Groningen is the largest city in the north of the Netherlands (~200.000 inhabitants). During the late Middle Ages, it was part of the Hanseatic league. It is home to the second oldest university of the Netherlands (established 1614). Students of the University and of the nearby Hanze university of applied sciences, make up about a quarter of the population of the city. Hence, Groningen has the typical pleasant atmosphere of a university town. Its old city centre is very lively, with a high density of restaurants and bars. It is a mix of picturesque canals, characteristic old buildings, such as the Martini tower (its hallmark), city hall, the gold office, the academic building of the university, and modern architecture such as the Groninger Museum and the recently opened “Forum”.
For more tourist information see:
https://www.visitgroningen.nl/en/locations/city
The venue
The conference will be held on the Zernike Campus of the University of Groningen, which is the main location of the Faculty of Science and Engineering. The campus is easily accessible from the city center or the train station by bus (~10 minutes), bike (~10 minutes) or foot (~35 minutes) The conference will be held in the brand-new Feringa building (delivered in 2023), which will house many of the research institutes of the Faculty, including the three Chemistry related institutes: Stratingh Institute for Chemistry, the Zernike Institute for Advanced Materials and the Groningen Biomolecular Sciences and Biotechnology Institute. The building has a main auditorium with a capacity of 425 people and was specifically designed to be suitable for organization of medium sized conferences. In addition, a number of smaller capacity rooms for parallel sessions is available in the Feringa building or nearby buildings.
Groningen is conveniently reached by train. It has a direct connection (~2 hours ride in 30 minutes intervals) with Amsterdam Schiphol airport) and Arnhem, for participants travelling from/through Germany.
Groningen is an excellent location for medium sized conferences, which is evident from the conferences that have been organized over the years. A recent example is the BIOTRANS 2019 conference (~700 participants). Due to its compact size, the city is easily explored by its extensive public transport network or by foot. As ‘bicycle capital of the world’, (rental) bikes offer another affordable and straightforward way to get around Groningen.
Transport to and around Groningen
Groningen is conveniently reached by train. It has a direct connection (~2 hours ride in 30 minutes intervals) with Amsterdam Schiphol airport) and Arnhem, for participants travelling from/through Germany.
Groningen is an excellent location for medium sized conferences, which is evident from the conferences that have been organized over the years. A recent example is the BIOTRANS 2019 conference (~700 participants). Due to its compact size, the city is easily explored by its extensive public transport network or by foot. As ‘bicycle capital of the world’, (rental) bikes offer another affordable and straightforward way to get around Groningen.
Impressions of the Feringa building (rug.nl)