S E C O N D   A N N O U N C E M E N T

JENAM-2007

(Joint European and National Astronomy Meeting)

"Our non-stable Universe"

20-25 August 2007, Yerevan, Armenia 

JENAM-2007 web page at http://www.aras.am/JENAM-2007/index.htm

Mirror page at EAS: http://www2.iap.fr/eas/Jenam07/index.htm

  CONTENTS

  1. General Information
  2. Organizers
  3. Meeting Venue
  4. Scientific Sessions
  5. Structure of the Meeting
  6. Tentative Program
  7. Armenia and Yerevan
  8. Traveling to Armenia and Visas
  9. Accommodation
10. Social Activities
11. Other Useful Information
12. Registration
13. Financial Support
14. Abstract submission
15. Proceedings
16. Important Deadlines
17. Contact Addresses
 

1. GENERAL INFORMATION

 JENAM is the Joint European and National Astronomy Meeting organized each year in one of the European countries jointly by the European Astronomical Society and one of the national astronomical societies. JENAM-2007 will take place in Yerevan (Armenia) and will be the 15th Annual Meeting of the European Astronomical Society (EAS) and the 6th Annual Meeting of the Armenian Astronomical Society (ArAS). JENAM consists of a number of EAS Symposia and Special Sessions on various aspects of modern astronomy (see Scientific Sessions).

The JENAM will consist of 6 Plenary sessions (invited reviews on hot topics of modern astrophysics), 7 EAS Symposia, and 7 Special Sessions (SPS). The EAS Symposia will last 2-3 days each, 3 or 4 Symposia in parallel. The SPS will last 1 or 2 days each, 3 or 4 SPS in parallel. Poster sessions will be organized as well for each of the Symposia and SPS. Highlight talks for young astronomers will be organized, too. See the tentative program for more details.

The opening and closing sessions, EAS Symposia and Special Sessions will be organized in the conference halls and auditoria of the Yerevan State University (YSU) (see JENAM-2007 Venue). Exhibitions and poster sessions will be organized at the YSU entrance halls. The participants will stay at the Yerevan central hotels, and buses will take them every day to the University and back. A detailed information on travel to Armenia and visas, Yerevan hotels (see Accommodation), and local conditions is given in the corresponding sections.

During the JENAM, the EAS General Assembly and EAS Council meetings will take place, as well as a Job Market for young astronomers, exhibitions, a number of social events, etc.

For social program see the section Social activities and sightseeing. A number of additional tours will be organized for accompanying persons and those scientists not attending sessions on the given days.

2. ORGANIZERS

European Astronomical Society (EAS)
Armenian Astronomical Society (ArAS)
Yerevan State University (YSU)
Byurakan Astrophysical Observatory (BAO)

SCIENTIFIC ORGANIZING COMMITTEE

Harvey Butcher (Netherlands)
Anatol Cherepashchuk (Russia)
Thierry Courvoisier (Switzerland)
Michel Dennefeld (France)
Anne Dutrey (France)
Hayk Harutyunyan (Armenia)
Joachim Krautter (Germany), Co-chair
Tigran Magakian (Armenia)
Michel Mayor (Switzerland)
Areg Mickaelian (Armenia), Co-chair
Antonella Natta (Italy)
Artashes Petrosian (Armenia)
Ian Robson (UK)
Yervant Terzian (USA)
Yaroslav Yatskiv (Ukraine)

LOCAL ORGANIZING COMMITTEE

A.M. Mickaelian, Chair
S.A. Ghazaryan, H.A. Harutyunyan, S.G. Harutyunyan, E.R. Hovhannisyan, L.R. Hovhannisyan, N.D. Melikian, A. Melkonian, A.A. Sadoyan, L.A. Sargsyan

3. MEETING VENUE

The Yerevan State University (YSU) will be the venue of JENAM-2007. YSU is the main educational centre in Armenia. It was founded in 1920. YSU is situated in a walking distance from the centre of Yerevan in the educational area, where there are a number of other institutions. The present building is made in an Armenian architectural style and is a complex of a few blocks (hosting different faculties) connected with each other. It has 21 faculties, including the Faculty of Physics, where most of the scientific sessions of the JENAM-2007 will be held. The registration, poster sessions, exhibitions, and coffee breaks will be organized in the foyer of the main building of the University, just at 1 minute walking distance from the Faculty of Physics. The main conference hall will be used for the Opening Ceremony and the Plenary sessions, the EAS Symposia and Special Sessions will have their fixed conference halls and auditoria (will be defined later).  

