Update, 24th August 2021

Germany is still affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. It is important to protect people from infections by the SARS-CoV-2 virus and to keep infection rates at a level that may be handled by the public health service. Similar to neighbouring countries like Poland or Czech Republic, the region of Halle suffered from high infection rates in winter 2020/21 but has now (as in summer 2020) an infection rate that is substantially lower than in other parts of Germany, see http://corona.rki.de/.

Taking into account the progress of vaccination campaigns, the University of Halle has offered some courses on-site since June 2021 (with strongly reduced capacity of all lecture rooms) and plans to return to a classical on-site schedule in October. Therefore, we may host NUMDIFF-16 with a reduced number of on-site participants at the university’s premises. Video live streams will support active participation of all those colleagues who may join us only remotely.

At the conference venue, NUMDIFF’s COVID-19 scout Nils will be your contact person concerning all aspects of COVID-19 related hygiene advices, health protection, test facilities etc. In case of emergency, Nils will be available 24/7 during the conference.

On arrival, all on-site participants will have to present a valid EU Digital COVID Certificate (or an equivalent document by UK or US authorities) for registration at the Conference office. This digital certificate that is also known as pass sanitaire or green pass in other European countries proves compliance with the German 3G scheme that stands for “geimpft - genesen - getestet” (vaccinated - recovered - tested). Participants who are not vaccinated and have not recovered recently from an infection with the SARS-CoV-2 virus may be asked to update once a day their test result (depending on local rules and infection rates). Free antigen tests are offered in medical test centers and selected pharmacies (valid for 24 hours, please contact the Conference office for an up-to-date list of local test facilities).

Participants from abroad will need the EU Digital COVID Certificate (or equivalent document) as well for travelling to Germany, see https://www.auswaertiges-amt.de/en/einreiseundaufenthalt/coronavirus for more detailed information (short summary).

Note, that persons who have visited in the last ten days a high-risk area (see https://www.rki.de/DE/Content/InfAZ/N/Neuartiges_Coronavirus/Risikogebiete_neu.html, updated frequently) must register at https://www.einreiseanmeldung.de/ before arriving in Germany and should submit an electronic certificate of vaccination or recovery (“geimpft - genesen”, 2G) to avoid measures of quarantine.

Please do not hesitate to contact the local organisers at numdiff@mathematik.uni-halle.de if you have any questions or need more detailed information on entry restrictions, testing and quarantine regulations in Germany.

Update, 22nd July 2021

You need to check the website https://www.einreiseanmeldung.de to find the current regulations and instructions concerning travelling from your country to Halle (frequently updated). Note, exemptions from the quarantine obligation exist, for instance, for persons who have been vaccinated or have recovered from infection.

An up-to-date list of countries with information on the designation of international risk areas can be found at https://www.rki.de/DE/Content/InfAZ/N/Neuartiges_Coronavirus/Risikogebiete_neu.html.

Update, 5th July 2021

As announced previously, the number of on-site participants is limited by local COVID-19 protection rules. We regret that new registrations for on-site participation are from now on only possible for plenary lecturers, mini-symposium organisers and invited speakers in the six mini-symposia.

We will be happy to welcome you remotely. Please make sure to register before August 1st (no registration fee).

Please note, that on arrival all on-site participants will have to present a valid EU Digital COVID Certificate (or an equivalent document by UK or US authorities) for registration at the Conference office. More general information on entry restrictions, testing and quarantine regulations in Germany is provided at the website of the German Federal Foreign Office.

Update, 18th June 2021

Today, the rules of the federal state of Saxony-Anhalt were updated and we are allowed, in principal, to host scientific conferences. On the other hand, the increasing number of infections with the Delta variant in several European hotspots shows the volatility of the current situation.

In an ongoing internal communication with the university management we are discussing details for getting permission to host NUMDIFF-16 at the premises of the university. That will take some more time - therefore, deadlines have been extended to August 1st.

The plan is to host a hybrid conference with a maximum of 65 participants onsite (which is about 50% of the number of participants at previous NUMDIFF conferences). Plenary lectures are planned to be presented on-site to max. 33 participants in a lecture room that hosted up to 200 people before the pandemic. A live stream of these plenary lectures is shown in another lecture room of the same size (again with max. 33 participants).

All other sessions (including the minisymposia) are planned with a maximum of three sessions in parallel.

Papers will be presented in the lecture rooms and recorded as live stream. There will be some plenary lectures as well as some contributions in minisymposia that will be presented remotely (again available as live stream).

All live streams will be available online to registered participants (without charging a fee).

On-site participants will enjoy coffee breaks and lunches in a way that will be compatible with COVID-19 protection rules. We are hoping to be able to offer some limited programme of social activities, but details cannot be fixed yet.

In case the pandemic situation worsens such that an on-site conference will not be possible, we will switch to a pure online format on short notice. The organisers strongly recommend to organise travel and accommodation such that cancellation fees are avoided in such situation.