Lecture Halls

Courses will take place in room 2.A.10 (exceptions will be announced during the School). Room 2.A.1 can be used for private studies. The computer room is 0.B.04 (available to participants during opening hours of the building). There will be a short introduction to the use of computers in this room on August 31 (changed date!), 14.00 (during the first few minutes of Prof. Westermann's course in this room).

Lecturers will have available room 2.A.25 for their work (no computers there but network connections).

You will find rooms 2.A.10, 2.A.1 and 2.A.25 on the second floor and room 0.B.04 in the basement A.10, A.01, A.25 on "2. Obergeschoss", B.04 on "Erdgeschoss". Note that there is a connecting stairwell between the lecture halls and the computer room.

Warning: The building will be closed at 18.30. You will be able to get out after that time, but not in. Our super clever locking system will also lock most doors in the corridors at that time, so do not wander around aimlessly or else you will find yourself locked out somewhere in the building.

Reception Desk

The reception desk is next to the lecture hall 2.A.10 on the second floor and will be open from 08.15 to 10.00 on the first day and during lunch breaks thereafter. Follow signposts from the main entrance.

The desk will also be open on the last day of the Fall School from 14.00 to ca. 18.00. You are asked to return your badge to our staff at the desk. You will get, in exchange, a list of participants as well as a Certificate of Participation and Proofs of Credit for the courses that you completed successfully.

Computers and Internet; Copiers; Electric Devices

Registered participants have been given, in a separate mail, instructions on how to get a password for the local WLan. If you missed it, please contact the organisers. It is important that you read these instructions before coming to Zurich. If your university participates in the Eduroam programme you can use VPN and your home user name and password to get Internet access.

You will have access to computers (Macs) in the designated computer room (see above) during opening hours of the building (and, once you are inside, beyond). Please note: Everything (and that means: everything) you store on these machines will be deleted once you log out (or the system logs you out, due to inactivity). Store your stuff (programs, data, texts, ...) regularly on a USB stick (not provided by us!) or, better still, use the USB stick as your primary storage device.

Copiers are available in the library (ground floor), during opening hours (9.00-17.00). Copy cards can be purchased at the counter in the library.

If you bring with you any electric devices (laptop chargers etc.) please be aware that you might need an adapter for your power plug; two-pole Europlugs will work without adapter, but the German Schuko plugs will not fit (see here).

Local Geography

That's what the local geography looks like as a post card:

If you turn around, though, Zurich looks rather different (source: www.primetower.ch):

On the following map ("Relevant Locations") you will see the rough locations of (1) the Institute of Computational Linguistics, (2) the airport, (3) the Main Train Station, and (4) the Youth Hostel:

Here is a print-friendly description of how to get to and from these locations:

Visa information

Switzerland is part of the Schengen area. If you need a visa, see the information on visa on the Website of the Swiss embassy or consulate responsible for your country.

Getting to Zurich

Zurich is well-connected and can be reached conveniently by rail, road, and air. By train you will arrive at "Hauptbahnhof Zürich" (Main Station), by plane at Zurich Airport (ZRH). If you arrive by car the description here might be useful (we share a building with the Department of Informatics).

Getting to the Institute of Computational Linguistics

First, a word of warning: Taxis in Zurich are very expensive, and those operating from the airport are unaffordable. Use public transport whenever possible.  Zurich has an efficient public transport system and the workshop location can easily be reached by public transport from Zurich Main Station (Zürich HB) and the airport (Flughafen Zürich).

If you arrive at the airport: The easiest way to get to the Fall School venue is to take the tram (line 10, direction “Zürich HB”).  Simply follow the signs saying “Tram.”  There are ticket machines and a change machine for euros right outside when you exit the airport (plus one ticket machine in the baggage reclaiming hall).  Buy a ticket to “Zürich” (note that the airport is in a different zone than the city of Zurich; see also below).

If you arrive by train at Zurich Main Station (Zürich HB), we also recommend to take the tram, either line 10 (direction “Flughafen”) or line 14 (direction “Seebach”).

