Venue and Travel

Agora The 21th IEEE International Symposium on Computer-Based Medical Systems will be held at Agora - a cooperative network for multi-disciplinary research situated in central Finland in the city of Jyväskylä. Being an integral part of the University of Jyväskylä, Agora is positioned as "a meeting place for humanity and technology" (in Greek, Agora means a market or a meeting place), and emphasizes a multi-disciplinary, human-centered approach to information technology and to the future knowledge society, where research, education and enterprise are integrated into one functional whole.

Jyväskylä is located in the lake district of Central Finland, about 270 kilometres from Helsinki. Jyväskylä is a school and university town with 39 000 students during the academic year, and at the same time it is a bustling centre for business, education, sports and culture with over 80 000 inhabitants. For a more detailed information about the city, please, visit the official City of Jyväskylä web-site.

Jyväskylä

Travelling

Jyväskylä can be reached either by plane, by train, or by bus. The fastest option is a flight from Helsinki which takes about 40 minutes; in addition, there are also fast, punctual, and convinient train and bus connections from Helsinki, Turku, and Tampere. For the details concerning the timetables and tickets, please, refer to the links below:

By plane. Jyväskylä airport is 20 min from the city center. Flights from Helsinki to Jyväskylä (flight time ca. 40 min) are provided by Finnair. Flights to Helsinki and Tampere from abroad are offered by many international airlines; see e.g. Amadeus.net for available options. Besides, regular flights to Finland are oferred by many european budget airlines, such as Ryanair (flights to Tampere), Blue1 (flights to Helsinki, Tampere, Turku, etc.), Germanwings (flights to Helsinki), Air Berlin (flights to Helsinki), etc.
By train. Convenient train connections are available rom Helsinki, Turku, and Tampere. The attendees coming from Russia may also consider the train connections from Moscow and St.Petersburg. For the information about train connections, please, consult VR webpage.
By bus. Convenient bus connections are available from Helsinki, Turku, and Tampere. Besides, regular buses from/to St.Petersburg are provided by Savonlinja Oy. Timetables of buses can be found at the webpage of Matkahuolto; for the timetable of the buses from St.Petersburg, please, consult the webpage of Savonlinja Oy.
By ferry. The travellers coming from/through Tallinn or Stokholm may consider taking a ferry to Helsinki or Turku. For available routes and timetables, please, consult the webpages of the carriers, such as Silja Line, Viking Line, Tallink, Scandlines, Nordic JetLine, etc.

Note that the national holiday Juhannus (Midsummer Festival), which will be celebrated in the period 20-22 June 2008, may affect the flight, train and bus schedules. See Advices for planning your CBMS'08 trip for additional information.

Accomodation

The standards of hotels in Finland are high. Double rooms have either double beds or twin beds and all hotel rooms have a shower or a bath. A buffet breakfast is included in the room rates and the hotel restaurants are prepared to accommodate special dietary requests. Most hotels have sauna facilities available to hotel guests free of charge in the mornings.

The Symposium Office has pre-booked rooms in the hotels Alba, Scandic, Milton, and Summer Hotel Amis conveniently located with respect to the Symposium site. The nearest hotel Alba is located in the Mattilanniemi Campus of University of Jyväskylä, only about 200 meters from Agora; other hotels are in the city centre ca. 1-1,5 kilometers from the Symposium site. Hotels Alba, Milton, and Scandic have all renovated their rooms during the past two years.

Several other hotels are situated in the city center, within a walking distance from the conference. Further information about hotels in Jyväskylä can be found at the webpage of regional tourist services.

Note that the opening times of hotels in Finland may be different during the national holiday Juhannus (Midsummer Festival) which will be celebrated in the period 20-22 June 2008. See Advices for planning your CBMS'08 trip for additional information.

Hotel Rates

The room rates negotiated for the Symposium participants are as follows:

Hotel Alba	Single room	Double room
Small hotel on a lake 200m from the Symposium site; restaurant, bar and sauna	88€ (small standard) 106€ (superior)	55€ (double standard)
Hotel Milton	Single room	Double room
Small hotel in the city center ca. 1km from the Symposium site; 200m from the Public Transport Interchange; breakfast room, bar and sauna	75€	55€
Hotel Scandic	Single room	Double room
High class hotel in the city center 1,5km from the Symposium site; 2 restaurants, bar and sauna	134€	77€
Summer Hotel Amis	Single room	Double room
Student dormitory hotel near city center, 1,5km from the Symposium site; breakfast room and sauna	48€	30€

All room rates are per night per person. A buffet breakfast is included in the rates.

The room rates negotiated for the Symposium and the possibility to make a room reservation will be offered to CBMS 2008 participants as a part of the Symposium registration procedure.

The rooms will be reserved on the first come first served basis. A confirmation of the reservation will be included in your confirmation letter or sent by e-mail by the Symposium Office. Please notice that the Symposium Office cannot guarantee availability of hotel rooms after the reservation deadline 15 May 2008. Therefore, it is recommended to make the reservation well in advance and prior to the reservation deadline.

Payment and Cancellation of Hotel Rooms

The payment for accommodation should be made in advance, together with the registration fees, to the Symposium Office. Any changes in the reservation or cancellations of the reservation must be notified in writing to the Symposium Office. If cancellation takes place later than 48 hours before the given arrival date there is no refund on the reservation.