Annual Network Meeting

The annual network meeting will be held at the Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias (IAC) in La Laguna, Tenerife, from 17th to 18th November 2009.

Registration

In order to register for the workshop, please send an email to David Pinfield (D.J.Pinfield AT herts.ac.uk). If you wish to give a talk, please do not forget to add the title and a short abstract of your contribution.

Deadline for registration is 26th October 2009. There is no registration fee.

Hotel booking

We have blocked rooms in the Hotel Nivaria (***, Plaza Adelantado 11, La Laguna; Tel: +34 922 264 298), which is located in the old part of the city and in walking distance to the institute. The price for a single bed room and a double bed room including breakfast and all taxes is 63.84 EUR and 91.20 EUR, respectively. If you wish to reserve a room in this hotel, please send an email or a fax to Eva Bejarano (ebp AT iac.es, FAX: +34 922 605 298) not later than 26th October 2009 with the following information:
  1. "ROPACS meeting"
  2. Your name
  3. Type of room (single 63.84 EUR / double 91.20 EUR)
  4. Date of check in and check out
  5. Credit card information (name of holder, number, expiry date). This is needed to guarantee your hotel booking. The credit card information you provide will be treated confidentially.

Venue 

The network meeting will take place in the lecture hall (Aula) in the Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias (IAC), which is located in the Calle Via Láctea, just behind the Science Museum (Museo de la Sciencia) with its big dish on the roof.

Walking down from the hotel to the IAC will take you approximately 20-25 minutes. Alternatively, you can take the tram, which runs from the terminal stop "La Trinidad" to "Museo de la Sciencia" (3 stops). A single ticket costs 1.30 EUR, which you have to buy in the tram stop at the vendor machines. You cannot buy tickets inside the tram. In order to validate the tickets, you have to use the ticket stamper inside the tram.

Programme 

Please click here for the agenda (RoPACS_meeting_new.pdf)!

Social Events

In the evening on Tuesday (17th November 2009), we are planning to have dinner in a typical Canarian restaurant in the old part of La Laguna.

On Wednesday afternoon (18th November 2009), we are planning to have an excursion to the Teide observatory. If you are *not* interested in participating the excursion. please write an email to Florian Rodler (frodler AT iac.es).

Coming to Tenerife and La Laguna

Note that Tenerife has two airports! The airport Tenerife Norte Los Rodeos (TFN) is only 3 km away from La Laguna. We recommend to take a taxi from this airport to the Hotel Nivaria (in La Laguna), which should not cost more than 9 EUR.

The southern airport (Reina Sofia, TFS) is approximately 70 km away from La Laguna. If you arrive there, take the bus 111 (green buses operated by TITSA) to Santa Cruz Bus Terminal / Intercambiador (about 8 EUR - buy the ticket inside the bus; this bus runs every 30 min and the trip takes 50 min) and from Santa Cruz either by tramway (buy the ticket at the tram stop! 1.30 EUR, runs every 5 min, takes 35 min) to the terminal stop "La Trinidad" (from that tram stop it will take you about 5 min to get to the hotel - see map!) or by taxi to the Hotel Nivaria in La Laguna (about 15 EUR). A taxi from the southern airport to La Laguna will cost some 70 EUR, which is approximately the price for a 2-3 days car rental.

If you intend to rent a car, we recommend to reserve a car via internet under www.autoreisen.es or www.cicar.com. These companies have offices in both airports (as well as AVIS, HERTZ, ...). Renting a car in Tenerife is very cheap (about 20-30 EUR / day).

If you are cititzen of a non-Schengen country, please read the immigration information to Spain. If you need an invitation letter for a Schengen-visa, please contact Florian Rodler (frodler AT iac.es)

Tenerife

La Laguna (pop 140,000; 550 m above sea level) is the second largest city in Tenerife and hosts a large university (25,000 students). La Laguna historical centre was declared World Heritage Site by the UNESCO in 1999. The capital of the island, Santa Cruz de Tenerife, a coastal city with 230,000 inhabitants, is some 6 km away from La Laguna. Both cities are linked by a tramway line. The major tourist resorts on the island are Puerto de la Cruz in the north (some 25 km from La Laguna) and Playa de las Americas / Los Cristianos, about 80 km away in the south of the island. There is good public transportation linking all those cities and resorts (TITSA buses).

The Canarian archipelago (Tenerife, Gran Canaria, Lanzarote, Fuerteventura, La Gomera, La Palma and El Hierro) is made up of seven volcanic islands located in a privileged part of the Atlantic. Just over 300 km from the coast of Africa, Tenerife is the largest island in the Archipelago.

The climate in the coast is quite mild in November, with temperatures in the range 18-22 C during the day. Temperatures may be somewhat lower in La Laguna and rain is not infrequent there.

The island's landscape (Mount Teide, the highest point in Spain, soars up to 3718 metres) and the north-easterly trade winds provide Tenerife with a variety of microclimates which are among its attractions. On a November day you may enjoy bright weather and warm temperatures in the coast, temperate rainy weather at mid altitudes in the north, spectacular sun in the National Park of Las Cañadas del Teide (at 2300 m altitude, in the center of the island).

Contact

SOC: David Pinfield (D.J.Pinfield AT herts.ac.uk), Eduardo Martin (ege AT iac.es)
LOC: Florian Rodler (frodler AT iac.es), Victor Bejar, Eduardo Martin
Hotel reservation: Eva Bejarano (ebp AT iac.es, FAX: +34 922 605 298)