Venue

The 1^st Indian Winter School on Diagrams is hosted by the School of Cognitive Science at Jadavpur University, located in Kolkata. The University is ranked in India's top 10 and is ranked inside the top 50 universities in emerging economies. It has a diverse student population, studying a wide variety of topics. There are two main campuses, with the winter school taking place on the Jadavpur campus.

The Winter School will take place on the 3rd floor of Darshan Bhavan, Jadavpur University.

Accommodation

The organizers suggest booking accommodation at The Residency, since this is within a 30 minute walk of Jadavpur University campus. Rooms start at Rs2500 plus tax per night. Alternatively, rooms are available at the Ramakrishna Mission Institute of Culture, which is a little closer to Jadavpur University. To book rooms at the Institute, please email the Secretary Maharaj: rmic 'at' vsnl.com. In addition, Kolkata has numerous hotels which you may prefer.

The City

Kolkata is a vibrant city, located on the Hooghly river which is a large distributary of the famous Ganges river. Being the state capital of West Bengal, Kolkata is home to over 14 million people. It is one of the most affluent cities in south Asia, measured by GDP. It has an ethnically diverse culture and numerous site-seeing attractions, including the Victoria Memorial, the Indian Museum, Marble Palace, and botanical gardens. It is an excellent place to experience Indian culture and cuisine. During January, Kolkata has a pleasant climate with an average daily high of 26^oC and 11mm of rainfall through the month.

Republic Day

The winter school runs immediately after Republic Day (January 26), which celebrates the completion of India's transition to independence. There will be festivities occurring in Kolkata on this day, including a parade which usually runs along Red Road, near the Maidan.

Getting Here

The closest airport is the newly opened Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose International Airport (CCU). The airport is approximately 25km from Jadavpur University and it is advised that you get a pre-paid taxi from the airport.

If traveling by train, you are likely to arrive in Kolkata at either Howrah station or Sealdah station, the two major railway stations connecting Kolkata to the rest of India. From Sealdah station you can connect on to a train to Jadavpur station. Jadavpur University is within a short walk of Jadavpur Station, from where you can also take a rickshaw to get to the conference venue. If arriving in to Howrah station then you will need to travel to Jadavpur University by road.