NANOGrav's Fall 2023 Collaboration Meeting

The meeting will take place Wednesday - Friday (October 18-20) within the normal business hours of the Pacific Time Zone. This meeting will be a hybrid meeting where attendees can attend in person or via Zoom during our recorded science talks, invited guest speaker presentations, and panels.

The main meeting sessions will be hosted by the University of British Columbia's Department of Physics and Astronomy and held at UBC's Hillel House (6145 Student Union Blvd, Vancouver, BC V6T 1Z1, Canada), centrally located within the Vancouver campus of UBC, which is about 7-miles away from the Downtown area.

Conference Schedule

NANOGrav's Student Introductory Workshop

From Monday - Tuesday (October 16th - 17th), the University of British Columbia will be hosting both the traditional Student Introductory Workshop. The workshop will take place from 9:00 AM till 12:00 PM PST at the Irving K. Barber Learning Centre's (IBLC) Room 157. There will then be a lunch break held together with the CHIME-o-Grav Hack Days in Hennings Hall Room 318. Then, the workshop will resume from 1:00 PM till 5:00 PM PST at the West Mall Swing Space's (SWNG) Room 410.

CHIME-o-Grav Hack Days

Held in parallel to the Student Introductory Workshop, UBC will also be hosting the "CHIME-o-Grav Hack Days," which will be dedicated to data combination efforts with our partners at CHIME. This will held in Hennings Hall Room 318 and take place from 9:00 AM till 5:00 PM PST, with a break at 12:00 PM PST for a joint lunch.

Main Conference

The conference will consist of three days, featuring talks from collaboration members as well as discussion sessions and an invited DEI speaker. As with previous meetings, the proceedings will conclude by 12:00 PM PST on Friday, October 20th to accommodate travel arrangements for in-person attendees. The Hillel House at UBC will host our primary meeting on their second floor, 2000 sq. ft. conference space with flanking floor-to-ceiling windows.

A draft schedule of the meeting in full is available here.

Catering & Banquet

In order to ease the burden on our guests, the meeting will be fully catered by the Nest @ UBC. Each day will feature a simple breakfast fare with coffee and tea. On Monday - Thursday, a choice of prepared lunches consisting of a salad and sandwiches / wraps with a rotating set of options will be provided. Finally, an afternoon coffee break with lite fare will be available during the poster sessions.

There will be a Conference Banquet for all in-person attendees on Wednesday evening held at Steamworks Brewing Company's Über Lounge (375 Water St, Vancouver, BC V6B 1B8, Canada). The event will start at 7:00 PM PST and feature a catered buffet dinner and cash bar. Optional dishes will be provided for those with specific dietary restrictions.

You can preview our draft conference menu here.

Travel Information

This conference is being hosted by the University of British Columbia in Canada. As such, there are additional things to consider when traveling across the boarder. The University has a helpful guide for things to keep in mind when traveling to its campus, located here.

Most folks will be flying in via Vancouver International Airport, located south of the conference's campus. The airport is a roughly 22 minutes away by car and 55 minutes by public transit.

Vancouver has an expansive public transportation network, which can be explored here. Additionally, there are numerous bike-share programs throughout the UBC campus and the city. You can learn more here.

Getting to UBC from YVR airport:

1. A taxi will cost a flat rate of $35 plus tip and take close to 30 minutes depending on traffic.
2. Transit is a great option.  Take the Skytrain Canada Line from the airport to Broadway/City Hall station, cross both Broadway and Cambie to the Northwest corner, and get on the 99 bus to UBC.  The Western Parkway/Wesbrook Mall stop is closest to TRIUMF House (turn left and walk a few blocks along Wesbrook Mall) and the last stop, at the bus loop, is closest to West Coast Suites and Gage.

Getting to UBC from downtown:

1. Take the 44 Southbound along Burrard and stay on until the very end at the UBC bus loop.
2. Take the 10 or 16 Southbound along Granville, get off at Broadway, cross to the NW corner of Broadway and Granville, then take the 99 to the UBC bus loop.
3. Take the Skytrain Canada Line to Broadway/City Hall, cross both Broadway and Cambie to the Northwest corner, and get on the 99 bus to UBC.

All public transit is wheelchair accessible. Note that there is extensive construction along Broadway between Commercial and Arbutus in order to extend the Skytrain to  Arbutus (and hopefully one day all the way to UBC) so the 99 bus will be in slow traffic for part of its journey.

Hotel Information

A block of rooms is being reserved at two hotels downtown, the Parker Hotel (1379 Howe Street, Vancouver, BC V6Z 2R5) and the EXChange Hotel (475 Howe Street, Vancouver, BC, V6C 2B3). Both hotels have a set of 15 single bed and 15 double bed rooms available.

Reservations at the Parker Hotel are $299 CAD / Night (+20.675% tax) for a total of $268.94 USD / Night. In order to reserve your room, please call 1.800.570.3932 or locally 1.604.688.7678 and mention that this is for the "UBC Science (Physics & Astronomy)" group block.

Reservations at the EXChange Hotel are $329 CAD / Night (+20.675% tax) for a total of $295.92 USD / Night. In order to reserve your room, please call 1.833.381.7623 and mention that this is for the "UBC Science (Physics & Astronomy)" group block.

Both hotel blocks will be released from reservation on September 22nd, 2023.

For those interested in staying on campus, there are some professional lodging options. While things are quite limited due to the time of year, we recommend either West Coast Suites or the Gage Suites. Both have attached kitchens and are idea for shared boarding via the double suites.

Scientific Organizing Committee

Local Organizing Committee

Registered Attendees