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Registration fee is due by May 15, 2010: USD 190 for regular participants, USD 95 for accompanying persons. For family members under 20, registration is fee. Bring your family! Click here for payment details .
Accommodations Click here for details.
In celebration of our twenty-fifth year, Budapest Semesters in Mathematics will host an all-class reunion and mathematics conference for alumni and supporters of BSM, including the advisors who wrote letters of reference for participants. The meeting and the conference will take place in Budapest (where else?) from June 17 (Thursday) to June 23 (Wednesday). Whether you want to do some math in the familiar surroundings, (re)connect with fellow alumni, explore the city and the country and see how much it has changed, or help your imagination to relive and maybe share with your family what many of you have described as a "life-transforming experience" - the program will cater to you. We expect most of your BSM professors and your always popular student coordinators will be on hand.
Participants are invited to contribute to the program in a number of ways: by giving a short presentation at the math conference, contributing their story to the "Life after BSM" session, reminiscing at the Elekes memorial session (see highlighted items below), or by proposing program ideas, volunteering to run special programs (a tour, a session). Please see the contact informationto decide who to contact regarding your contribution. Participants are invited to contribute to the program either by giving talks (see below) or contributing program ideas. Information about proposed talks should be sent to Mátyás Domokos, secretary of the Program Committee. Direct all other communication to Dezső Miklós. (See Contact for their email addresses.)
The program will be divided into three parts. The first part, June 17 and 18 (Thursday-Friday), will feature keynote lectures by Mik Laczkovich and Paul Humke as well as Laci Babai's lecture on "Andor Farago (1877-1944) - unsung hero of the mathematical culture of Hungary." It will also include a buffet dinner and a cruise on the Danube and a movie show on the nights of Thursday and Friday, and meetings between alumni and their former teachers on Friday. Also on Friday afternoon, we are planning a session on "Life after BSM" and invite 5 to 15-minute contributions to that session. Come and contribute your personal account!During the weekend, June 19-20 (Saturday-Sunday) we shall organize various touristic programs, possibly including a daylong trip to the countryside, a bike tour to Szentendre, paddling (kayak or canoe) on the Tisza lake (a scenic lake formed on the river Tisza behind a hydroelectric dam), or a visit to the town of Pécs, designated as one of three European Capitals of Culture for the year 2010.
A special event will take place on Saturday, June 19: the inauguration of the "Aquincum Institute of Technology" (AIT) a new institution that offers a BSM-style program in computer science and engineering. The AIT campus is located on the banks of a picturesque branch of the Duna. The open air festivities, to which all participants of the BSM reunion are invited, will feature, among others, the unveiling of a Rubik's cube monument (commemorating the 30th birthday of the cube) by a short talk of designer and inventor Ernő Rubik, a (mathematical) talk by Laci Babai, this time solicited by AIT, about mathematical generalizations of Rubik's cube and another talk by Gábor Domokos, about the story of the GÖMBÖC (invented by him and Péter Várkonyi). For further details about GÖMBÖC, see here. For further details check http://summerschool.ait-budapest.com/extracurricular-programs .
The third part, June 21-23 (Monday through Wednesday) will include a mathematical conference organized jointly by BSM Budapest and the Rényi Institute and will feature lectures by BSM alumni as well as by Hungarian mathematicians. We invite participants to contribute presentations of 15 to 30 minutes (please specify). In addition to mathematical talks, we also invite contributions on mathematics education, especially about trends on the US math education scene of interest to BSM faculty.
We shall devote a session to commemorating Gyuri Elekes, the beloved teacher of "Conjecture and Proof" for generations of BSM-ers, who passed away in 2008. We invite short contributions to that session, anywhere from a a brief comment to a 10-minute story. Share your reminiscences with us. We also encourage you to submit a contribution in writing whether or not you attend the meeting. The target date for your written contributions is June 1, 2010. Preferable format is plain text/HTML. Contributions will be posted. Please include your name, current affiliation, BSM semester, your college at the time. Please send your contribution be email to Dezső.
Parallel to the math conference we shall organize a series of cultural programs, including museum visits, guided tours of the city, possibly a meeting with a Hungarian artist.
The program will end with an informal party at an open air bar Wednesday evening (June 23).
Conference headquarters will be at the current BSM location in the College International building at
2 Bethlen Gábor tér, Budapest 1071
located in the 7th district, a ta short walk from the Keleti
pályaudvar station on the Metro red line.
