Eighth Annual Workshop on Geometry and Graphs
Jan 31–Feb 7, 2020
Bellairs Research Institute, Holetown, Barbados
Publications
The following publications resulted from this workshop:
  1. Vida Dujmović, Louis Esperet, Cyril Gavoille, Gwenaël Joret, Piotr Micek, and Pat Morin. Adjacency labelling for planar graphs (and beyond). To appear at FOCS 2020. [arxiv:2003.04280]
  2. Anil Maheshwari, Wolfgang Mulzer, and Michiel Smid. A simple randomized $O(n\log n)$-time closest-pair algorithm in doubling metrics. [arxiv:2003.04280]
  3. Pat Morin. A fast algorithm for the product structure of planar graphs. [arxiv:2004.02530]
  4. Gwenaël Joret, Piotr Micek, Bruce Reed, and Michiel Smid. Tight Bounds on The Clique Chromatic Number. [arxiv:2006.11353]
Overview
At this workshop, a group of 35–40 researchers will work on open problems at the intersection of graph theory and geometry.
Organizers
The organizers are Prosenjit Bose, Vida Dujmović, Stefan Langerman, Pat Morin, and David Wood.
Program
After a welcome dinner on Friday January 31st, the technical program will begin at 9:00 on Saturday with an open problems session at which every attendee is encouraged to present an open problem. Following this, each day will consist of work sessions in the mornings from 9:00–12:00 and the evenings 19:00–22:00. Afternoons are reserved for breakaway sessions. A special plenary lecture by Pavel Valtr titled Long Alternating Paths Exist will be presented on Monday afternoon at 16:30. The workshop ends with a wrap-up session on Thursday evening.
Food
Dinner is provided and is served promptly at 18:15 every evening. Simple breakfast foods, including cereals, cheese, breads, and spreads, will be provided and will be available in the communal fridge. Participants are left to their own devices for lunch and may try the local restaurants or prepare their own lunch, using the kitchen, with food purchased from the nearby grocery store. Participants should alert the organizers if they have any special dietary restrictions.
Location
About Barbados
Barbados is safe.

US currency can be used at the rate of two Barbados dollars for one US dollar. There are plenty of ATM machines all over the island (including in the departure area of the airport) that have access to the major banks in North America. All major US and Canadian bank cards work fine.

Bring mosquito repellant. There are (infrequent) outbreaks of dengue fever and (more recently) chikungunya, so check ahead of time. In the recent past, neither has been a problem.

More recently, there have been reported Zika virus infections. Zika infections are usually mild, but are linked to birth defects (microcephalitis). Women who are pregnant or may become pregnant within the next six months and men who may impregnate a woman in the next six months should be aware of the risks.

For up-to-date information about security and health in Barbados, consult the Government of Canada Barbados Travel Advisories.

There are computers on campus with access to the internet. Bellairs is fully covered by a wireless network called Bellairs or Bellair's. The SSID and password for this network will be provided to participants in a welcome email.

Accomodation
The accommodation is basic but very charming. The rates vary per room and differ for basic rooms, newer apartments, and rooms in Seabourne House. There may be an additional fee for single occupancy of a room. The organizers will assign the rooms. Keep in mind that the institute is near-capacity, so we have very little freedom in the room assignments.

Food is not included in the room rates.

Finally, this document (PDF) contains a description of the house rules of the Institute.

Confirmed Participants
Previous Workshops
Here are the web pages for the First, Second, Third, Fourth, Fifth, Sixth, and Seventh Workshops.