All modern facilities will be available in the conference rooms and nearby (computers, Internet, printing, photocopy, fax, etc.). Projectors and computers as well as possibility to connect your Laptops to the projectors will be available. The poster sessions will take place in the entrance hall of the YSU. The authors of the posters are expected to be present in the poster halls. Preliminarily, a space for 90x60cm will be allocated for each poster. All necessary attributes will be available. Other details will be given in the final announcement. 

Please find more info on the Yerevan State University at:

http://www.ysu.am/site/index.php?lang=2

4. SCIENTIFIC SESSIONS

EAS SYMPOSIA

EAS S1: Extrasolar Planets
EAS S3: Violent Phenomena in Young Stars
EAS S4: High-Energy Astrophysics: the keV-TeV connection
EAS S5: Activity in Galaxies
EAS S6: Dynamics of Galaxies and Galactic Nuclei
EAS S7: Cosmology: New Facts and New Problems
EAS S8: Science with Virtual Observatories

JENAM-2007 SPECIAL SESSIONS (SPS)

SPS1: Stellar Structure and Evolution
SPS2: New Developments in Asteroseismology
SPS3: Gravitational Wave Astrophysics
SPS4: Astronomy from the Antarctic plateau
SPS5: Astronomy Education in Europe
SPS6: Archaeoastronomy
SPS7: Numerical Astrophysics

5. STRUCTURE OF THE MEETING

The main scientific sessions of the JENAM-2007 will be held during 5 days (August 20-24, morning and afternoon sessions). August 25 is assigned for excursions. However, some brief sessions and discussions may be planned for that last day as well. The JENAM will consist of plenary talks, EAS Symposia, JENAM Special Sessions, and a number of other business meetings. The EAS Symposia and the JENAM Special Sessions will consist of invited reviews and contributed papers. Both oral and poster presentation of contributed papers are foreseen (will be decided by the SOCs and conveners of the corresponding sessions). However, a generous amount of time will be reserved for discussions.  

The sessions will start with review papers, intended to engage the interest of all participants from the beginning, and to show specialists in the various sub-disciplines how each field interacts with the data in other fields. There will also be more specialised reviews at appropriate points. The SOCs has already invited a number of people to give review papers and has prepared an outline program for the meetings. Details are available on the web page of each individual session, which prospective attendees are urged to read, to see how their own work might best fit in. We also intend to have several Discussion Sessions, each to be led by one or two experts who will introduce a list of topics and then invite contributions from the participants.

Titles and abstracts of contributed papers are solicited as soon as possible (the deadline is May 1, 2007). We will endeavour to arrange forth posters to be displayed in a comfortable setting, and to ensure that adequate time is available during the meetings for everyone to study and discuss them. The SOCs will select contributions which will be accepted and an opportunity will be given to attendees to have short oral presentation of a number of posters, too. There are two kinds of talks: invited reviews with 30 min and contributed talks with 15-20 min durations, including a 3-5 min discussion. Posters will be demonstrated during all the period of the JENAM. Beside the short presentations (3-5 min, without discussion) available for many of the posters, authors will be able to present and discuss their posters during the coffee-breaks and time before/after lunch. 

All invited and oral contributed papers will be published in the proceedings, as well as abstracts (or short annotations) of posters. Please check with the corresponding SOC chairs.  

6. TENTATIVE PROGRAM

August 19, Sunday

10:00-20:00     Registration
20:00-22:00     Welcome Reception

August 20, Monday

09:00-09:30     Official opening of the JENAM-2007
09:30-10:30     EAS symposia 1-3-5-7 and Special sessions 1-3-5-7
10:30-11:00     Coffee break
11:00-12:30     EAS symposia 1-3-5-7 and Special sessions 1-3-5-7
12:30-14:00     Lunch
14:00-15:30     EAS symposia 1-3-5-7 and Special sessions 1-3-5-7
15:30-16:00     Coffee break
16:00-18:00     EAS symposia 1-3-5-7 and Special sessions 1-3-5-7

August 21, Tuesday

09:00-10:30     Plenary sessions
10:30-11:00     Coffee break
11:00-12:30     EAS symposia 1-3-5-7 and Special sessions 1-3-5-7
12:30-14:00     Lunch
14:00-15:30     EAS symposia 1-3-5-7 and Special sessions 1-3-5-7
15:30-16:00     Coffee break
16:00-18:00     EAS symposia 1-3-5-7 and Special sessions 1-3-5-7

August 22, Wednesday

09:00-10:30     Plenary sessions
10:30-11:00     Coffee break
11:00-12:30     EAS symposia 1-3-5-7 and Special sessions 1-3-5-7
12:30-14:00     Lunch
14:00-15:00     EAS General Assembly
15:00-16:30     Job Market and session for Young Astronomers
17:00-22:00     Excursion to the Byurakan Observatory and joint dinner

