Local information

This page contains information about the local environment, local transport, travelling to the conference, accommodation, and sightseeing. If you find any information listed here to be inaccurate, please do not hesitate to reach out to polinetworks2026@gmail.com so we can update the page. Thank you.

The conference venue

Oddfellows Hall: Our conference venue, Oddfellows Hall, is located at 97 Grosvenor Street, Manchester M1 7HF, UK. You can use the entrance on Rumford Street or via the Beehive Restaurant on Boundary Street East. You can view a virtual 3D tour of the building and floor plans with all rooms. Oddfellows Hall is an Edwardian Baroque building constructed in 1857. It was the home of the (at times secret) Oddfellows Society, a non-political society that strives to promote friendliness, benevolence, charity and philanthropy up to the present day. More information about the history of Oddfellows Hall can be found here.

Water cooler, pens, and paper: We have decided not to purchase water bottles, pens, notebooks, bags, or similar because they usually end up as landfill. Please bring your own water bottle if you require hydration outside of the coffee and lunch breaks. Oddfellows Hall has a water cooler on the ground floor in the hallway connecting the reception area and the informal breakout space. The seminar rooms have pens and paper available for note-taking.

Coffee shops: The Beehive Restaurant, where lunches and the reception take place, may be closed to orders outside the breaks. However, you can find several cafes in the adjacent Nancy Rothwell Engineering Building (main entrance on Grosvenor Street). One cafe is located on the ground floor and another one on the bridge connecting the Nancy Rothwell Building and the Engineering B Building on the second floor, close to the blended lecture theatre where the keynote speech takes place. Other coffeeshops can be found in the vicinity, for example on Oxford Road.

Wi-Fi: You can use the eduroam Wi-Fi network if you have already set it up at your home institution. If you do not have access to eduroam via your institutional credentials, please use the University of Manchester guest Wi-Fi network, which requires you to accept the terms before use. Wi-Fi is available throughout the building and in other University of Manchester buildings.

Multifaith prayer rooms and quiet space: We will open the Unity Room and the Amor Room, two small rooms upstairs opposite of The Hub at Oddfellows Hall, for anyone who needs some quiet time, for example for a Zoom call or for health reasons. The adjacent Nancy Rothwell Engineering Building also has plenty of workspaces and lounge spaces available. You can furthermore use any of the 13 multifaith prayer and contemplation rooms on the University of Manchester campus. The closest one is located on the ground floor of the adjacent Nancy Rothwell Engineering Building. All multifaith prayer and contemplation rooms are listed on the interactive campus map (tick the respective box before browsing the map).

Keynote speech location: Please refer to the directions at the bottom of the programme page to find the location of the keynote speech in the adjacent Engineering B Building.

Location and local transport

Location: The conference venue, Oddfellows Hall, is located on the edge of campus towards the city centre (Google Maps). The walking distance to Albert Square, a central location in the city centre, is about 19 minutes. The walking distance to the Old Quadrangle and historic main building of the University of Manchester, in the other direction, is about 10 minutes.

Oxford Road Corridor: Oxford Road, often described as one of Europe's busiest bus routes, hosts three universities right next to each other: Manchester Metropolitan University, the Royal Northern College of Music, and the University of Manchester, with close to 90,000 students studying within close proximity during term time. August will be a quieter month but will offer the same amenities, including coffee shops, restaurants, small supermarkets, and pubs.

Local transport: Oxford Road is located between the city centre in the north and the Curry Mile, an area with many restaurants, in the south. Both are easy to access using the frequent buses running on Oxford Road. To plan bus journeys, we recommend the Bee Network App for real-time bus tracking and ticket purchases. It's also possible to pay on the bus by tapping your card when you board the bus at the front. An overview of bus fares and tickets can be found here. Typical bus fares are £2.00 for a single journey, £5.00 for a one-day pass, and £20.00 for a seven-day pass (depending on ticket type). You can also explore other parts of the city using the MetroLink light rail tram network. Uber and Bolt also operate in Manchester if you need a taxi.

Travelling to the conference

For international visitors, we recommend arriving at Manchester Airport and taking the train to Oxford Road Station. Manchester Airport is an international airport with direct connections to many European and global destinations, including the Americas and Asia. The full list of destinations can be found here.

You can get to the conference venue by local train (ideally to Oxford Road Station; Piccadilly Station is a longer walk), with only a short walk to the surrounding hotels, or by tram, bus, black cab taxi, Uber, or Bolt.

If you arrive at one of the London airports or train stations, take a train to Manchester Piccadilly, Manchester's main train station for south-bound trains. The journey takes about two hours from London Euston Station.

To enter the country, you may need a visa and/or complete an electronic travel authorisation form (ETA), depending on your citizenship. More information on entering the UK can be found here. We are able to issue confirmation letters about invitations if you have been invited to present a paper or poster; see the registration page for details.

Accommodation

The city centre and campus areas offer many accommodation options in all price categories. The Hyatt Regency on campus offers preferential rates for University of Manchester guests, but it is about the same walking distance to the venue as some of the other options, which may be similarly priced. Unfortunately, the University of Manchester does not offer dormitory accommodation. However, some very affordable options are listed below. Information about rates may be inaccurate and should only be interpreted as an approximate guide based on past or online information.

