CIMPA/TÜBİTAK/GSU Summer School

Algebraic Geometry and Number Theory

2-13 June 2014

Galatasaray University, İstanbul, Turkey

Objectives

Scientific Committee

• Olivier Debarre (Ecole normale supérieure, Paris, France)
• Fouad Elzein (IMJ, Paris, France)
• Monique Lejeune (University of Versailles, France)
• Kamal Khuri-Makdisi (LSMS, Beirut, Lebanon)
• Rahim Zaare Nahandi (University of Tehran, Iran)
• Chris Peters (Université de Grenoble, Institut Fourier, France)
• Christophe Soulé (IHÉS, France)
• Loring Tu (Tufts University, Medford, USA)
• A. Muhammed Uludağ (Galatasaray University, İstanbul, Turkey)

Organizing Committee

• Hakan Ayral (Galatasaray University, İstanbul)
• Merve Durmuş (Yeditepe University, İstanbul)
• Hussein Mourtada (Université de Paris VII, Paris)
• İrem Portakal (Galatasaray University, İstanbul)
• İsmail Sağlam (Koç University, Istanbul)
  
• Celal Cem Sarıoğlu (Dokuz Eylül University, İzmir)
• Ayberk Zeytin (Galatasaray University, İstanbul)

Speakers

• Kazım Büyükboduk (Koç University, Istanbul)
• İzzet Coşkun (University of Illinois, Chicago)
• Olivier Debarre (Ecole Normale Supérieure, Paris, France)
• Sabir M. Gusein-Zade (Moscow State University, Moscow)
• Gerard Freixas i Montplet (Institut de Mathématiques de Jussieu, Paris)
• Rahim Zaare Nahandi (University of Tehran, Iran)
• Chris Peters (Université de Grenoble, Institut Fourier, France)
• Damian Rössler (Institut de Mathématiques de Toulouse)(canceled)
• Christophe Soulé (IHÉS, France)
• Loring W. Tu (Tufts University, Medford, USA)
• Sinan Ünver (Koç University, Istanbul)

Lectures

The students should study the prerequisites before the summer school. Since the lectures are very condensed, it may be helpful for the students to study also the references for the lectures ahead of time.

• Rahim Zaare Nahandi (University of Tehran, Iran)

A Brief Introduction to Computational Commutative Algebra
The role of computational methods in algebraic geometry may be compared with that of computers in dealing with problems in combinatorics. Computers opened up a tool to settle problems such as the four color problem which was inaccessible before. Likewise, the computer algebra systems have provided strong tools to handle questions in the field which would be inaccessible in the absence of this approach. Algebraic geometry, even in its abstract sense of scheme theory, is basically the study of ideals generated by polynomials over a field. The Gröbner Bases Theory, the main idea in computational methods, descends the study of polynomial ideals to the study of monomial ideals. The structure of monomial ideals have combinatorial nature and, in most cases, the original question on polynomial ideals, is much easier to handle for monomial ideals. Groebner Bases Theory has wast applications in several branches of mathematics and hence, it is important for working mathematicians to get familiar with this useful theory.
The aim of the course in this CIMPA program, is to introduce the main techniques in the subject, the so called Gröbner Basis. These include, monomial orders, Gröbner bases, the division algorithm, Buckberger criterion and Buchberger algorithm, comparisons of an ideal and its initial ideal in the ring of polynomials, elimination of variable, intersection of ideals (and, generic initial ideals if time permits). These topics could well be accompanied by problem sessions working with systems of computer algebra such as CoCoA and SINGULAR.
You can find the lecture notes here.
Prerequisites: The website of RISC is a very useful source the participants could visit: http://www.risc.jku.at/Groebner-Bases-Bibliography/. This website contains a list of several books and surveys on Groebner Bases which are certainly beyond this introductory course. However, a few chapters of the following books (or chapters on Groebner Bases) will be very helpful.
- An Introduction to Gröbner Bases (W. Adams, P. Loustaunau)
- An Introduction to Gröbner Bases (R. Froeberg)
- Commutative Algebra (D. Eisenbud)
- Computational Commutative Algebra 1 (M. Kreuzer, L. Robbiano)
- Gröbner Bases (T. Becker, V. Weispfenning, Heinz Kredel)
- Ideals, Varieties, and Algorithms (D. Cox, J. Little, D. O'Shea)
It is assumed that the participants are familiar with the use of polynomial ideals, operations on ideals, and quotient rings of the ring of polynomials in several variables.