August 23, Thursday

09:00-10:30     Plenary sessions
10:30-11:00     Coffee break
11:00-12:30     EAS symposia 2-4-6-8 and Special sessions 2-4-6
12:30-14:00     Lunch
14:00-15:30     EAS symposia 2-4-6-8 and Special sessions 2-4-6
15:30-16:00     Coffee break
16:00-18:00     EAS symposia 2-4-6-8 and Special sessions 2-4-6

August 24, Friday

09:00-10:30     EAS symposia 2-4-6-8 and Special sessions 2-4-6
10:30-11:00     Coffee break
11:00-12:30     EAS symposia 2-4-6-8 and Special sessions 2-4-6
12:30-14:00     Lunch
14:00-15:30     EAS symposia 2-4-6-8 and Special sessions 2-4-6
15:30-16:00     Coffee break
16:00-18:00     EAS symposia 2-4-6-8 and Special sessions 2-4-6
19:00-22:00     JENAM-2007 banquet

August 25, Saturday

09:00-10:30     Additional special sessions
10:30-11:00     Coffee break
11:00-12:30     Joint discussion and Closing session
12:30-14:00     Lunch
14:00-19:00     Excursions

 

7. ARMENIA and YEREVAN 

Republic of Armenia is a mountainous country, situated in the south of Transcaucasia, between the Black and Caspian Seas. To the north and east are Georgia and Azerbaijan, while its neighbours to the west and south are Turkey and Iran. Its territory is 29,800 square km and the population is 3,7 million. Most of its territory lies 1,000 metres to 2,500 metres above sea level. Armenia's highest mountain is Aragatz (4,090 m or 13,419 ft above sea level) whose jagged summit is snow capped all year round except for a short period in late summer (exactly the period of JENAM-2007). The lowest point, along Debed river, is 390 m or 1,280 ft. The greatest extent is 360 km. More than 100 mountain lakes number in Armenia. Sevan is the world's biggest lake at an altitude of almost 2,000 metres above sea level. Gaining independence in 1991, Armenia has undergone fast economic and political changes and is considered to be one of the most stable among all former Soviet Union countries.

Armenia is an ancient land with about 3,000 years history. It has been inhabited since the early Stone Age. Ancient Armenia was one of the largest states in the Middle East and was often pitted against Rome and Persia. The Bible mountain Ararat is seen very picturesque from Yerevan. Many thousands of cultural monuments have been preserved in the territory of Armenia: from stone-age buildings to medieval temples and other magnificent creations. There are some 40,000 historical and architectural monuments in Armenia: ancient churches, monasteries, castles, fortresses, cross-stones (which are typical only for this district) etc. Armenia is justly called a museum in the open air.

Armenia is also a country of ancient science. Mathematics, astronomy, philosophy and other sciences were developed in ancient and middle ages. At the beginning of the 20^th century some European scientists found that just in this area in the foot of Masis (Ararat), 4800 years ago, the known division of starry sky to constellations has come to its final form. Armenian alphabet was created in 405 A.D. In modern Armenia there are 130 research institutes having a staff of some 22,000 researchers. Yerevan State University (the venue of JENAM-2007) is the largest educational centre in Armenia. It has modern and comfortable conference halls and auditoria.

At the very beginning of the IV century, in the time of king Trdat III, an important historical event took place in the life of the Armenian people: the Christianity was adopted in Armenia in 301 A.D. Armenia is the first country in the world which adopted Christianity as a state religion. A great celebration of its 1700th anniversary took place in 2001, and a lot of guests visited Armenia from dozens of countries, including Pope and many other churches heads.

Armenian wines and cognac are very famous. Wine making is part of the Armenian culture. The Armenian brandy (cognac) and various wines are of the highest quality. The generous sun of the Ararat Valley, the fertile land and good water quality give the Armenian brandy its gold color and extraordinary taste. Fruits and vegetables, as well as national dishes are famous, too. The fruits and vegetables are widespread in August: the famous peaches, apples, pears, plums, watermelons, grapes are very delicious in Armenia. Armenian water is known as one of the best in the world. Armenia is rich in mineral waters known worldwide. Mineral waters of Armenia have a healing effect for kidney, liver, gall bladder and intestinal diseases. In addition, mineral water baths are recommended for anomalies of nervous and supportive-protective systems. The mineral water brands of Armenia are: «Jermuk», «Bjni», «Arzni», «Sevan», «Lichk», «Dilijan» and others. Near the springs of these mineral waters health resorts are established the water being used for treatment of different diseases.

