General Information

Symposium Site

The symposium will be held at the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Berkeley, California, in the San Francisco Bay Area. The closest airports are the San Francisco and Oakland International Airports.

Hotel Accommodations

All conference attendees should make their own accommodation arrangements.  Please phone the hotels directly to make your reservation.  Below are listed some hotels close to the conference site.

We have blocked rooms at the Hotel Shattuck for $65.00 a night. Attendees should mention the name of the conference to get the rate.

Hotel Shattuck
2086 Allston Way
Berkeley, CA 94704
info@hotelshattuckplaza.com Email
510-845-7300 Phone
510-845-7320 Fax

In addition, we have blocked rooms at the Hotel Durant for $118.00 a
night. Attendees should mention LBNL to get the rate.

Hotel Durant
2600 Durant Ave
Berkeley, CA 94720
reservations@hoteldurant.com Email
510-845-8981 Phone
510-486-8336 Fax

Maps & Transportation to the Laboratory

View a list of maps on how to get to Berkeley Lab and environs.

Transportation

San Francisco International Airport (SFO) is 25 miles away.

Oakland International Airport (OAK) is served by most major air carriers (AA, UA, Delta, Continental, Alaska) and low-cost carriers such as SouthWest Airlines and Jet Blue. Transportation from OAK includes shuttle, local buses and Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART).

Public Transportation - BART provides frequent train service between San Francisco and all points in the East Bay. Local buses (A/C transit) serve all points in the East Bay and San Francisco. An Amtrak station is in nearby Jack London Square.

Getting to the Conference

Shuttle service in the early morning and returning in the late afternoon will be provided for the Radisson Hotel Berkeley Marina. 

The Durant Hotel is one block away from the LBNL shuttle stop, which runs every 30 minutes between the University campus and LBNL. 

Security

Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory has heightened its security
procedures. It is now mandatory for anyone entering Berkeley lab who
does not hold a Berkeley Lab badge to show a photo ID and declare your
citizenship.

For UIST attendees there are two ways to handle this.

1. For those of you staying at local conference hotels or plan to take
   public transportation to downtown Berkeley we are providing a shuttle
   service to and from the Lab. You can obtain a visitors pass by faxing
   us a copy of your photo ID (this can be a driver's license or passport
   or any DOE badge) along with your citizenship and what local hotel you
   have booked a reservation to 510-486-7772. We will then fax you back a
   visitor's pass. This will enable you to board any of our hotel shuttles
   or the regular Lab shuttle from downtown Berkeley.
   
   
2. Please be advised we have limited parking available at the Lab. We
   encourage you to take public transportation whenever possible. If you
   need to drive please note that you will be stopped at the security gate
   and will need to provide security with a photo ID and will need to
   declare your country of citizenship. You automobile will also be
   subject to search. As this can cause delays so please allow extra time
   for this security processing.

Dining and Culture

No visit to the Bay Area is complete without sampling its wide range of fine foods. LBNL's restaurant web site provides an extensive list of places in Berkeley and North Oakland. Many local restaurants are listed on SFGate's East Bay Neighborhood site.

Culture

The Oakland Museum of California is located in downtown Oakland, accessible by BART or automobile. Also in Oakland, the beautifully renovated Art Deco Paramount Theater of the Arts is on 21st St. and Broadway. In Oakland's Jack London Square, Yoshi's is one of the Bay Area's leading jazz clubs, as well as a fine Japanese Restaurant. At UC Berkeley, Cal Performances offers concert and dances at the Zellerbach Auditorium and elsewhere on the UC Campus. The Berkeley Repertory Theatre is an award winning regional theater group in downtown Berkeley. Across the Bay in San Francisco, the San Francisco Symphony at Davies Hall and the San Francisco Ballet at the Opera House offer highly acclaimed performances. Numerous theatre productions and concerts are held throughout San Francisco and the Bay Area. Check SFGate, The Bay Area Guardian and East Bay Express, free weekly local newpapers, for a current list of schedules.

Bay Area and Northern California Sights

October is a great time to visit the Bay Area and Northern California. Average high/low temperature is  69/53° F, with rainfall averaging 1.2" in October. Participants are encouraged to bring a medium weight jacket for evenings out.

Recreation and sightseeing possibilities in the greater San Francisco Bay Area are endless! 

Nearby Destinations

Berkeley, home of the University of California at Berkeley, the Lawrence Hall of Science and LBNL, is known for its cultural diversity, art, beautiful parks, innovative businesses, and friendliness amongst neighbors. The Gourmet Ghetto, on Shattuck Avenue between Virginia and Rose, and the new 4th Street shopping/dining area on 4th and Hearst are well worth a visit.

San Francisco is only 25 minutes away by BART from the conference site. The cable car terminal, Union Square, Geary Street theaters, SF Museum of Modern Art, and the Metreon entertainment and dining complex are a short walk from the Powell Street BART station. The City is also accessible by ferry from Jack London Square in Oakland. 

Parks, including Marin Headlands, Point Reyes National Seashore, Muir Woods National Monument, the Golden Gate National Recreation Area, and the East Bay Regional Parks, offer scenic hiking and biking trails.

Further Away

Napa and Sonoma are world-class wine regions, and are about an hour's drive north of Berkeley.

Monterey, with its world-famous aquarium, and Carmel are less than 3 hours drive southwest of Berkeley.

Sierra Nevada Ski Resorts and Recreation Area are 3 hours drive east of Berkeley on I-80 (North Lake Tahoe) or US-50 (South Lake Tahoe).

Yosemite National Park is only a five hour drive away.