• Olivier Debarre (Ecole Normale Supérieure, Paris, France)

On the geometry of subvarieties of low degree in the complex projective space
The study of the geometry of subvarieties of the complex projective space defined by homogeneous equations of low degrees (and in particular, hypersurfaces, which are defined by one such equation) is a very classical subject. For example, the fact that a smooth cubic surface contains 27 lines was first discovered by Cayley in a 1869 memoir. In another direction, some of these varieties have long been known to be unirational (i.e., parametrizable in a generically finite-to-one fashion by a projective space of the same dimension), but it is only in the 1970s that they were proved not to be rational (i.e., parametrizable in a generically one-to-one fashion by a projective space of the same dimension). Still today, nobody knows any example of a smooth non rational cubic hypersurface of dimension 4. Nowadays, a lot of information has been gathered on this very rich circle of questions. I will illustrate this still very active domain of research by treating in some detail a few examples.
Prerequisites: TBA

• Loring W. Tu (Tufts University, Medford, USA)

Sheaf Cohomology
Since their introduction by Leray, Cartan, and Serre in the forties and fifties, sheaves and their cohomology have been an extremely useful tool in topology, complex analysis, and algebraic geometry. One can even say that they are indispensable in modern algebraic geometry. The purpose of this course is to introduce students to some of the powerful techniques in sheaf cohomology not usually taught in a standard course on algebraic geometry. We will discuss four types of cohomology theories---sheaf cohomology in terms of resolutions, Čech cohomology of a sheaf, hypercohomology of a complex of sheaves, and Čech cohomology of a complex of sheaves, the relations among them, and how to compute them using spectral sequences. As evidence of their power and versatility, we deduce the Dolbeault theorem, the classical (smooth) de Rham theorem, the analytic de Rham theorem, and as the pièce de résistance, Grothendieck's algebraic de Rham theorem.
Prerequisites: Manifolds and differential forms and the very basics of Algebraic geometry: affine and projective varieties, regular functions on varieties. References for the prerequisites:
Igor R. Shafarevich, Basic Algebraic Geometry, vol. 1, 2nd ed., Sections 1 through 4, pp. 1--52.
Loring W. Tu, An Introduction to Manifolds, second edition, Universitext, Springer, New York, 2011.
References for the lectures:
Loring W. Tu, Introduction to sheaves, 8 pages.
Fouad El Zein and Loring W. Tu, From sheaf cohomology to the algebraic de Rham theorem, Chapter 2, in Hodge Theory, Princeton University Press, 2014, pp. 69--121. Available at http://arxiv.org/abs/1302.5834

• Sabir M. Gusein-Zade (Moscow State University, Moscow, Russia)

Singular points of complex hypersurfaces
1. Singular points of complex hypersurfaces and critical points of holomorphic functions. Classifications of germs of holomorphic functions: right, right-left, Modality of a germ. List of simple (0-modal) germs.
2. Milnor fibre of a germ of a holomorphic function, Milnor fibration. Milnor Theorem about the homotopy type of the Milnor fibre of a germ with an isolated critical point. Milnor number of a germ of a holomorphic function. Classical monodromy transformation of a germ, monodromy group.
3. Deformations of germs of holomorphic functions, versal deformations. Miniversal deformation of a germ of a holomorphic function. Bifurcation diagrams of zeroes and functions of a singularity.
4. Resolution of a germ of a holomorphic function. Hironaka Theorem about the existence of a resolution. A'Campo formula for the Milnor number and the zeta-function of the classical monodromy transformation of a germ of a holomorphic function in terms of a resolution. Quasi-unipotency of the classical monodromy operator of a germ.
Prerequisites: TBA

• İzzet Coşkun (University of Illinois, Chicago, USA)

Birational Geometry of Moduli Spaces
I will discuss recent progress in understanding the birational geometry of several important moduli spaces, including the moduli spaces of curves, Kontsevich moduli spaces of stable maps and Hilbert schemes of points on the plane. After introducing the necessary background from birational geometry, I will discuss the cone of ample and effective divisors, the stable base locus decomposition of the effective cone and the corresponding birational models.
Prerequisites: TBA

