Program

Scientific program

The scientific program will consist of longer and shorter contributed talks, as well as discussions. The workshop will start in the morning of Monday 17 June, while Friday 21 June is solely reserved for informal discussions without an official schedule of talks. See the (almost) final detailed schedule. In addition, you can find the schedule in iCalendar format, to import online or offline in any calendar which supports this format. All scientific sessions will take place at the University of Tartu Institute of Physics building (Physicum), W. Ostwaldi 1, Tartu. Online links for hybrid attendance will be shared with the conference participants only.

Public Lecture

A public lecture public lecture will be given on Tuesday 18 June evening at 18:15 at the historic Tartu Old Observatory. Dr. Christian Pfeifer (ZARM, Bremen) will speak on the topic “Gravity: The Final Frontier? The search for quantum gravity on largest and smallest scales”. The talk is open for public and entrance is free. Before the talk, interested participants can take a tour in the observatory museum. To speed up the process of buying the museum tickets, ticket money 4 euros per person will be collected beforehand in cash.

Social Program

The social program includes the welcoming reception, and a sightseeing trip outside of Tartu ending with the conference dinner.

The conference reception will take place on Monday 17 June evening in Tartu Barge Centre (address Ujula 98/1, Tartu) on the Emajõgi river side, some 25 minutes walking distance from the city center. Starting at 18:00 the hosts will offer a brief tour into the exhibition and workshop halls where the historic wooden ships are constructed. At 18:30 we gather in the cafe area for the conference reception. The menu provides different cold or sweet foods and snacks (including vegan options) along with wine, soft drinks, coffee and tea. As at the previous Tartu conferences a part of the reception will be a GravQuiz on science/history related facts and fun, please bring your web accessing smart device to participate. The estimated conclusion of the event is at 21:00.

The conference trip will be an excursion and conference dinner on Wednesday 19 June afternoon.

At 13:30 a bus will pick up the participants at the Institute of Physics where the conference takes place.
After a 30 minutes drive we will reach the starting point of the Selli-Sillaotsa nature study trail at Laeva bog. Then there will be two options. Those who are not too eager to have a full hike can just walk 700 m through a pine tree forest to the edge of the bog, climb up to the observation tower, and after enjoying the landscape and fresh air, walk back to the starting point to board the bus at 15:00. Those who want to stretch their limbs some more can continue from the observation tower and take a 3.5 km hike along the trail of wooden planks through the bog. The bus will wait for them where the trail exits from the bog to a gravel road until 15:30.
After a 45 minutes drive we will reach Põltsamaa castle, a massive medieval stone stronghold from where Magnus of Denmark tried to rule as a King of Livonia in 1570-1578. (Historic Livonia comprises of the present day Estonia and Latvia, but at other times was considered too small and insignificant for such a high title.) The castle site has undergone recent renovations, and houses several exhibitions and handicraft shops. Starting at 16:30 we will be taken to a guided tour in the museum, followed by some extra time to explore the castle and play the games which are a part of the exposition.
By 18:30 we are invited to sit a dinner table at the castle wine cellar and restaurant Oberpahlen. The conference dinner menu consists of three courses and includes a vegan option. To facilitate the preparations, please make your menu choice already before the start of the conference, following a link at your personal registration page (shown along the links to payment and abstract submission). An optional glass of house wine is complimentary, but if you are interested in the degustation of local fruit wines that the place is famous for, please let the organizers know beforehand.
Finally the bus will take us back to Tartu at about 20:30, reaching the city latest at 21:30. There will be a drop off stop at Physicum and in the city centre.

Please note that we cannot guarantee full access to the hiking trip and other activities during the trip for participants with disabilities.

After the conference

Some workshop participants might be interested to attend the main event of the Tartu Singing Festival (laulupidu) on Saturday 22 June and enjoy the performance of 10000 singers and musicians, a unique Baltic experience listed as a world intangible cultural heritage by UNESCO. The procession from the city centre begins at 4 pm, and the concert at the Singing Grounds stage starts at 6 pm.

The eve of 23 June to the night of 24 June (jaaniöö) is of special significance in Estonian culture. People celebrate Midsummer when the dawn meets dusk by lighting big bonfires and enjoy merrymaking through the short night. The two days are national holidays, and those who can, try to go out to villages and countryside breaking the city routine. Since a number of participants have expressed an interest to relax after the conference and experience the long day and short night in local culture, we are honored to offer an extra midsummer excursion as a holiday activity. The the main points of the current plan are the following:

Departure from Tartu will be at about midday on Sunday 23 June, a bus will pick us up from a city center parking place at Ülikooli Street down from the Vanemuine theatre and next to Uueturu plats park area.
We will drive to Veldemani holiday home at lake Võrtsjärv, and get a lunch on arrival (eel or vegetable soup). In the premises we can use a football field and a volleyball field, a sauna with a bubble bath (please bring a swimsuit and towel), a terrace in front of the sauna, there is also a sandy beach with a possibility to swim, and a big room inside if the weather is not so welcoming. The site has also a small harbor. The hosts offer yachting trips on the lake (a small sailboat Jeanneau Sun 2000 "MannJaana" takes 6 passengers and costs 10 euros per person for a 45-60 minutes ride), and can rent out kayaks (single or double, 10 euros per 1 hour), and even small 1-3 person sailboats "RS Quest" if somebody wants to try sailing him/herself (70 euros for 4 hours, can be shared), see the pictures. In addition there is a nice 1,5 km path to walk to the local bird observatory. After all the activities we will get an early dinner (chicken or vegetable wok) at about 18:00.
For the real midsummer celebration the bus will take us to a public St. John's night bonfire party in Viljandi, a picturesque town 70 km from Tartu. The bonfire by the Viljandi lake side will be lit at around 8:30 p.m., although the sun will set only after 10 and it will hardly get really dark at all. Besides the huge fire you can expect music, dancing, games, drinks and snacks.
The estimated time to reach back to Tartu is about 23:30, and those who want to party through the night can continue here.
Please note that if you need to take an early flight from Tallinn, the first bus from Tartu to Tallinn airport leaves at 2:30 and reaches there at 4:50 a.m. It might be possible to leave the trip and get to Tartu also earlier, but that depends on the local public transport lines and schedule.
NB! The event will be organised in private capacity, and the fee 60 EUR includes renting the bus and venue, as well as lunch and early dinner. The money will be collected in cash at the beginning of the conference, but since we need to make bookings beforehand, it is important to know the number of confirmed participants as early as possible.