Please find more info on Armenia at:

http://worldatlas.com/webimage/countrys/europe/am.htm

http://www.armeniapedia.org/index.php?title=Main_Page

Yerevan, the capital of Armenia, is situated in the Ararat Valley, among the mountains at an altitude of 950 to 1,200 metres above sea level on the river Hrazdan. It has a population of about 1.4 million. Yerevan is one of the oldest cities in the world. There were many theories, conjectures and out-and-out legends which speculated on its origin, till a basalt slab, discovered by archaeologists on Arin-Berd Hill in 1950, provided documentary evidence of the date the city was founded. The fortress, founded in 782 B.C., was called Erebouni, and it was gradually transformed into Yerevan. There are 20 museums in Yerevan, including Matenadaran - a unique museum (and institute) with collection of more than 10,000 ancient manuscripts. Yerevan has more than 120 libraries, 40 hospitals, about 10 theatres, Grand Opera, concert halls and other cultural institutions. 

There are some 33 hotels in Yerevan (see section Accommodation), most equipped with modern facilities. The best hotels are Ani Plaza, Ararat, Armenia Marriott, Bass, Congress, Europe, Golden Palace, Golden Tulip Yerevan, Hrazdan, Hybusiness, Metropol, and Sil. The prices for a single room in these hotels range from 60 to 150 Euros. The cheaper hotels offer rooms for 30-40 Euros. The JENAM organizers will discuss the possible discounts depending on the number of guests and will announce the reduced prices as soon as possible. For lower prices, the Yerevan State University (YSU) Guest House will be offered as well. The Byurakan Astrophysical Observatory (BAO) hotel may be offered for participants with financial difficulties. The JENAM buses will take every morning the participants from a number of hotels (having large number of guests) to the YSU.

Please find more info on Yerevan at:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yerevan

http://www.cilicia.com/armo5_yerevan.html

8. TRAVELING TO ARMENIA AND VISAS

Armenia’s geographical location is very convenient for connections with all of the countries in Europe, Middle East, Asia, and the CIS. There is a number of international airlines land in Yerevan. One can use the flights from Amsterdam, Athens, Istanbul, Frankfurt, Kiev, London, Moscow, Munich, Odessa, Paris, Prague, St.Petersburg, Tel Aviv, Vienna, and others, as well as numerous connecting flights through Moscow, Vienna, and Prague. Given that the prices of the tickets may be higher when buying from Europe, the organizers have discussed a possibility with some travel agencies to book and/or purchase tickets for the JENAM participants in Yerevan. More details will be announced later. For this, please contact LOC after your main registration, when arranging the practical matters of your travel. 

The international airport is Zvartnots, situated 7.2 km southwest from Yerevan. Local time is GMT +3, and the summer time, GMT +4. Note that the Yerevan airport tax is not included in the price of tickets; you will be asked to pay 10,000 Armenian drams (about 20 Euros) before the departure.

You are strongly advised to contact the nearest Armenian Consulate or Embassy to inquire about visa regulations for your country. You should make your visa application well in advance. Besides, LOC can sent on request official letters of invitation to all participants to help for getting visas. In the case of absence of Armenian Consulate and Embassy in your country, please contact the Russian Embassy for all arrangements. The Armenian Ministry of Foreign Affairs invites you to apply for and receive a visa electronically, on-line at http://www.armeniaforeignministry.am/eVisa/. It is also possible to arrive in Yerevan without visas and get visas at the airport (paying 30 USD).

For the main flights from the European cities to Yerevan and back, please check our web information at http://www.aras.am/JENAM-2007/travel_visas.htm

9. ACCOMMODATION 

There are 33 hotels in Yerevan, most equipped with modern facilities. The best hotels are Ani Plaza, Ararat, Aviatrans, Bass, Congress, Europe, Golden Palace, Golden Tulip Yerevan, Hrazdan, Marriott Armenia, Metropol, Sil, etc. The prices for a single room in these hotels range from equivalent of 60 to 150 Euros per night. Cheaper hotels offer rooms for 30-40 Euros. Though strangely most of the hotels offer high prices, but in fact they offer excellent conditions compared to these prices (checked by the JENAM LOC!). Note, the payments are required in local currency only, Armenian Drams (AMD, on 15.01.2007 1 Euro = 475 AMD), and the exchange rates may be changed. However, the JENAM organizers have arranged possible payment in Euros, which will be more convenient in sense of fixing the amount beforehand.  

