Welcome to ECMTB 2014!

Welcome to Gothenburg and the 9th European Conference on Mathematical and Theoretical Biology 15-19 June 2014.

The conference takes place at Chalmers Conference Centre, close to Chalmers University of Technology.

Gothenburg (in Swedish “Göteborg” – but do not try to pronounce that) is Scandinavia’s leading port. It is the home of Volvo but also of a rich and varied activity in mathematical and theoretical biology, stimulated by departments and centres within its two universities, Chalmers and the University of Gothenburg, cf. mathbio.se.

As a port city, it has the cosmopolitan flavour of people from many corners of the world; since the Napoleonic wars connections with Scotland have been particularly strong. One of the Scotsmen who came here was William Chalmers, who earned a fortune trading with China, and bequeathed it to the Chalmers University of Technology. Today’s Botanical Garden has its first roots in richnesses amassed during Napoleon’s Blockade of Britain two centuries ago. The University of Gothenburg was founded later by locals, as an institution for liberal education. The European Society for Mathematical and Theoretical Biology should thus find itself well at home in Gothenburg, and so we are sure will you. Let us hope for good summer weather, so that you can stroll along the Avenue or Dutch canals or in the old wooden parts of town (when you are not at lectures) and also allow yourself a trip out into the archipelago and study the seals and snails.

ECMTB 2014 will follow the by now well-established pattern of plenary and contributed talks and minisymposia. The conference is Sunday-Thursday. Friday June 20 is Midsummer Eve in Sweden, arguably the year’s most important holiday in the North. We plan an organised excursion to a traditional countryside Midsummer celebration for those of you who would like to stay on.

Torbjörn Lundh,
Chairman, Organising Committee

Some photos from the conference can be found here.

Stiftelsen Wilhelm och Martina Lundgrens Vetenskapsfond

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