All events will take place at:

Hotel Copacabana Palace
Avenida Atlantica 1702
Copacabana
Rio de Janeiro

in the Golden Room and the Nobel Room.

In January the time difference is + 2 hours to GMT (due to daylight saving one hour less than the adequate time zone).

Rio de Janeiro has two major airports:

The international airport Galeão (GIG) is located 20 km from Copacabana where the conference is located. This airport has two terminals and is served by major airlines, many of them with daily service: Aeroflot, American Airlines, Air France, Alitalia, British Airways, Continental, Lufthansa, Iberia, TAM, TAP, Varig. A taxi ride with a common (yellow) taxi will cost you about 25 R$, with an executive taxi (blue, white or red) 45 R$, by executive bus (every 30 minutes) 3.50 R$. Travel time is about 40 minutes.

The national airport Santos Dumont is mainly occupied with flights from and to São Paulo (every 20 minutes), and is located 10 km from the conference location (bus 3 R$, taxi 12 R$, 20 minutes).

A tourist visa for up to 3 months is issued at the border control (no charge) for most countries (please check). A passport with a validity of at least 6 months is required.

The local currency is the Real (R$), divided into 100 centavos. One Real is currently equivalent to 0.5 Euro or 0.5 US $. Banking hours are from 10-16 hours, Monday to Friday. Exchange offices usually offer better exchange rates than banks. Credit cards (Visa, Master Card, Amex) are accepted in most hotels, restaurants and stores. There are also about ten ATM in Copacabana serving Visa direct, Cirrus and Amex.

Ten hotels are located close to the conference locations at the beach (Copacabana and Ipanema). Prices range from 40 US$-300 US$ for a double room, pick-up and transfer is supplied.

Reservations at special rates can be carried out via the website of Blumar.

January is very hot and humid, outdoor temperatures are around 35 °C during daytime, night temperatures are 25-30°C. All conference facilities are well air-conditioned.

For the city of Rio de Janeiro no vaccination is required. It is recommended to drink bottled water and use good sun protection and a hat (AM 1). For excursions to the Amazon region Malaria prevention and yellow fever vaccination is highly recommended.

Within the last five years the security has considerably improved. The conference location is safe. Nevertheless it is recommended to leave all values in the hotel safe if you leave the hotel or the congress.

Voltage in the state of Rio de Janeiro is 115 V AC, 60 Hz.

Registration for the congress, including the book of proceedings, Rio-kit, coffee-breaks and participation at the receptions together with the banquet will cost 450 Euro or 450 US$. Students (valid student ID required) will pay 250 Euro or 250 US$. Bookings received before October 1st will receive a 100 Euro discount (or 100 $US) for full registration, and a 75 Euro (75 US$) discount for student registration.

Bookings can be made via internet on the Rio 02 website.