The workshop will be devoted Approximation Algorithms and related topics. The focus will be on
promoting discussions that can hopefully lead workshop participants to collaborative work.
The workshop will have about 25 to 30 participants, including a number of current PhD students.
Accommodation at Bellairs is spartan (usually two to a room) at a modest daily rate.
Saturday, April 2, is the arrival day, with a full program scheduled for Sunday to Thursday.
Participants will depart on Friday, April 8.
Location: The workshop takes place at the Bellairs Research Institute in Barbados.
The institute is only metres from the beautiful west coast beaches of the island. Here are
some photos of the Institute. The airport is on the south-east point of the island and
Bellairs is on the west side (about a 30 minute taxi drive).
Here is a map of Barbados.
Confirmed Participants: Kamal Jain, Nick Harvey, Seffi Naor, Amin Saberi, Shuchi Chawla, Anupam Gupta, Nikhil Bansal, Naveen Garg, Lisa Fleischer, Jochen Konemann, George Karakostas, Harald Raecke, Joseph Cheriyan, Neil Olver, Viswanath Nagarjan, Fabrizio Grandoni, Uriel Feige, Samuel Fiorini, Gwenael Joret, Lisa Zhang, Gordon Wilfong, Alexander Frechette, Bundit Laekhanukit, Corinna Gottschalk, Guyslain Naves, Peter Sloan, Bruce Shepherd, Adrian Vetta, Mohit Singh.
Directions: Tell the taxi drivers to take you to Bellairs Research Centre in Holetown.
Holetown is on the main street - you can't really miss it. The taxi ride should cost about $40 U.S.
There are buses but one must first travel to Bridgetown (the capital) and transfer to another line.
Some things to know: Barbados is safe and one shouldn't worry about travelling
alone. US currency is freely accepted at 2 Barbadian dollars per US dollar. Other
currencies (Pound sterling, Canadian dollars) are not accepted; you will have to change
them at banks or at the airport. People had trouble using their bank cards from
Europe, but Canadian and US cards seem to work fine. Note that some of the better restaurants
in the area do require long trousers in the evenings.
Also, there are several computers (and one printer) at Bellairs for people to read e-mail.
There is wireless hookup for laptops so you can bring your own laptop. There is a small
fee for using the computers or using the line with a laptop to connect to the internet.
Accommodation: Reservations are already made. You pay Bellairs directly
during the workshop. The cost of a room is around $40 US per day per person.
Breakfast is provided. We tend to buy lunch at local restaurants
or at the shopping centre 10 minutes walk from the Institute. The cook prepares dinner
(6pm sharp) for approximately $20 U.S. The accomodations are of the level of student
dormitories, please do not expect the level of the (very expensive) hotels on either side of
the institute. We can of course expect the mathematics and scenery to be at a very high level. If you snore considerably, please let us know in advance. It helps when making the
room assignments. Trust us, we have experience (famous last words of one colleague:
"I'm determined to teach myself to embrace this").
Family Policy: To avoid distractions during the workshop, we request that family members join
you either only the week before or only the week after the workshop, but not during the workshop.
Visas: Visitors from North America and most of Europe do not need a visa
to visit Barbados. Nationals of some countries (e.g. India, Iran) do require a visa. Strong Warning - Visas can take up to three or four weeks to be issued so apply early.
For more information please contact the organizers: Mohit Singh (mohit@cs.mcgill.ca), Adrian Vetta (vetta@math.mcgill.ca),
Bruce Shepherd (bruce.shepherd@mcgill.ca)