libre
Very high standing: Hotel Nacional
Near the Capitolio (Habana Vieja area):
Medium standing: Hotel Caribbean, Hotel Deauville, Hotel Lido, Hotel Lincoln
High standing: Hotel Inglaterra, Hotel Plaza, Hotel Sevilla, Ambos Mundos
Very high standing: Hotel Telégrafo, Sta.Isabel, Los Frailes, Central Park
Visa
Each speaker will receive a "conference invitation" from the organizer committee. With that paper in hand one may ask to the cuban embassy a "scientific visa" (that is the only choice if you are coming from USA) or a "tourist card" (and, in that case, the conference invitation is obviously not necessary). The last procedure is quicker, cheaper and your travel agency should be able to do that formality for you. The only counterpart when you choose a "tourist card" is that you must be able to justify (hotel registration) that you have yet payed two nights in an hotel when you enter the cuban territory.
Money
There are two official currencies in Cuba. The "Peso Cubano" (CUP) (the usual money for cubans) and the "Peso Convertible " (1 CUC = 1.1 USD=24 CUP) with which foreigners must pay the Hotel, the Conference fees, and other services if required. Be careful, prices for both currency are ended by the $ sign! Of course in some places (Hotels, restaurants or in some Shopping Centers) the Visa card is also accepted. Traveller's checks and american express are refused. With Visa card one can get cash in a cash dispenser at the airport or in some hotels and places in some streets. It is also possible to bring cash and change it there (in CUC) when necessary. US dollar will be taxed on, 10% more than others currencies! Do not forget to change some money arriving at the airport (in order to pay the taxi to the hotel)
Airport
The arrival airport is the "José Marti's Aeropuerto" of La Habana. From the airport to the Habana center you must take a Taxi (no collective transport is available on that route). The journey from the airport to the town is between 10$ and 20$ (one must read $ = CUC here).
