Location: Mathematics Department at Tulane University, New Orleans, USA.

Organizers: Tai Ha and Diane Maclagan.

Dates: from Wednesday, November 12, 2008 to Saturday, November 15, 2008 (including Wednesday and the morning of Saturday!).

Clifford Lectures: The Clifford Lectures is an annual event supported by the mathematics department at Tulane University since 1984. The Lectures consists of a series of talks given by a distinguished mathematician and a mini-conference held in conjunction, whose speakers are suggested by the main lecturer. Further information about the Clifford Lectures and past lecturers can be found here. This year, our lecturer is Professor Bernd Sturmfels of the University of California at Berkeley. The topic of the lecture series will be Tropical Algebra.

Mini-conference: A mini-conference will be held in conjunction with the lecture series. Invited speakers for the conference are:

• Matt Baker, Georgia Institute of Technology, USA.
• S.Dale Cutkosky, University of Missouri-Columbia, USA.
• Jan Draisma, Eindhoven University of Technology, The Netherlands.
• Walter Gubler, Universitat Dortmund, Germany.
• Paul Hacking, University of Washington, USA.
• Diane Maclagan, University of Warwick, United Kingdom.
• David E. Speyer, MIT, USA.

Click here for a tentative schedule of talks, and here for the titles and abstracts of main lectures and conference talks.

Click here for the up-to-date list of participants.

Who may attend: Anyone!

Funding: Limited funds to help defray partial costs of lodging and travel have already been given out. We are grateful to the Mathematics Department at Tulane University and Louisiana Board of Regents for providing funding for this lecture series.

Registration: There is no registration fee. However, it would be helpful for us that you sign up!

Banquet: There will be a banquet on Friday evening. The banquet will be paid for by the Mathematics Department at Tulane University, but it is essential that we know the number of guests, so please let us know if you plan to attend and if you have any special dietary restriction.

Lodging: Speakers and people with funding from us will stay at The Astor Crowne Plaza, 739 Canal (corner of Canal and Bourbon), New Orleans, LA 70130, USA (Tel: 1-504-962-0500/ 1-888-696-4806).
We initially arranged a block of rooms at the Queen & Crescent Hotel, 344 Camp St., New Orleans, LA 70130, USA (Tel: 1-504-587-9700/ 1-800-975-6652). However, there seems to be a problem getting rooms for the Tuesday night, so we have moved our speakers and people with funding to the Astor Crowne Plaza, which is across Canal street from the Queen & Crescent. If you have problem of getting a room at this hotel, please try the Astor Crowne Plaza also.
We can match roommates to cut down your accommodation cost. If you are interested, please email us.
There are also good hotels closed to the campus.

• Avenue Inn Bed and Breakfast, 4125 St. Charles Ave, New Orleans, LA 70115, USA. Tel: +1-800-490-8542. Rates begin at $99/night.
• Hampton Inn, 3626 St. Charles Ave, New Orleans, Louisiana 70115, USA. Tel: +1-504-899-9990, Fax: +1-504-899-9908 .
• Best Western St. Charles Inn, 3636 St. Charles Avenue, New Orleans, Louisiana, 70115, USA. Tel: +1-504-899-8888 (Toll Free: +1-800-489-9908), Fax: +1-504-899-8892.
• Avenue Plaza, 2111 St. Charles Ave, New Orleans, LA 70130, USA. Tel: +1-800-347-8182. Rates begin at $143/night.
• Le Pavillon, 833 Poydras Street, New Orleans, LA 70112, USA. Tel: +1-800-535-9095. Rates begin at $199/night.
• Park View Guest House, 7004 St. Charles Avenue, New Orleans, LA 70118, USA. Tel: +1-504-861-7564, Toll Free +1-888-533-0746.
• And a few other places.

Travel to New Orleans: The simplest way to get to New Orleans is to fly to New Orleans International Airport (also called Louis Amstrong International Airport). If you are driving then take Exit to South Carollton from I-10. A few miles down South Carollton you will meet St. Charles Avenue. The department is in Gibson Hall at 6823 St. Charles Avenue.

To Your Hotel and To the Department: The flat rate for a taxi from the airport to your hotel is $28. You can also take the city shuttle ($13) but it takes a lot longer. If your hotel is on St. Charles Avenue or around the French Quarter, the street car and city bus are convenient means to get to the mathematics department.

Tulane Campus Map: Uptown Campus.

Weather in New Orleans: from weather.com.