Introduction:

The workshop brings together world experts in Top quark physics in both experiments and theory. It will be attended by 150 selected delegates and aims to foster discussion and collaboration between the experimental and theory community at all levels of expertise, from PhD students to senior researchers.

The dates of the workshop are from the Sunday 16th September 2012 arriving in the afternoon, to the Friday 21st September departing after lunch.


Registration:

Registration is done first by filling the registration form, filling in as much information as possible. This registration form will then need to be approved by the organisers who will email selected delegates with instructions on how to book the hotel and pay their conference fee.


Accommodation:

The workshop will be held in the beautiful resort of Norton Park Hotel in Winchester. This resort has extensive outdoor grounds, an indoor pool and gym, a luxurious spa, high scale conference facilities and a 16th Century Country Manor. The hotel bedrooms are of a superior standard.


The rate for delegates are:

£165 per 24h period (5 periods from the Sunday to Friday) and includes all conference and hotel facilities (except for spa treatments) as well as meals.

If a delegate wishes to be accompanied by a partner, the surcharge to this rate is £31 per 24h period. Note that there is a limit to the number of accompanying partners that we can accommodate.


If two delegates wish to share a twin bedroom, the rate for each delegate is then: £125 per period of 24h. Note that there is a limit to the number of twin bedrooms.


If you plan to bring children, please contact the organisers.


Booking of the hotel is done using the hotel online booking service and instructions will be sent to delegates having received confirmation of their registration.


Note that the delegate workshop registration is not considered complete until the hotel booking has been done. Any cancellation or change of hotel booking has to be done prior to 26th August 2012. Please contact the organisers for any change of booking. After 26th August, the delegate will be held responsible for his/her hotel booking.


Conference Fee:

The conference fee for delegates is £140 and includes proceedings, excursion to Winchester, Drinks reception at Winchester Great Hall, among other things. The conference fee for accompanying partners is £100 and includes the excursion to Winchester and the Drinks reception at Winchester Great Hall, among other things.


Once your registration is approved, you will be asked to go to the RH University of London e-store to pay for your conference fee. Your registration will not be complete until the conference fee is paid. You will be provided with a receipt from the e-store.


Financial Support:

We have some small amount of sponsorship funds from our partners: SEPnet, Institute of Physics and EPJC, which are reserved for providing assistance to PhD students wishing to attend the workshop. PhD students in need of financial assistance should indicate this on their registration form, and the organisers might be able to waive the conference fee for some of  those students.

Unfortunately we are unable to provide any financial assistance to the workshop speakers.


Travel:

Norton Park Hotel is 15 minutes car ride from Winchester train station, which itself is easily accessible from Heathrow Airport (LHR), Gatwick Airport (LGW), Southampton Airport (SOU), and Bournemouth Airport (BOH). The best way to travel to Winchester from LHR is via coach or rail depending on your arrival time. The best way to travel to Winchester from LGW is via rail. The best way to travel to Winchester from SOU is via rail. Alternatively, you could consider a taxi, which will cost you about £25.00. The best way to travel to Winchester from BOH is via a combination of a airport shuttle bus and rail. 

The workshop organisers will provide transport from Winchester train station to Norton Park Hotel on the Sunday and Friday. Delegates arriving or leaving outside of those days are responsible for their own travel. Additional details will be provided closer to the workshop.


If you plan to travel to the workshop by car, free parking is available at the hotel and please indicate this on your registration form.


Visa:

If you (think you may) require a Visa to enter the UK, please refer to the Visa4UK Home Office webpages for general information, entry requirements and application procedures. If you require an invitation letter, please contact the organisers. Finally, notice that the UK have not signed up to the Schengen Agreement, hence you will not be able to enter the country if you only hold a Visa for any of the Schengen states. Here is a map of the (current) Schengen states.

Poster Session:

We strongly encourage PhD and Postdoctoral researchers to submit a poster to the workshop. The Poster session will be held in the beautiful Great Hall in Winchester town centre at the end of the Wednesday excursion, accompanied by a drinks reception. Please indicate that you will be presenting a poster in your registration form. Poster presenters will be eligible to be included in the proceedings of the workshop.

If you are an experimentalist, please submit your poster title and abstract to your respective Top conveners first and read your respective Speakers Committee procedure for getting your poster approved. After approval of the poster by your Speakers Committee, email top2012@rhul.ac.uk with your poster title. If you are a theorist, please email top2012@rhul.ac.uk your poster title and abstract. We expect most poster abstracts submitted to be approved.


Summer School sessions:

An additional way in which we are encouraging the participation of younger researchers in this workshop is that there will be two Summer School Q&A sessions of one hour each on the Tuesday and Thursday of the workshop. More details will be provided closer to the workshop.


Excursion & Conference Dinner:

The excursion will be a guided tour of the Winchester city and world-renowned Medieval Cathedral on the Wednesday afternoon, followed by a drinks reception at the Winchester Great Hall. The Conference Dinner will be at Norton Park Hotel on the Thursday.


Tourism:

The following sites contain a lot of useful information:  Visit Winchester and  Winchester Cathedral

For those planning to stay in the area before or after the conference here is a useful link about what Hampshire has to offer.