International Conference on Semigroups and Applications

14th-18th September 2026, University of Manchester, UK
Celebrating the 65th birthday of Professor Victoria Gould

Venue

The conference took place on the main Oxford Road campus of the University of Manchester, which is on the southern edge of Manchester city centre. Talks were in the Chemistry Building, with registration and coffee breaks in the Roscoe Building and lunches in the Alan Turing Building. Click here to see a map of the conference locations (and some restaurant recommendations).

Getting to Manchester

From the UK. The University is 20 minutes walk (or 10 minutes by taxi or bus number 147) from Manchester Piccadilly railway station, which is the main terminus for trains from the south. Manchester Oxford Road station is even more convenient for the University, but has trains to fewer places. Some trains from the north arrive at Manchester Victoria, which is on the other side of the city centre and can be accessed by a longer walk, a taxi or bus number 41. Long-distance buses to Manchester are operated by National Express, FlixBus and Megabus, and drop off in various locations around the city centre. Driving into Manchester is not recommended, but if you do need to bring a car then your hotel may offer parking or (expensive) parking is available on campus in the Aquatics Centre Car Park.

From Overseas (by Land/Sea). From continental Europe you can use the Eurostar (channel tunnel train) from Brussels, Paris, Lille, Rotterdam or Amsterdam to London; you then have to change stations in London but it is a well-signposted 15-minute walk or a short metro ride, and then a 2-hour train ride to Manchester Piccadilly. Interrail is often the cheapest ticket option, although there is a supplement for the Eurostar trains. We also recommend the overnight North Sea ferries from Rotterdam to Hull; they are very comfortable and there are regular direct trains from Hull to Manchester. Channel ferries (e.g. Dover-Calais) are cheaper and faster, but it is quite a complicated journey from the south coast to Manchester.

From Overseas (by Air). It is usually best to arrive at Manchester Airport (MAN), which has direct flights across Europe and to major hubs worldwide. From the airport you can take a train to the city centre, bus number 43 directly to the University, or a taxi anywhere. Liverpool (LPL) and Birmingham (BHX) airports also have reasonable train or bus links to Manchester. Ground transportation from London airports is possible but can be expensive and/or time-consuming; train connections are usually fastest but long-distance buses are cheaper.

Please feel free to contact the organisers with any travel queries.

Accommodation

Manchester has many hotels, but rooms can be in short supply and subject to surge pricing during major events, so early booking is advised. Any hotel in the southern half of the city centre should be within walking distance from the University; from the northern part of the city centre or the suburbs you may need to take a bus. Here are some that past visitors have used:

Unless otherwise stated these are all between campus and the city centre, and fairly convenient for everything. Note that many of the above are chains which have other hotels in Manchester, so be careful to check the location of the exact hotel you are booking.

Practical Tips for Manchester

Orientation. Your main point of reference and walking (or bus) route is likely to be the Oxford Road (called Oxford Street at the northern end), which connects the University (at the south) to St Peter's Square (at the north). The latter is the civic centre of the city, with historic buildings such as the Town Hall, Midland Hotel (where we will have the conference dinner) and Central Library; many of the other hotels are in this area, and restaurants and bars are also plentiful. The main shopping district is a further kilometre to the north-east, around Piccadilly Gardens and Market Street. East of St Peter's Square is Manchester's China Town (with some excellent restaurants) and then the Gay Village (with some particularly LGBTQ+-friendly bars). The skyscraper district prominent in the view to the west is mostly residential.

Safety. Manchester is not especially dangerous but is a major city, with the usual risks that entails, so please take care. It is safest to avoid carrying or wearing anything obviously valuable. At night, especially if on your own, it is best to avoid quiet side streets and to use the Oxford Road (which is always busy) for walking between the university area and the centre. The shopping district (especially Piccadilly Gardens) is prone to petty crime; it is safe during the day with a bit of care but may be best avoided at night. As anywhere, the biggest danger is road traffic; the UK drives on the left but Manchester has many one-way streets, so traffic could be coming from either direction! Also be aware of bicycles (a minority of which are ridden very inconsiderately) and trams (which operate on otherwise pedestrianised streets).

Public Tranport.To use Manchester buses, if you have a contactless debit or credit card simply tap in on the pad by the driver when boarding and it will charge you £2 for an hour's use capped at £5 for the day or £20 for the Monday-Sunday week; there is no need to tell the driver your destination, and no need to tap out when disembarking. The Bee Network app is useful for journey planning. Be aware that buses with destination "Piccadilly" usually go to Piccadilly Gardens, which is a 10-minute walk from Piccadilly Station; the only bus directly to the station is the 147. Your contactless travel history can be accessed here if you need it for an expense claim. If you don't have a contactless card, you can ask the driver for a single, a day ticket or a week ticket and pay with cash. For trams you can also pay contactless on a similar basis, but you have to tap in and out on the platform; boarding without tapping in results in a fine, and failing to tap out in a high maximum fare charge. Alternatively you can buy tickets from machines on the platform. For trains you need to buy a ticket before travelling, from a ticket office or machine or one of the many train company apps.

Taxis. There are two types of licensed taxi, and Uber also operates. "Black cabs" usually look like the archetypal London taxi (although not necessarily black!) and are allowed to wait at official taxi ranks and to pick up passengers who flag them down in the street; they are quite expensive but very reliable. Minicabs are usually regular cars with a taxi sign on top, and are only allowed to pick up passengers who have prebooked. There are occasional problems with unlicensed taxis, so for safety we recommend using the taxi ranks at the major stations, asking your hotel to call a reputable taxi, or using Uber. All taxis should have a taxi number plate on the back next to the normal registration plate, and clearly display photographic driver ID inside.

Payments. Visa and Mastercard credit and debit cards are accepted virtually everywhere, and most people pay contactless for most things. Some Manchester bars and restaurants now only accept payment by card, so if you need to pay cash then check before ordering. A very small number of places in the city (and rather more if you venture out into the surrounding countryside) still require cash, either for everything or for very small purchases. The UK custom is to tip around 10% in establishments where somebody takes your order at the table, unless a service charge is included in the bill in which case no tip is expected. Tipping is not generally expected if you order and pay standing up (as in a pub or coffee shop); some payment machines have recently started offering an option to tip even in these venues but it is entirely acceptable to select 0%. Taxi drivers expect you to round up to the next pound, and perhaps add around 10% for longer journeys or particularly good service.

Weather

Manchester's climate is (famously) moist temperate. Typical September temperatures range from around +5℃ at night to +20℃ in the day, with possible extremes about 10 degrees hotter or colder than this. The weather can change rapidly, so a lightweight raincoat is handy even on an ostensibly sunny day; umbrellas are less useful because rain is often accompanied by wind.

Tourism

Manchester was the world's first major industrial city, and has arguable claims to be the birthplace of technology such as passenger rail transport, nuclear physics and the computer, as well as social movements including socialism, communism, trades unionism and the cooperative movement. Today it is the largest city in Northern England, internationally renowned for sport, live music and nightlife and also a major centre of media, commerce, education and research. Attractions are too numerous to list, but highlights include:

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