Coimbra is a university town of about 150 000 inhabitants, including a large fraction of young students. It has a remarkable cultural heritage, testimony of its long history, dating back to the Roman times. The University of Coimbra was founded in 1290 by king D. Dinis, being one of the oldest universities in the world. The Physics Department is the heir of the Faculty of Philosophy, created in 1772. It is installed in a building located in the Rua Larga, next to the Porta Ferrea, the University Library, and the Faculties of Arts and Medicine. Whenever you find yourself lost in the town, look for the University Tower, right at the top of the Alta - it's the best reference point from almost any place in Coimbra.
The Centre for Physics of the University of Coimbra (CFisUC) is a Research Institute committed to excellence in Physics. CFisUC is located in the Physics Department of the Faculty of Science and Technology of the University of Coimbra. The centre results from the merger of the Centro de Física Computacional and of the Centro de Estudos de Materiais por Difração de Raios-X. Members of CFisUC are the Portuguese representatives in PRACE, the Partnership for Advanced Computing in Europe. CFisUC research activities' span most areas of Physics (Quantum Chromodynamics, Nuclear Physics, Electronic Structure, Nanophysics, Condensed Matter Physics, Biological Physics, Astrophysics and Cosmology) bridging many time and length scales. The Astrophysics and Cosmology group gathers researchers working on astrophysics and cosmology topics. It covers theoretical, computational and observational skills, potentiating synergies between them to tackle a number of problems of current interest in the field. The main research areas are the physics of white dwarfs, neutron stars and black holes, the equation of state of dense hadronic matter, radio astronomy, detection and characterisation of exoplanets, dynamics of stellar and planetary systems, celestial mechanics, computational astrophysics, interplay between particle and gravitational physics, the origin of dark matter, dark energy, inflation, and the baryon asymmetry.
Venue
The conference will take place at the Physics Department of the University of Coimbra, Rua Larga, Coimbra Portugal.
Traveling to Coimbra
Coimbra is a city in the center of Portugal well connected to the airport and other cities around.
by plane. The closest airports are Lisboa/Lisbon or Porto/Oporto. While the Lisbon airport has a broader range of connections to European capitals, Porto also offers convenient travel options. From the airport, it takes around 40 minutes by metro to get to the Campanhã train station in Porto and 5-10 minutes to Oriente train station in Lisbon.
by train. The main train stations Campanhã (Porto) and Oriente (Lisbon) are connected by fast trains (AP or IC) to Coimbra, which takes around 1 hour and 35 minutes to 1 hour and 50 minutes from Lisboa, or approximately 1 hour from Porto. Note, that Coimbra B is the main train station in Coimbra.
Trains operate hourly during most of the day until approximately 9:00 PM. The last train departing from Lisboa is an IC train leaving Oriente at 10:09 PM, with a two-hour journey to Coimbra. The last train departing from Porto is an AP train leaving Campanhã at 8:32 PM, taking one hour to reach Coimbra. Train tickets are easily obtainable here (Advance purchases may benefit from a reasonable discount).
by bus. There are several bus companies operating in Portugal.
Rede Expressos. The timetable can be found here
Flixbus timetable can be found here. Flixbus has direct connections from the Porto airport to Coimbra
airport shuttle. Service door to door by www.airportshuttle.pt (29-34 € one way).
taxi in Coimbra. From Coimbra railway station (Coimbra B) to the Department of Physics or a hotel around the city, a taxi (costing less than 10€) is the most convenient option.
More information about the university and places of interest in Coimbra can be found here.
Accommodations
There are many options for lodging near the university. The following hotels have offered a discount for conference participants. You must contact the hotel directly when making your booking and mention EREP to receive the discount.
Hotel Botanico (-10% booking rate) located just across the Botanical Garden from the physics department. Booking: geral@hotelbotanicocoimbra.pt
Casa São Bento (breakfast added complementary) located in the nearby Praça da República close to many restaurants and bars.
Hostel Serenata (-10% booking rate) located next to the historic Old Cathedral, as well as shops and restaurants, on the hillside just below the university.
