The Netherlands

The city of Groningen is the location of the ISCOMS. This city lies in the northern part of the Netherlands, also known as Holland. The city is proudly known to be a "student city" and is therefore a perfect location for a student conference.

---

Groningen

With 180,000 inhabitants Groningen is the economical and cultural capital of the northern Netherlands. The city boasts with a large academic hospital, the UMCG, where the ISCOMS will take place. It also has several theatres and museums, many art galleries, bookshops and an excellent range of markets, shops and restaurants withfoods from all over the world. Groningen is a culturally diverse city that has hosted many musical and theatrical events.
Groningen is also industrially successful; it has the largest natural gas field in Western Europe and one of the largest worldwide. It has the world's largest sugar factory and one of the Netherlands' largest shipbuilding centers.

Moreover Groningen is also renowned for being the most bicycle-friendly city in the Netherlands. The suburbs are connected to the city by special bicycle routes. Secure bicycle parking facilities are available everywhere, and it is a priority of the city council's environmental policy to free up the city centre for pedestrians, cyclists and public transport.

Another remarkable characteristic of Groningen is its relatively young population. One out of every five people in the city is a student, and more than half the population is younger than 35 years old! This has resulted in a wide range of restaurants, bars, sporting activities, culture and recreation at reasonable prices.
Click here to learn more about Groningen.

---

The Netherlands

The Netherlands is a very small but densely populated country: more than 16 million people live at about 41.000 km2! The Netherlands is geographically located north of Belgium and west of Germany, and on the northwest it borders the North Sea, which gives the country a wonderfull and broad shore. Sixty percent of the population lives in the western side of the country, around the flourishing capital Amsterdam, this is also called the Randstad conurbation.

The Netherlands has a rich culture. The Dutch are not just the stereotypical clog-wearing, tulip harvesting, windmill builders which comes to many people's mind when hearing "Dutch". Throughout the years the Dutch have grown to become an incredibly modern and international community. However, to fully describe the Dutch culture in words is almost impossible, seeing and meeting the Dutch is of course the best way of getting to know the culture, which is of course another reason to attend ISCOMS.
One thing can definitely be said about the Dutch: they're very friendly and willing to help and we hope to do our best to keep this image true to you before and during the conference.

More about the Netherlands can be found on: www.holland.com.

---

Language

The spoken language in the Netherlands is Dutch. Although most of the Dutch speak English, knowledge of some basic Dutch can never go amiss! Of course the spoken language at the conference is English, so for the ISCOMS comprehension of English, as opposed to Dutch, is essential.