As usual, the Union of Czech Mathematicians and Physicists and the Erwin Schroedinger Institute of Mathematical Physics in Vienna, together with other learned institutions, organize the Winter School GEOMETRY AND PHYSICS. The School will again take place in the Sumava hotel at the village Srni in the Sumava mountains (Bohemian Forest, Boehmerwald).

ORGANIZING COMMITTEE. Martin Cadek, Martin Markl, Peter Michor, Martin Panak, Jan Slovak (chairman), Vladimir Soucek, Jiri Vanzura.

TIME. January 17, 2009 (arrival) -- January 24, 2009 (departure)

PROGRAMME. As usual, there will be series of invited plenary lectures mainly in the morning programme of the conference. The Organizing Committee is pleased to announce that the following speakers have accepted the invitation to deliver series of plenary lectures:

Konstantin Zarembo (Uppsala) Spin chains and the AdS/CFT correspondence
Valentin Ovsienko (Lyon) Lie antialgebras
Claude Roger (Lyon) Gerstenhaber and BV algebras with cohomology, applications in geometry and field theory
E. Corrigan (Durham) Calogero-Moser integrable systems
Peter W. Michor (Vienna) Analysis and Geometry of Shape Spaces

LECTURES. The lectures at the School will be divided into invited (series of) lectures, lectures in sections, and communications in the poster form. Plenary lectures will have expository character and will be held mostly in the morning (9.00 -- 12.00 a. m.). Lectures in sections will consist of research reports, both in geometry and mathematical physics, and will take place in the afternoon (approximately 16.00 -- 18.00 p. m.). Posters will be devoted to the recent research work of the participants in geometry, topology and mathematical physics, not necessarily closely related to the main subjects of the School.

PROCEEDINGS. Contributions of all types will be published in the Proceedings of the Winter School which will appear as the volume 5 of Archivum mathematicum (Brno) at the end of the year 2009 (cf. one of earlier volumes). All contributions will be submitted to common review procedure.

CONDITIONS AND SURROUNDINGS. The School enjoys the tradition of a fruitful working atmosphere and the location is very well suited for such a scientific meeting. The village of Srni (850 m above sea level) lies in the central part of the Sumava Mountains near the border with Bavaria (Germany). There are (usually) excellent conditions for cross--country skiing in the immediate surroundings. As for downhill skiing, there is a little lift in the village and another one 8 km from Srni reached easily by car or by bus. The visitors of the hotel Sumava have also a free entry to the swimming pool in another nearby hotel.

ACCOMODATION AND BOARD. The accommodation will be reserved in the hotel Sumava at Srni, each room being for 2 (exceptionally for 1 or 3) persons and having a shower and WC. All participants are expected to have full board in the hotel restaurantand and they may enjoy a lot of facilities, including a free entry to the swimming pool in another nearby hotel. The first meal served will be supper on the day of arrival and the last one breakfast on the day of departure.

TRAVEL. Since bus and railway connections between Srni are rather inconvenient, there will be special buses from Prague to Srni and back for the participants of the School. The departure of the buses from Prague will be on January 17, 2009 (Saturday) at 4 p. m. from the building of the Faculty of Mathematics and Physics of Charles University in Sokolovska street 83, Praha 8, which is in a few steps distance from the underground station "Krizikova"of line B.
To get from the airport, take the bus No.100 to the terminal stop "Zlicin", change there to underground, the line B, and get out at the station "Krizikova". The bus No.100 is going with intervals 30 minutes, the whole journay takes less than an hour.
From the main railway station "Praha hlavni nadrazi", take the line C of the underground and change for the line B at the station "Florenc". The transport will take you about 20 minutes.
From the railway station "Praha Holesovice" take the line C of the underground, change for the line B at the station "Florenc". The transport will take you about 20 minutes.
The departure of the special buses from Srni is planned on Saturday January 24, 2009, at 9 a.m., and the arrival at Prague at about 1 p.m.
It is also possible to reach Srni by car, but please note that it may be difficult in the case of bad weather and that equipment for winter driving (e.g. snow--chains) may be needed in that case.

PHONES. For your convenience, there will be phone service on Saturday, January 17, 2009, from 8.00 to 16.00. The details will be announced in due time.
The phone number of the hotel Sumava in Srni (reception) is 376 599 222 and e-mail to the hotel Sumava is "sumava@hotely-srni.cz".

PAYMENTS. The total expenses of the stay at the School are supposed to be as follows:

Conference fee:	80 EURO
Accomodation and board:	270 EURO (in the case of a two-bed room)
	370 EURO (in the case of a single room)
Special bus:	20 EURO

The fees are to be paid by the participants in Srni upon arrival in cash. Unfortunately, we cannot accept credit cards.

The Organizing committee will do their best to meet your wishes concerning accomodation but the possibilities are rather limited because the nimber of those who are interested in participation is usually higher than the capacity of the hotel. So single rooms are likely to be an exception.

REGISTRATION. If you wish to participate in the School fill in kindly the registration form on this page below, not later than