The tram stops closest to the Fall School venue are “Leutschenbach” (served by line 10) and “Bahnhof Oerlikon Ost” (served by lines 10 and 14).  Tram stops are indicated in this map. 

If you see this you made it:

For further information on public transportation please see the following section

Getting around in Zurich

A very useful page on Zurich in general with a short passage on public transport is Public Transport in Zurich.

A slightly dated yet detailed page on public transport (several dead links!) is Getting Around in Zürich.

As most everything in Switzerland, public transport is not exactly cheap. For travelling in Zurich we recommend Multiple-journey tickets (i.e. "Mehrfahrtenkarte", not Mutliple Day Pass, i.e. "Tageswahlkarte"), 6 single journeys on one ticket, zone 10, 2nd class, for (at pixel time) CHF 22.20 (or CHF 16.00 if your are up to 25 years of age). Paying each trip individually will cost you a lot more. Trips from and to the airport cost more (it's two zones: 21 and 10) and you will have to buy an individual ticket each way (not a return ticket as those are valid 24 hours only).

Note that you can use a ticket that is valid for a given zone (or zones) for all types of public transport in this zone (zones): Bus, tram, train, or even boat. No need to buy different types of tickets for different types of vehicles! Whenever you see this sign on a vehicle

it is part of this integrated system of public transport.

It will be best to buy tickets right after your arrival, preferably from one of the (multilingual) touch screen ticket machines at the main train station (under the large electronic advertisment board hovering over the main entrance) or at the airport (in the baggage reclaiming hall, next to baggage belt nr. 21), if you manage to operate them (slightly non-trivial). They accept banknotes and coins as well as most major credit cards. Alternatively, buy tickets from the "Ticketeria" in the Main Train Station (if you can find it on this plan. Hint: It's number 111 on the "Zwischengeschoss" on the right hand side of the plan). There are also ticket machines at the train station next to the Institute of Computational Linguistics (i.e. Bahnhof Oerlikon).

You will have to stamp the tickets each time before (!) you use a tram/bus/train. Zone 10 tickets are valid one hour. Skipping fares is not recommended (if they catch you it gets real expensive).

Currencies and Money

The currency of Switzerland is the Swiss Franc.

Keep in mind: You can pay many, but not all, things in Switzerland with Euros. If you pay with Euros expect a rather unfavourable (to you) exchange rate. Therefore: Buy some Swiss Francs at home to get you started, and change the bulk when in Switzerland (airport, Main Station, Bahnhof Oerlikon, most post offices for Euros).

Eating and Shopping

During the short breaks there will be coffee, tea, and cookies etc. offered near the lecture hall

During the lunch break you may use the university restaurant ("Mensa") in the building where the Fall School takes place. If you wear your Fall School badge you get a reduction on the price (and pay CHF 7.00 for a standard meal). If you don't like the food you may venture outside the building. There are a few food outlets in the immediate vicinity but nothing really to write home about. There is more choice around Bahnhof Oerlikon (see just below). The cheapest way to survive is to buy sandwiches etc. at the Coop supermarkets here: 

There is a number of restaurants, shops, supermarkets, ATMs, and a Post Office around Bahnhof Oerlikon. See static overview here

and an interactive Map.

Extra-Curricular Activities

As mentioned elsewhere there will be a day trip to the Rigi Mountain on Saturday (September 3). We recommend that you register for this trip (heavily subsidised by us) and see this:

Zurich has become, somewhat miraculously, one of the trendier locations in Europe. The following links may be helpful in this respect.

For outings in the evening, the immediate surroundings of the institute are not suitable for entertainment purposes (to put it mildly). Go to the centre of town (Old Town and lakeside), Langstrasse, or Zurich West (if you must).

You may want to consult out and about in zurich, eGuide Zurich Wikitravel, and the links given on the page "Useful Links and Addresses"

Read even more about museums, shopping, nightlife (again!) and the history of Zurich.

Zurich is comparatively safe but if you really want to you can get yourself being pickpocketed, beaten up, or both (the latter mainly in Zurich West)