Information
Conference venue
The 32nd edition of the IWSM will be held in Groningen (Netherlands) from 2 to 7 July 2017, hosted by the University of Groningen. On Sunday 2 July, there will be the short course by Tom Snijders on Social Network Modelling and from 3 until 7 July there will be the main conference. It will be held in the Academiegebouw in the city centre of Groningen.
Accommodation
The city of Groningen has many hotels, at various price ranges and levels of comfort and quality. These can be booked through various online travel websites.
The organization has made a deal with four hotels, offering a special prize. Through this link, you can find four options for hotels in Groningen that can be booked at the same time as you register for the conference (i.e. on the registration page). Note that all prices include include breakfast and city tax. Please note that these special rates are only valid when the hotel booking is done as part as the registration to the conference.
For queries not answered below, please contact the Groningen Congres Bureau.
Travel
Travelling from Amsterdam Airport (Schiphol) to Groningen
If you arrive in the Netherlands at Schiphol, the Amsterdam International airport, the easiest way to travel to Groningen is by train. The underground train station is located near Schiphol Plaza, within several minutes walking distance from the luggage claim areas. The Dutch railway system is run by Nederlandse Spoorwegen (NS). You will recognize it by its yellow and blue colors. Just follow the yellow illuminated signs that direct you 'To the trains'.
Train tickets
It is important that you purchase a train ticket to Groningen prior to boarding the train. Passengers travelling without a valid ticket will be fined. You can buy either a first-class ticket (39.10 euro one-way) or a second-class ticket (23 euro one-way). There are two ways of purchasing a ticket: at the ticket office at Schiphol Plaza where you can purchase a ticket from a railway officer in person, and from the yellow and blue ticket-vending machines that you will find in the luggage claim hall and by every entrance to the train terminal. You can purchase tickets from the machines only by using your credit card or a debit card with the Maestro logo or coins (the machines do not accept banknotes).
Train schedules
Information on travelling by train can be accessed at the NS website. Trains from Schiphol to Groningen go twice an hour: one providing a direct connection, the other requires a simple change of trains in Amersfoort, to the train to Groningen. The journey from Schiphol Airport takes approximately 2 hours and 15 minutes. The trains are quite comfortable and feature the free wireless internet at most of them. However, there is no form of refreshment service on the train so be sure to purchase your snack at Schiphol.
Travelling from Bremen Airport (Germany) to Groningen
Bremen airport might be convenient for cheap intra-European flights because it hosts the discounter Ryanair and also offers low airport taxes.
There is a direct bus connection from the Bremen airport to Groningen. The bus stop is situated close to the entrance/exit of the Ryanair terminal of the Bremen airport. The bus schedule can be found here; the bus fare is 19 euro. It takes about 3 hours to reach Groningen. The bus terminates at the main railway station in Groningen.
Travelling to Groningen by car
Groningen is one of the top cities for cyclists and travelling by car through Groningen can be challenging. Car traffic in the city center is restricted, and street parking is very limited. A list of public parking places can be found here. More information on car parking in Groningen, including the street parking regulations, can be found here.
Visa
Information about visa can be found at the website of the Dutch immigration and naturalisation service.
Tourist info
Information about things to see and do in Groningen can be found on the website of the city of Groningen.
Travel Grants for PhD-students
There will be three types of travel grants for PhD-students:
Travel grants by the Statistical Modelling Society
To apply for this, the student is asked to provide an overview of research topics of his/her research and a description on how the research is related to statistical modelling. The description should be about one page long. Students from the Netherlands are not eligible for these grants.
Toyota Grants
To apply for these grants, a statement from the supervisor describing the financial situation and explaining why it would not be possible to attend IWSM 2017 without a travel grant is requested. Here students from the Nethelands are eligible.
CR Rao Scholarships (Travel Grants)
To apply for these grants, a statement from the supervisor describing the financial situation and explaining why it would not be possible to attend IWSM 2017 without a travel grant is requested. Here students from the Nethelands are eligible.
Applying for a grant
To apply for a student travel grant, the student must actively participate in IWSM by giving an oral presentation and send the requested information (depending on the type of grant, see above), including a letter of reference signed by the supervisor, head of department or similar authority that confirms the student status, assesses the candidate's abilities and briefly explains the funding situation.
Abstract should be submitted through the standard conference abstract submission form (to be opened at a later stage). Essays and reference letters should be sent via email (see 'contact' at the bottom of this page) with the subject line 'Travel grant IWSM'. The deadline to submit the application and related documents is set on February 19th, 2017.
Decisions on the student travel grants will be made by the Scientific Committee and representatives of the Statistical Modelling Society based on the submitted documents (see above). The Statistical Modelling Society wishes to increase the number of participants from countries that have so far been underrepresented at the IWSM.