During the high season, the Yerevan hotels are full and almost do not offer discounts, however the JENAM-2007 organizers have got some discounts (5-12%) for a limited number of rooms at 12 hotels (see the table for actual number of available rooms in each hotel for JENAM-2007). These are those hotels situated at walking distance from both the city centre and the YSU, venue of the JENAM-2007 (see the table for distances). If you make your reservation through LOC, you will get special rates (some of the hotels have not yet announced prices for 2007). In addition, the JENAM buses will take you every morning from these hotels (having large number of guests) to the YSU. Other hotels have not been considered because of larger distances from the city centre and the YSU (meeting venue) or the small number of available rooms; lodging in these hotels will not be convenient for the organization of transportation.

For lower prices, the Yerevan State University (YSU) Guest House will be offered, where you can share a room with 1, 2, or 3 other participants (as well as in some other hotels). Dormitory rooms in the Envoy hostel in Yerevan and the Byurakan Astrophysical Observatory (BAO) hotel may be offered for participants with financial difficulties as well (note, Byurakan is 35km far from Yerevan, however, the organizers will arrange the transportation for every day). Here the guests may share a room with 1, 2, or 3 other persons.

The list of all Yerevan hotels with their brief data is available at our web page at http://www.aras.am/JENAM-2007/Accommodation.htm.

At http://www.aras.am/JENAM-2007/hotel_rates.htm, the list of 25 Yerevan hotels and their room types together with standard and special (discounts for JENAM-2007) prices are given, as well as the same information for the Byurakan Observatory hotel and Envoy hostel in Yerevan. Because of the high season, the discounts are not very much, typically 5-12%. However, after long discussions, we reached even better discounts than is usually given to the travel agencies (compare the rates on the web). Though in many cases the room rates on the hotel web pages are given without VAT (20%) and/or the breakfast is not included, we give here all prices including VAT and breakfast. The room rates are announced in local currency (Armenian Drams, AMD), and the payments are accepted in AMD as well. The present (15.01.2007) exchange rates are 1 Euro = 475 AMD, 1 USD = 365 AMD. However, the exchange rates may change (please check at http://www.cba.am/) and the prices in Euros or USD may change too. The JENAM LOC will find a way to accept the payments in Euros, so that there will not be losses in exchange.

To help in selection of your hotel and a room type, we give a corresponding list for given ranges of prices available for your stay (in Euros; this list is available in the registration form): 

<20E per night: sharing a room with 2-5 other persons in BAO hotel or Envoy hostel (limited number of rooms)
20E- 29E per night: standard single room in hotel Shirak; sharing a twin, triple or four pax room in Shirak, Regineh, or YSU Guest House
30E- 39E per night: standard deluxe in Shirak; single room or suite in YSU Guest House; sharing a twin or triple room in Aviatrans, Hrazdan, Regineh, Shirak, or Sil
40E- 49E per night: renovated single or deluxe in Shirak; single in Hrazdan or Regineh; sharing a twin in Ani Plaza, Ararat, Aviatrans, Europe, Hrazdan, or Metropol
50E- 69E per night: renovated or fully renovated single, standard or renovated deluxe rooms in Shirak; standard single in Ani Plaza, Aviatrans, or Sil; suite in YSU Guest House; sharing a superior twin in Ani Plaza or Ararat; sharing a standard twin in Congress or Golden Tulip Yerevan
70E- 99E per night: deluxe single in Ani Plaza or Metropol; standard single in Ararat, Congress, or Europe; suite in Regineh or Sil; fully renovated deluxe in Shirak
100E-150E per night: single in Golden Tulip Yerevan; superior single in Ani Plaza, Ararat, or Golden Palace; suite in Aviatrans, Congress, Europe, Hrazdan, Metropol, Regineh, or Sil
>150E per night: deluxe single in Marriott Armenia; suite in Ararat, Golden Palace, or Golden Tulip Yerevan; executive suite in Ani Plaza, Europe, Metropol, or Regineh; VIP apartment in Shirak

For a reservation, at least 1 night prepayment will be required (before June 1). Full payment will be required before July 20 (one month in advance). Cancellation fees: price of 1 night before July 20; 50% from July 21 to August 10; no refund after August 10. 

The Accommodation Form is enclosed in the registration form and is available since January 15, 2007 at the JENAM-2007 web page.

10. SOCIAL ACTIVITIES 

The social program includes Welcome reception (Sunday evening, 19.08.2007, at 20:00-22:00, included in the registration fee), Excursion to the Byurakan Observatory and Joint Dinner (Wednesday, August 22, at 17:00-22:00, 24 Euros), JENAM-2007 banquet (Friday, August 24, at 19:00-22:00, 30 Euros), Excursions to Armenian sightseeing (Saturday, August 25, at 14:00-19:00; 14 Euros without lunch). Beside the joint excursions on August 22 and 25, additional tours will be organized for accompanying persons and those scientists not attending sessions on the given days. Thus, every day there will be several excursions for a number of participants. Additional receptions may be organized by other interested organizations as well. More details on the tours will be available in later announcements. Here we give the list of the most attractive tours that will be offered.