Please sign up online, no deposit required. The registration fee is USD 190 for regular participants. Family members under 20 pay no fee.
(Bring your family!)
The organizers of the reunion offer three types of accommodation:
For people who wish to share a room: only one of you
should book a room, please choose one that has the required number of
beds. If you are booking a dormitory room and would accept anyone as
roommate, please indicate so.
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Banking, currency. Hungary still runs on the Forint (HUF).
Bank notes are printed in denominations of 500, 1000, 2000, 5000,
10000, and 20000 HUF. Hotels usually accept USD and EUR.
Registration fee can be paid on the web via PayPal
or by sending a check to the BSM office at StOlaf College.
The registration fee is due by May 15, 2010: USD 190 for regular participants, USD 95 for accompanying persons.
For family members under 20, registration is fee. Bring your family!
After May 15, the registration fee
increases by USD 20 for all participants except family members under 20.
We offer two methods of payment.
Registration
These fees apply until May 15, 2010. After that date, add USD 20
per person except for family members under 20.
The registration fee covers all programs at the conference headquarters
and includes a Budapest transportation pass for a week, the Thursday
evening cruise on the Duna, including buffet dinner on board,
buffet lunches on Thursday and Friday, and coffee breaks during the
math conference.
It does not include tickets to cultural events; such tickets
will be sold on-site at the registration desk. Lunch tickets
for the three conference days will also be sold at the conference desk.Accommodations
Hotels
Click here for the detailed hotel listing, including maps and
booking information.
Special rates are available to reunion participants at several hotels.
Please refer to the meeting code "bsmreunion" when asked.
The special rates are in effect until March 31
for most hotels and until April 15 for some. Best Western
Hungaria offers special rates to BSM Reunion participants till
June 15th! Rates are given in euros so beware of exchange rate
fluctuations. Credit card companies tend to use reasonable
exchange rates.
We especially recommend Best Western Hotel Hungaria**** for its ideal
location (10-minute walk from the meeting site) and reasonable rates,
and the Expo Congress Hotel**** for its good value (one subway stop
plus ten minutes walk). Both hotels are close to downtown.
You are responsible for booking your hotel over the internet using
your credit card. Please let us know if you encounter
difficulties.
Dormitories, apartments
Dormitory-stye accommodations are available at budget rates at
City Centre Apartments. Rooms for 2 or 3 are rented
at 20 to 35 euros per night (no reunion discount). Two or three
bedrooms combine to an apartment with one or two bathrooms and an
equipped kitchen.
If you wish to use this option and are looking for a roommate,
please let us know (email Dezső at dezso at renyi dot hu) and we shall
try to find you a match. Please include your gender and your BSM
semester in the message.
A limited number of furnished apartments located at various points
in town and used by BSM students during the academic year are available
through the reunion organizers (email Ms. Anna Fóti at
afoti at bsmath dot hu). This option is recommended to those who
wish to stay longer or bring family.
A web option
You may be able to find better rates on the web. We recommend you explore
HotelsCombined and hostelword.
HotelsCombined will combine nine search engines to find the best rates for you and
they offer a 10% rebate to reunion participants. To claim your
rebate, go to http://www.HotelsCombined.com/Conference_Support
and refer to "Budapest Semesters in Mathematics 25th Anniversary
Reunion and Conference 2010."
General information
June is the beginning of summer here, typically with balmy weather
and an occasional rainshower. US and Canadian citizens need no visa
to enter Hungary, your valid passport suffices.
On February 26, 2010, the exchange rate was 1 USD = 197 HUF.
Exchange rates have been relatively stable lately, between 180 to 200
Forints to the US dollar for most of the past 12 months, but sharp
changes may occur.
Major credit cards (VISA, Master Card, EuroCard) are usually accepted
(in hotels, restaurants, even in most grocery stores).
Banks are generally open 8:00 am to 4:00 pm Monday through Thursday,
and 8:00 am to 1:00 pm on Friday. All banks are closed on weekends
and public holidays. However, there are plenty of currency exchange
booths around downtown.
ATMs are widely accessible and tend to accept most US bank cards
(and give you Forints). Common wisdom holds that your safest and
most economical way to get cash is by withdrawing from your bank
account at an ATM.
Payment
For proper credit, please sign up before paying the
registration fee.
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Budapest Semesters in Mathematics
St. Olaf College
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Northfield, MN 55057
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