Higher-end accommodation

The Hyatt Regency is a modern 19-storey four-star hotel located right on campus (Google Maps) and offers preferential rates for University of Manchester guests. In the past, the rate per night was approximately around £130–150. Further information can be found here. The walking distance is around five minutes.

The Manchester Deansgate Hotel (formerly Hilton) is a modern four-star hotel located on floors 1–22 of the 47-storey Beetham Tower (Google Maps), which overlooks the city centre, with a cocktail bar with spectacular views on the 23rd floor. However, it is a 20-minute walk to the conference venue. In the past, the rate per night was often around £135–140.

The Edwardian Manchester Hotel (a Radisson hotel) is a modern five-star spa hotel located between the city centre and campus, but more adjacent to the city centre (Google Maps). It is a 15-minute walk to the conference venue. In the past, the rate per night was often around £135–165.

The Midland is a grand Edwardian four-star hotel built in 1903 and located between the city centre and campus, but more adjacent to the city centre (Google Maps). It is a 15-minute walk to the conference venue. In the past, the rate per night was often around £140–150.

The Kimpton Clocktower Hotel is a historic four-star hotel located right between campus and the city centre (Google Maps). In the past, the rate per night was approximately around £120–170 depending on room size. The walking distance is around five minutes.

Mid-priced accommodation

The Maldron Hotel is a modern four-star hotel located between campus and the city centre within a five-minute walking distance from the conference venue (Google Maps). In the past, the rate per night was often approximately around £70–100.

The Holiday Inn Express is located between campus and the city centre within a five-minute walking distance from the conference venue (Google Maps). In the past, the rate per night was often approximately £70–80.

Affordable accommodation

The Ibis Hotel on Princess Street is a modern three-star budget hotel located between campus and the city centre within a five-minute walking distance from the conference venue (Google Maps). In the past, the rate per night was often around £50–60.

The Pendulum Hotel is another three-star budget hotel located between campus and the city centre within a five-minute walking distance from the conference venue (Google Maps). In the past, the rate was often around £50–60.

The Travelodge Manchester Upper Brook Street is another budget hotel located on campus but on the south side of campus with an 18-minute walk to the conference venue and bus connections to both the conference venue and city centre (Google Maps). Indicative rates are around £50–70 but can sometimes be as low as £35 per night with advance booking, with some variation.

The a&o Hostel Manchester is located between campus and the city centre within a five-minute walking distance from the conference venue (Google Maps). It offers dorm rooms from £19 per night and single/double rooms from £37 per night, for example a four-bed room for below £30 per person and night during the conference dates (as of 1 June 2026 as stated on their website).

Recommended sightseeing

In the city centre

Manchester was the cotton spinning capital of the world during the industrial revolution. In the Science and Industry Museum, located in walking distance of the city centre, you can admire the original spinning machines from the 19th century, with free admission.

On Deansgate, a central street running along the edge of the city centre, you can also visit John Rylands Library for free, a beautiful neo-Gothic library opened in 1900 and part of the University of Manchester.

The Cloud 23 Bar, a cocktail bar on Deansgate, offers fantastic 360-degree panoramic views from the 23rd floor of the Beetham Tower; we recommend making a reservation, but you may be lucky without a reservation.

At the north end of Deansgate, you can find Manchester Cathedral and Exchange Square, with pubs and shops, and the Arndale Centre, a large shopping centre inside Manchester city centre, as well as the pedestrian zone with more shops and cafes.

You should also explore the Northern Quarter, a dynamic neighbourhood known for its independent shops, creative spaces, and diverse culture.

Beyond the city centre

Outside the city centre, it is worth visiting Chetham's Library, the oldest surviving public library in Britain, founded in 1653, including Karl Marx's desk, where Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels famously met and worked while in Manchester.

Football (soccer) fans may fancy visiting Manchester United's Old Trafford Stadium or Manchester City's Etihad Stadium. While the conference takes place out of season, both clubs offer stadium tours that can be pre-booked.

Manchester is also well known for its vibrant music scene, with many music venues. Keep an eye on the gig guide to see upcoming concerts, and consider going to one of the many smaller live music venues.

On campus

On campus, we recommend visiting Whitworth Hall, the main University of Manchester building built around 1900, with its Old Quadrangle and Christie's, a coffee shop in the historic main building in a library setting with oil paintings of all previous vice-chancellors. In the basement of the adjacent Rutherford Building, Ernest Rutherford carried out experiments in 1917 that initiated the first artificial nuclear reaction (often described as "splitting the atom" in popular accounts).

Within walking distance from the conference venue, you can find the Alan Turing Memorial in Sackville Gardens on the LGBT+ Trail, which is part of Manchester's Gay Village. Alan Turing, the father of modern computing and famous WW2 codebreaker, was an academic at the University of Manchester and tragically died in 1954 after prosecution for homosexuality.

The Manchester Museum, located at the heart of campus, displays cultural and natural objects and offers free entrance. The Whitworth Gallery on campus has arts exhibitions and offers free entrance.