EXCURSIONS (all-day excursions include lunch)

YEREVAN CITY TOUR (5 hours with lunch, 20 Euros). The tour will start with the Republic Square, which is the centre of the city. Here there are Government House, Hotel Marriott Armenia, several ministries, museums, Art Gallery of Armenia with a collection of over 16,000 paintings. The excursion will continue with Matenadaran (a unique museum of ancient manuscripts), Ararat Cognac (Brandy) Factory on the bank of the river Hrazdan, a lunch break in one of the nice Ring Park restaurants, Central Market, Tsitsernakaberd Park, Sports and Concert Complex, Erebouni Fortress (782 B.C.). On the way, the visitors will see many monuments, may do shopping. The excursion will end at the Opera House.   

ECHMIATZIN and ZVARTNOTS (5 hours with lunch, 20 Euros). This excursion takes you to an old city Echmiatzin, the former capital of the Kingdom of Armenia (in the II-IV centuries). Echmiatzin is 20 km from Yerevan, in the Ararat Valley - the granary of Armenia. The Cathedral is Echmiatzin’s main attraction. Legend has it that it was here that Jesus Christ descended from heaven to show where he wanted a church built. It was subsequently named Echmiatzin, which means «The Coming of the Only Begotten». Echmiatzin is the centre of the Armenian Apostolic Church and all the Armenian eparchies. There are also churches of the Holy Virgin of Hripsime (or St. Hripsime, 618 A.D.), St.Gayane (630 c.) and the ruins of the church Zvartnots (VII c., about 2 km from Echmiatzin). Echmiatzin was the centre for world attenion in 2001 during the celebration of the 1700^th anniversary of adoption of Christianity in Armenia, first country adopting Christianity as state religion.

GARNI and GEGHARD (5 hours with lunch, 20 Euros). The Sun Temple of Garni (built in the Roman style, very like the Greek Parthenon) is 28 km from Yerevan.  There is an architectural complex of the 3^rd century B.C. The temple itself was built in the 1^st century A.D. by the Armenian King Tiridates. It was destroyed in 1679 in an earthquake, but was reconstructed in Soviet times. This was the summer residence of the Armenian kings. Archaeologists are still working on the Garni complex. Near the temple, down to the gorge you can see the junction of two rivers, Azat and Geghard. 6 km from Garni there is a fantastic sample of medieval Armenian architecture, the Geghard Cave Monastery. Its first mention is to be found in the 4^th century, but the main cathedral was built in 1215. The structures inside and outside the mount are one, compositionally and stylistically. The visitors will have lunch at Geghard in the open air.

AMBERD, TEGHER, and ORGOV (full day with lunch, 24 Euros). There are wonderful sightseeings in the Ashtarak District, around Byurakan. The mausoleum of Armenian Arshakouni kings, built in 364 by Armenian sparapet (military leader) Vasak Mamikonian is in front of Byurakan (opposite bank of Amberd river), in historical Aghts village. A little higher from it, there is famous Tegher St. Astvatzatzin temple, with standing buildings since 1213. A little higher from Tegher there is famous picturesque Amberd fortress. In 10-11 centuries it was a well-built settlement and one of the important military strong points of the Armenian Bagratouni kings. Here in 1026, the St. Astvatzatzin church was built. Amberd is at a height of 2,300 metres above sea level. The institute of Radiometric Measurements is located in Orgov. Its main instrument is a 54 m Spherical Radio telescope, which is correlated with a 2.6 m optical telescope, working as a radio-optical telescope (ROT). The institute has also a 16 m radio dish, time service, etc.

LAKE SEVAN (full day with lunch and dinner, 36 Euros). Lake Sevan, the gem of Armenia, is a wonder of nature, located 60 km from Yerevan up a highway which cuts northward through mountains and rocks. Sevan fills a gigantic depression situated at a height of almost 2,000 metres above sea level. The poet once said of its waters that they were like a piece of sky that had descended to the earth among the mountains. The average temperature of Sevan’s water in summer is +20-22°C in the afternoon. The visitors may enjoy swimming if there is no wind. Sevan has always been famous for its fish, especially trout, called Ishkhan («prince-fish»), a fish which graced many great lords’ tables in times of old. There are several sightseeings on the way to Sevan and around the lake, too, including medieval monasteries and the Noratus Cemetery, a place with numerous Armenian khach-kars (cross-stones).

