Karlsruhe is in the west of Germany, close to the French border. The international hub Frankfurt Airport is only one hour away by train or car. Direct train connections to Berlin (5h), Amsterdam (5h), Paris (3h), Zürich (3h), Munich (3h), and good access to major central European motorways allow easy access from many European locations.

Karlsruhe was founded in 1715. Its groundview was completly planned in a fan-shaped manner with the castle in the center (on the left a historical drawing demonstrating this shape)

Scientific research and education has a strong position in Karlsruhe manifested in the Karlsruher Institute of Technology (KIT). The KIT is a incorperation of a national research center (Forschungszentrem Karlsruhe) and a technical university founded in 1825 as one of the first poly-technical schools in Germany, therefore attracting well-known researchers. Here Heinrich Hertz proved the existence of electro-magnetic waves in his lab at the University of Karlsruhe. The unit of frequency is named in his honor.

The city centre of Karlsruhe is located inn walking distance from the conference place, the Karlsruhe Convention Center.  Here, one can find shops, bars and restaurants for a pleasant stay in Karlsruhe.

The conference will take place in the "Stadthalle" of the Karlsruhe Convention Centre (www.messe-karlsruhe.de), located in the centre of the city, ten minutes walking distance from the main train station. A wide range of hotels can be found in the neighborhood of the conference center. Furthermore, the excellent public transportation system of Karlsruhe offers easy access to many hotels and other accommodation in the surrounding area.

The plenary presentations will take place in the “Hans-Thoma-Saal” 600-seat auditorium (state-of-the-art audio-visual equipment on site). Five additional auditoria are available with capacities of up to 120 seats each. The conference office can provide further Information. LAN and WLAN internet access will be available in the Internet Café.
In the foyer food and drinks will be offered during the breaks of the conference. In the same place exhibitors will showcase their instruments and a dedicated space for about 200 posters will be reserved throughout the conference. Outside of the conference centre is a main city park of Karlsruhe combined with the zoological garden. Entry to the park is free to offer participants a place for natural and wild scientific discussions.