ISPNE 2026 – Know Before You Go!

Dear ISPNE 2026 participants,

ISPNE 2026 is just around the corner, and we are looking forward to welcoming you to Erlangen very soon. Before your arrival, we would like to share some practical information to help you prepare for the meeting.

Conference Venue

The conference will take place at:

Hörsaalzentrum Medizin / Lecture Halls, School of Medicine
Ulmenweg 18
91054 Erlangen, Germany

The venue is within walking distance of Erlangen city center and the main railway station. The closest bus stops are Unikliniken/Maximiliansplatz and Hindenburgstraße; bus line 299 connects Erlangen central bus station with the University Hospital area.

Bus travel is free of charge within the designated city-center zone. No ticket is required as long as your entire journey stays within this zone; if you enter or leave the free-travel area, a regular ticket is required.

For travel planning, we recommend the VGN app for regional public transport (Android, iOS) or DB Navigator for regional and long-distance train connections (Android, iOS).

Stay Connected on Slack

We have created an ISPNE 2026 Slack workspace to accompany the meeting. The conference schedule will be available there (view the latest schedule here), and we will also use Slack for announcements and relevant updates during the conference.

We particularly encourage you to use the workspace to connect with other participants, continue discussions beyond the sessions, arrange informal meet-ups, ask questions, and generally make the most of having the ISPNE community together in Erlangen.

To join the Slack workspace, please click on the link in the email you received or scan the QR code at the registration desk.

Conference Registration

The registration desk will be located in the entrance foyer. It will be open at the following times:

Please collect your conference badge at the registration desk when you first arrive, and make sure to bring it to the Social Event on Saturday, as it will also serve as your ticket.

Don't Miss the Opening on Wednesday

After the Early Career Scholar Workshop, "Towards Open & Reproducible Research in PNE: A Crash Course to Data Science with Python," ISPNE 2026 officially kicks off on Wednesday at 4:30 pm with the Welcome & Awards Ceremony. Join us for the official opening and awards, and stay afterwards for food, drinks, and the highest-rated poster contributions of this year's meeting.

A few spots are still available for the Early Career Scholar Workshop, so interested participants can still register and join.

The Opening and Welcome Reception will be the first opportunity to bring the whole ISPNE community together before the scientific program gets fully underway on Thursday – so we hope to see you there.

Food, Coffee, and Beverages

We will make sure you are well taken care of! Bavarian pretzels and pastries will be served in the morning and during the coffee breaks. Lunch will be provided as a buffet, while finger food will be served during the poster sessions. Coffee and a selection of cold beverages will be available throughout each conference day. Dietary requirements provided during registration have been communicated to our caterers. If you are unsure about specific ingredients or allergens, please ask the catering staff on site.

We might also have planned one or two small culinary surprises along the way – but we will keep those a secret for now.

Saturday Social Event: Experience Franconia

After the scientific program concludes on Saturday, we invite you to round off ISPNE 2026 with us at Entla's Keller, one of Erlangen's most historic and iconic beer gardens, for an evening beneath old chestnut trees and lanterns.

The beer cellars beneath Erlangen's Burgberg date back to 1686. At their peak, almost 20 kilometers of tunnels and large underground caverns ran through the hill and were used by Erlangen's breweries to store beer throughout the year. Today, the historic cellars form the backdrop to one of Europe's largest beer garden areas.

The Social Event will start at 7:00 pm. Following the Closing Ceremony at 6:00 pm, there will be enough time to make your way to Entla's Keller, which is approximately a 15-minute walk from the conference venue.

Our evening at Entla's Keller will include:

• A Franconian-Bavarian Brotzeit as a starter, a main course (vegetarian and vegan options are of course available!), and dessert
• A selection of beverages – including local beer brewed on-site, non-alcoholic options, soft drinks, juices and spritzers, and wine
• A guided tour through the historic beer cellars, with their underground tunnels and caverns

And Afterwards: ISPNE After Party

The evening will not end at Entla's Keller. From 11:00 pm, we will continue with the official ISPNE After Party at Glüxrausch in Erlangen city center, just a 10-minute walk away. Your Social Event ticket also includes drinks for the first part of the evening.

If you did not originally book the Social Event but would now like to join us, tickets can still be purchased through the ISPNE registration system:

As parts of the evening will take place outdoors and the historic beer cellars can be considerably cooler than outside, we recommend bringing an additional layer of clothing.

During the Conference

Wi-Fi: Eduroam will be available throughout the conference venue. If your home institution participates in eduroam, we recommend setting up and testing your connection before traveling to Erlangen. If you do not have access to eduroam, you can use BayernWLAN, a free public Wi-Fi network provided by the Free State of Bavaria. No registration, password, or account is required; simply connect to the @BayernWLAN network where available.

Members of the organizing committee and our volunteers will be present throughout the venue and will be easy to recognize by their ISPNE volunteer T-shirts and badges. If you have any questions or need assistance during the meeting, simply approach us or stop by the registration desk. In addition, the ISPNE Slack workspace will serve as our virtual helpdesk throughout the conference, so you can also reach us there with any questions or issues.

Further information about the meeting, the venue, Erlangen, and the conference program can be found on the ISPNE 2026 Annual Meeting website.

We are very much looking forward to welcoming you to Erlangen and to four exciting days of science, discussion, networking, and exchange.

Best wishes,
Your ISPNE 2026 Organizing Committee