KHOR VIRAP, NORAVANK, and KARAHUNGE (full day with lunch and dinner, 30 Euros). A trip to south from Yerevan. Khor Virap is one of the closest points to the biblical Mt. Ararat (5165m), which is considered as one of the highest mountains by its relative height (from foot to top), and has a fascinating view. Khor Virap is famous because it is where Grigor Luisavorich (St. Gregory the Illuminator) was imprisoned for 13 years before curing King Trdat III of a disease. After this Armenia became the first Christian nation in the world in 301. Noravank is a nice church (XII-XIV c.), where you reach through a picturesque canyon from the highway. The trip will take you farther to the Sisian region, to Karahunge. This ancient religious monument and observatory (also known as Zorats Kar) is the Armenian Stonehenge, and surprisingly, the name is quite similar by its meaning: kar means stone, and hunge sounds similar to henge, which has several explanations. There are several estimations of the age of Karahunge going back to 7600 years. There are numerous holes in the standing stones indicating the directions of rise and set of some bright stars when you look through any two of them.  

MT. ARAGATZ (full day with lunch and dinner, 32 Euros). Aragatz is the highest mountain in Republic of Armenia (the highest in the Armenian Highland and historical Armenia is Mt. Ararat, 5165m). It is a large massive and has four summits situated around a volcanic crater. The highest is Northern Peak (4090m), then Western (4080m), Eastern (3916m), and Southern (3879m). The way to the peaks goes from the south (passing through village Byurakan and along river Amberd), and there is a road taking to the altitude of 3250m, thus making the climbing relatively easy. There is a small beautiful lake at this level, where the water is cold even at the hottest summer time. This point is 25km far from Byurakan. The closest peak (Southern) may be reached in 2 hours, and the farthest and the highest one (Northern), in ~5 hours. Those who have heart or blood pressure problems are not encouraged to take this trip.

Please note that the above mentioned tours will be organized only if a minimum of 10 participants is reached for each tour. Some other excursions may be organized too, including 2-3 days tours to farther regions of Armenia and Karabakh (Artsakh).

Cancellation policy for the social events: full refund before June 1; 20% charge before August 10; no refund after August 10.    
 

11. OTHER USEFUL INFORMATION

CLIMATE 

Armenia is often described as a sunny country. Its climate ranges from dry subtropical to cold weather.  It is rather hot in summer, but cold in winter. The average temperature in July is +25°C and -5°C in January. During the Colloquium it will be the end of the summer hot period. Maximum of the temperature, some 25-30°C, is expected. You may anticipate dry and hot weather. Rains are rare.  However, you can take light coats for evenings, as the daily temperature amplitude is sometimes 15°C. 

LOCAL CURRENCY

The Armenian currency is called Dram (Armenian Dram, AMD), and the exchange rate is now (January 2007) approximately 1 Euro = 475 AMD. You may easily change Euros, USD, GBP, RR, and other international currencies to Armenian Drams in any bank or exchange offices.

12. REGISTRATION  

The registration form is available at the JENAM-2007 web page. It includes also fields for accommodation, social activities, and request for travel grants.  

REGISTRATION FEES

The registration fee will cover transportation between the airport and hotels (for those hotels having reservations by LOC), between the hotels and the meeting venue (Yerevan State University), the participants’ kits (bag, abstract book, program, etc.), a welcome reception, coffee breaks and refreshments on the five session days of the meeting, and the organization expenses.

Deadline for the early registration (with reduced fee) is June 1, 2007.

If you have problems with web access or with online registration, please send the completed form as an e-mail attachment to jenam2007@aras.am.

After the registration, your name will appear in the list of registered participants. Please contact us if this does not happen within a week.

RECOMMENDATIONS for completion of the registration form

To make easier your registration and participation in JENAM-2007, we offer a simplified registration form, where your registration details, accommodation, social events, and travel grant application have been joined. Thus your personal details will be filled in once, and all other necessary information and payment calculations are linked to each other.

It is not necessary to pay immediately at the registration. However, your name will appear in the list of participants as with "pending registration". Your registration will be accepted and confirmed after the payments only.

Cancellation policy for the registration fees: full refund before June 1; 20% charge before July 20; 50% charge before August 10; no refund after August 10.
 

ACCOMMODATION information

When filling in the accommodation details, you have three alternative options:

1. Choose yourself your hotel and room type from the given lists. You may have the second choice in case the first choice is already not available.
2. Ask LOC to find a room for you with a given range of prices and your preferences and specific requirements. This makes you free from browsing numerous options.
3. Make your own arrangements. Note: LOC does not take any responsibility for your accommodation and transportation in this case. However, it is strongly recommended that you inform the LOC your address in Yerevan.

