FAQ
posted 18 Jul 2006
Frequently Asked Questions
- What is ISCB?
- What is ECCB?
- What is the ISMB conference?
- Why are ISMB and ECCB joined for 2007?
- Who are the ISMB/ECCB 2007 Conference Chairs?
- Who do I contact for information on the conference?
- Where will the conference be held?
- What is the address of the Austria Center Vienna?
- Where is Vienna, Austria?
- Do I need a visa to visit Vienna, Austria?
- Vienna International Airport
- What is Vienna’s Time Zone?
- What is the Electrical Current?
- What is the International area code?
- What language is spoken in Austria?
- What language will the conference sessions and materials be
presented? - Climate
- Where do I get more information on Vienna?
- Hotels
- Where can I find medical information?
- How do get around Vienna?
- Tipping
- What can I do to ensure my personal safety?
- What is the currency?
- How can I pay to register for ISMB?
- How do I get from the airport to my hotel?
- How do I get from the Vienna Schwechat Airport to Vienna city centre?
- Where do I register when I arrive?
- Can I get a refund on the Austrian Value Added Tax?
- What should I do if I lose something?
A:The International Society for Computational Biology (ISCB) is the parent organization of the annual conference on Intelligent Systems for Molecular Biology (ISMB). The ISCB is dedicated to advancing the scientific understanding of living systems through computation. The ISCB communicates the significance of our science to the larger scientific community, governments, and the public at large. The ISCB serves a global membership by impacting government and scientific policies, providing high quality publications and meetings, and through distribution of valuable information about training, education, employment and relevant news from related fields. ISCB membership offers many benefits including reduced conference registration fees to several high impact events and reduced subscription prices for a selection of journals of Computational Biology and Bioinformatics. The 2005 membership roster included over 1800 active members from 51 countries including more than 700 students and trainee members. A member’s meeting and a meeting of the Board of Directors for the Society are held annually in conjunction with the ISMB conference.
A: The European Conference on Computational Biology (ECCB) is a multi-disciplinary conference that bridges the fields of computer science, mathematics, physics, chemistry and biology by bringing together involved scientists from all over the world. It has a revolving scheme in which, each year, one of the European countries hosts the European conference, often jointly with the national conference on computational biology.
Q: What is the ISMB conference?
A: Intelligent Systems for Molecular Biology (ISMB) is the annual meeting of the International Society for Computational Biology (ISCB). Over the past fourteen years the ISMB conference has grown to become the largest bioinformatics conference in the world. The ISMB conferences provide a multidisciplinary forum for disseminating the latest developments in bioinformatics. ISMB brings together scientists from computer science, molecular biology, mathematics, and statistics. Its principal focus is on the development and application of advanced computational methods for biological problems.
Q: Why are ISMB and ECCB joined for 2007?
A: ISMB/ECCB 2007 will offer the strongest scientific program and the broadest scope of any international bioinformatics conference in 2007. Building on the success of the joint ISMB – ECCB conference in 2004, the Vienna conference is designed to cater to variety of disciplines within the bioinformatics community. ISMB/ECCB 2007 will be the largest and most important computational biology event globally in 2007.
Q: Who are the ISMB/ECCB 2007 Conference Chairs?
A: The conference chairs for ISMB/ECCB 2007 are:
- Thomas Lengauer, Conference Chair, Max-Planck Institute for Informatics, Saarbrücken, Germany
- Burkhard Rost, Conference Co-chair, Columbia University, New York, NY, USA
- Peter Schuster, Conference Co-chair, University of Vienna, Vienna Austria
Q: Who do I contact for information on the conference?
A: You can get information on the conference from:
c/o BJ Morrison McKay
International Society for Computational Biology
Pharmaceutical Sciences Building, Room 3230
9500 Gilman Drive, MC 0743
La Jolla, CA 92093-0743 USA
Phone: +1-780-414-1663
Fax: +1-780-414-1664
Email: steven@iscb.org
Q: Where will the conference be held?
A: The conference will be held at the Austria Center Vienna in Vienna.
Q: What is the address of the Austria Center Vienna?
A: AUSTRIA CENTER VIENNA
Internationales Amtssitz- und
Konferenzzentrum Wien, AG
Bruno-Kreisky-Platz 1
1220 Wien
Nearest Subway station:
U1, “Kaisermühlen – Vienna International Center
A: Vienna is the Capital of Austria and also one of the nine States of Austria. Vienna has a population of about 1.6 million (2.2 million within the metro area) and is the largest city in Austria as well as its cultural, economic and political centre.
Situated on both sides of the River Danube, and only 60 kilometers off Austria’s Eastern border, Vienna lies in the South East corner of Central Europe and is close to the Czech Republic, Slovakia and Hungary.
Vienna is the seat of a number of United Nations offices and various international institutions and companies, including the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO), the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) and the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE).
Q: Do I need a visa to visit Vienna, Austria?
A: Austria has signed the Schengen Treaty, which eliminated the border controls between 15 European countries. The countries are: Belgium, Denmark, Germany, Finland, France, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Sweden, and Spain. For visitors traveling from one of these countries, at this time there are no personal controls when entering Austria.
To maintain public order and safety, however, border controls between these countries may be executed at any time. Visitors from a country which is not a member of the Schengen Treaty require only a valid passport or a valid passport with a valid visa.
More details on entering Austria from your country
Q: Vienna International Airport
A: Information on Vienna International Airport includes constantly updated arrival and departure times.
Q: What is Vienna’s Time Zone?
