About Finland

Finland is a Nordic country, which celebrated 100 years of independence on 6th December 2017. Finland is a member of the European Union since 1995. The capital city is Helsinki, located at the Gulf of Finland on the southern coast. The local currency is Euro (€) and the official languages are Finnish and Swedish (in the northernmost part of the country, Northern Sámi, Inari Sámi and Skolt Sámi are also recognised as minority languages). Most people understand and are able to communicate in English as well. The Finnish population is currently just over 5.5 million inhabitants, and the total land area of the country is 338,424 km².

Oulu - Getting There

By Plane: You can fly to Oulu Airport (OUL) via Helsinki (HEL) and also with a few flights from Stockholm Arlanda Airport (ARN; main international airport of Stockholm).
By Train: There are many train connections from Helsinki to Oulu, including very comfortable night (sleeper) trains. Please refer to www.vr.fi for details.

Oulu - Northern Lights and Weather

The symposium will take place in late summer in 2019, just at the beginning of the time, when the white nights of the Arctic summer end and the northern lights return. During the week of the symposium, the nights will still be short, but for almost 5 hours, weather and space weather permitting, there's the chance to see the aurora (forecasts will be provided):

Date       | Dawn    | Rise    | Set     | Dusk    | LoDay   | LoDark
-----------+---------+---------+---------+---------+---------+---------
2019-08-18 | 03h12'  | 05h11'  | 21h31'  | 23h27'  | 16h19'  | 03h38' 
2019-08-19 | 03h18'  | 05h14'  | 21h27'  | 23h20'  | 16h12'  | 03h51' 
2019-08-20 | 03h24'  | 05h18'  | 21h23'  | 23h14'  | 16h06'  | 04h04' 
2019-08-21 | 03h30'  | 05h21'  | 21h20'  | 23h08'  | 15h59'  | 04h15' 
2019-08-22 | 03h35'  | 05h24'  | 21h16'  | 23h02'  | 15h52'  | 04h27' 
2019-08-23 | 03h41'  | 05h27'  | 21h12'  | 22h57'  | 15h45'  | 04h38' 
2019-08-24 | 03h46'  | 05h31'  | 21h08'  | 22h51'  | 15h38'  | 04h49' 

The long-term average air temperature for Oulu in August is 14°C, but the variation is large and often there are warm enough days to enjoy time at the sandy beach of Nallikari. The long-term average sea-water temperature is 16°C at the time of our meetings, so swimming in the sea is possible and recommended.

Oulu - Accommodation

Please make reservations via your usual channels, we do not have a specific meeting hotel. We recommend to book a hotel in the centre of Oulu. See below for transport to the university. Please make your reservation in good time! Welcome!