The room prices are given in Euros in the registration form and will be revised weekly to fit the Euro-AMD exchange rates (as the hotels accept AMD only). It will be convenient for the participants to select their rooms having the prices in Euros. The organizers will make the payments in AMD according to the best exchange rates at the moment of payment by a participant. When paying directly to the hotels, you should also pay in AMD or transfer Euros according to the hotel exchange rates.

Note: contrary to the prices in the hotel list and the hotel web pages, the prices in the registration form are given for one person (not the room) in case of the twin, triple, and other rooms, where more than one person stays. This makes easier the calculations of the payments.

The LOC has made reservation for limited number of rooms in 16 hotels, so please make your choice as soon as possible to warranty the availability.

PAYMENTS

Any payments will be accepted after March 1, 2007.

PAYMENT OPTIONS

There are three options for payments:

1. Bank transfer to ArAS HSBC bank (Euro) account.
2. Paying by credit card through the payment web interface form.
3. Late payment in cash or by credit card at the registration desk.

Note: If you wish to change anything in your registration form, just re-submit the form with the new data. Your last version will be accepted and the payments will be required according to the last version, too. If you have made any payments before the re-submission, re-calculations will be made.

13. FINANCIAL SUPPORT

EAS and ArAS TRAVEL GRANTS

A limited number of EAS and ArAS travel grants will be available mainly reserved for young participants and scientists from countries with limited resources. However, other participants may apply as well (the decision will be made on the basis of the contributions). The application form is given together with the registration form. Please request funding only if you are certain that your available funds will not be sufficient. Please make sure that you have submitted the abstracts of your contributions in order to support your grant application. Those who are going to apply for a grant are encouraged to register as soon as possible. Decisions about funding will be made after all applications in the middle of May.  

From the allocated grants, the registration fee, accommodation, and other local expenses (excursions and banquet tickets) will be covered automatically (in the mentioned order). If remained, the money will be paid in Euros cash at the registration desk.

14. ABSTRACT SUBMISSION

Abstracts of all oral and poster contributions should be submitted through the JENAM-2007 web interface, filling in the scientific session, type of the contribution (invited, oral or poster), title, authors/affiliations, and the abstract (~10 rows or 600 characters). If you have difficulty with the web interface, please send your abstract(s) to the JENAM LOC (jenam2007@aras.am, optional for travel grants) and the chair of the SOC of the corresponding scientific session (see Sessions or Contacts). 

15. PROCEEDINGS

The proceedings of the JENAM-2007 will be published in the EAS Publication Series in 2008. The organizers of the EAS symposia and Special sessions are encouraged to contact the Edtor of EAS Publication Series Jean-Paul Zahn for further arrangements.  

The typical allocated size will be 8-10 pages for invited talks, 5-6 pages for contributed talks, and 1-2 page for poster contributions. More details will be given in the final announcement and at the JENAM-2007 sessions. The deadline for submission is October 31, 2007.

16. IMPORTANT DEADLINES

17. CONTACT ADDRESSES 

Postal Address: JENAM-2007, Armenian Astronomical Society (ArAS), Byurakan Astrophysical Observatory (BAO), Byurakan 378433, Aragatzotn  province, Republic of Armenia.

Telephone: +374-10-580656 (Areg Mickaelian); Fax: +374-10-580656

E-mail: jenam2007@aras.am

World Wide Web URL: http://www.aras.am/JENAM-2007/index.htm (this site); http://www2.iap.fr/eas/Jenam07/index.htm (mirror site at EAS)

SOC Co-Chairmen: Joachim Krautter (Germany), Areg Mickaelian (Armenia)

LOC: jenam2007@aras.am, LOC Chairman: Areg Mickaelian (Armenia)

For an inquiry and discussion of the details of the individual EAS symposia and JENAM special sessions, please contact the SOC Chairs and the Conveners of the corresponding sessions:

EAS S1: Michel Mayor (Switzerland), EAS S3: Tigran Magakian (Armenia), EAS S4: Thierry Courvoisier (Switzerland), EAS S5: Ian Robson (UK), EAS S6: Rainer Spurzem (Germany), EAS S7: Hayk Harutyunyan (Armenia), EAS S8: Areg Mickaelian (Armenia), JENAM SPS3: Sadoyan Avetis (Armenia), JENAM SPS4: Vincent Coudé du Foresto (France), JENAM SPS5: Magda Stavinschi (Romania), JENAM SPS7: Sadoyan Avetis (Armenia).