A: Vienna lies within the Central European time zone (CET). From the last Sunday in March to the last Sunday in October, summer time is in effect (MESZ).
Q: What is the Electrical Current?
A: The voltage in Vienna is 230 Volts (Alternating Current)
Q: What is the International area code?
A: The area code for Vienna from abroad is: + 43 1
Q: What language is spoken in Austria?
A: In Austria, German is the primary language. The most common foreign language is English
Q. In what language will the conference sessions and materials be presented?
A. All conference presentations and materials will be presented in English.
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A: The climate in Vienna is generally mild and continental. Often there is a moderate westerly wind in the city making cool days even cooler. But the Viennese appreciate this wind because it brings fresh air from the surrounding Vienna Woods to the city. On some summer days the heat sizzles in the center of the city, most days of the year the weather is like the inhabitants of the city: friendly, mild, and moderate in every sense…
Current Vienna Weather
(includes annual temperature and precipitation information)
Q: Where do I get more information on Vienna?
A: Visit the Die offizielle Website des WienTourismus, the official website of the Vienna Tourist Board, for more information.
Q: What are the conference hotels?
A: The ISMB/ECCB organizers will have a selection of hotels available at special discounted rates for conference attendees. Remember most hotels offer breakfast part of their room rate.
Q: Where can I find medical information?
A: Emergency Numbers:
- Ambulance Tel 144
- Physicians on Standby Tel 141
- Euro Emergency Tel. 112
- Physicians Hotline for Visitors (24 hours a day) Tel. 513 95 95
- Dentists & emergency service during the night and weekends Tel. 512 20 78
- Pharmacies, night and weekend service (recorded message) Tel. 15 50
A: Various options exist including Taxis, Public Transit including The Vienna Card
Taxis
Taxis are available in most areas of the city and are reasonably priced. The fare is shown on officially calibrated taximeters. The starting rate during the day is 2.50 €; at night (11:00 pm – 6:00 am) and on Sundays and public holidays 2.60 €, surcharge for radio taxis: 2.– €. For rides from and to the airport, which is located outside of the city limits: surcharge 10.– €. Also, you can inquire about special airport rates. More information.
The Vienna Card
With the Vienna Card, you can go further… This discount card at a price of 16.90 € offers 72 hours of free use of the underground, streetcars, and buses as well as more than 200 discounts at museums, sightseeing attractions, and shops as well as in cafés and restaurants.
Additional information on the Vienna Card
Public Transportation
To visit Vienna’s sights individually and discover the city, it is best to use public transportation: underground, streetcar, bus and city train. Vienna offers a very good transportation network and cheap tickets (1.50 Euro for a single ride if the ticket is bought ahead of time, 2 Euro for a single ride when bought on the vehicle itself). What is available and different prices can be found here>
Q: What is the custom on tipping?
A: In many areas such as restaurants, taxis, hairdressers, service stations, tipping is traditionally expected. Usually, the tip amounts to about 5 to 10 percent, but the size of the tip should be according to your satisfaction with the services rendered.
Q: What can I do to ensure my personal safety?
A: Vienna is a safe city and the Viennese are friendly and helpful – as are most visitors to the city. Unfortunately, there are always exceptions. Download Tips for your personal safety (Word Document).
Important emergency numbers:
A: The legal tender in Austria is the Euro. Banks in Vienna are usually open:
Mon to Wed, Fri 8:00 am – 3:00 pm
Thu 8:00 am – 5:30 pm
Some branches are closed 12:30 – 1:30 pm
In the city center many banks are open continuously from:
Mon to Wed, Fri 8:30 am – 3:00 pm
Thu 8:30 am – 5:30 pm
If possible, exchange money at a bank during regular opening hours or use Automatic Teller Machines (ATMs), which are called Bankomats in Austria, or with your credit card. You can also exchange money at Eurotours or at the Vienna Tourist Information (Tourist-Info Wien).
Q: How can I pay to register for ISMB?
A: Delegates can pay on-line using the following credit cards or mail in a Check. Accepted credit cards are: Mastercard, Visa, Diners Club and American Express.
Q: How do I get from the airport to my hotel?
A: See Taxis and Trains information for transportation from the airport.
Q. How do I get from the Vienna Schwechat Airport to Vienna city centre?
A. CAT – City Airport Train to Landstrasse, Wien Mitte, ACROSS FROM THE HILTON:
every 30 min. (EUR 9,00 one way / EUR 16,00 both ways)
“Schnellbahn” (railway) to Landstrasse, Wien Mitte ACROSS FROM THE HILTON
Departure from the airport: at least every 30 min. (Price: EUR 3,00 one way)
Vienna Airport Lines, shuttle bus to Schwedenplatz, Westbahnhof, Sudbahnhof or Kagran.
Departure from the airport: every 30 min.(Price: EUR 6,00 one way/ EUR 11,00 both ways)
Taxi (approx. EUR 40,00), from the airport to the city)
Limousine transfer is available for EUR 36,00 one way.
For further information please contact imsbeccb2007@mondial-congress.com
Q: Where do I register when I arrive?
A: Conference Registration is available from Thursday, July 19 to Wednesday, July 25 at the Austria Center Vienna.
Q: Can I get a refund on the Austrian Value Added Tax?
A: All visitors residing outside the EU have the right to receive a refund on the Austrian Value Added Tax, which is included in the purchase price and on a purchase of a Minimum 75.01 Euro.
Q: What should I do if I lose something?
A: A lost and found will be located at the information booth located at the Austria Center Vienna.