• Christophe Soulé (IHÉS, France) and 
• Gerard Freixas i Montplet (Institut de Mathématiques de Jussieu, Paris)

Théorie d'Arakelov
Arakelov geometry is a combination of algebraic geometry of schemes and analytic complex geometry. Given a variety X over the integers, one studies hermitian vector bundles over X. Characteristic classes are defined for these, and a Riemann-Roch theorem is proved. Applications include equidistribution results of Galois orbits and computations of the periods of some CM motives.
Prerequisites: The lectures will cover generalities on arithmetic intersection theory and characteristic classes.
References:
- Chapters II, III and IV of "Lectures on Arakelov geometry" (Cambridge University Press) by Christophe Soulé. (Do not try to read in detail Chapter I, it is too technical.)
- "Principles of Algebraic geometry" by Griffiths and Harris. Chapter 0, sections 1,2,4,5,6, Chapter 1, section 1, and Chapter 3, sections 1,2,3 are especially relevant.

• Sinan Ünver (Koç University, Istanbul)

Arakelov Geometry on Arithmetic Surfaces
Arakelov Geometry is a way of completing the integers by introducing metrics at infinity so as to be able to define degrees of (metrized) line bundles on arithmetic schemes. In this series of talks I will try to explain the most basic situation in the case of arithmetic surfaces. The theory had applications in the proofs of the Tate and Mordell's conjectures and results on th eequidistributions of points on abelian varieties. If time permits I will try to give an overview of some of these results.
Prerequisites: TBA

• Chris Peters (Université de Grenoble, Institut Fourier, France)

Lectures on motivic aspects of Hodge theory
1) Introductory lectures on classical Hodge theory (Hodge decomposition, Lefschetz decomposition for cohomology of Kaehler manifolds). 2) Mixed Hodge theory and singular varieties. The motivic Hodge characteristic. 3) Mixed Hodge theory of degenerations. The motivic nearby fibre. 4) Possible further subjects: motivic Chern classes, periods and motives (work of Belkale and Brosnan), Chow-motives etc.
Prerequisites: The course of Loring Tu, some basic knowledge of algebraic topology: homology and cohomology (ring structure), definition and first properties of Hodge theory. This will also be recalled during the first lecture. No previous knowledge of mixed Hodge theory needed.
Useful to have around during the school for back-up material:
1. Carlson, Müller-Stach, Peters: Period mappings and period domain, Cambridge Univ. Press.
2. Griffiths & Harris, "Principles of Algebraic Geometry.”
3. Voisin: Hodge theory and complex algebraic geometry I, II. Cambridge Univ. Press.
My goal is to treat the first half of the lecture notes which can be found here


• Kazım Büyükboduk (Koç University, Istanbul)

Arithmetic of Abelian varieties and Iwasawa theory.
A theorem of Faltings says that that an abelian variety defined over a number field is determined (up to isogeny) by its $p$-adic Tate module (which is a free $\mathbb{Z}_p$-module of finite rank, on which the absolute Galois group acts), for any prime $p$. This is one way of realizing the central importance of Galois representations in Number Theory. It turns out that one can place these objects in $p$-adic families and study the variation of the arithmetic data they encode. This is essentially the main idea behind Iwasawa theory of Galois deformations. This approach has proved immensely useful and has lead to some of the most spectacular advances in Mathematics: Wiles' (and Taylor-Wiles') proof of the Taniyama-Shimura conjecture, Buzzard-Taylor's proof of the strong Artin conjecture for $GL_2$ over $\mathbb{Q}$, Taylor's proof of the Sato-Tate conjecture and Kisin's proof of Fontaine-Mazur conjecture for $GL_2$ has relied on the understanding deformations of Galois representations of various kind.

In this series of talks, I will discuss the following themes along these lines:
0- Examples of a variety of results proved using Galois deformations.
1- Gauss' conjecture on the ideal class groups of quadratic fields and the rather erratic "horizontal" behavior.
2- Galois deformations and the universal deformation ring.
3- Iwasawa's theorem on the behavior of the class groups along the cyclotomic tower and classical Iwasawa theory (= study of the universal deformations of characters).
4- Modular Galois representations, the eigencurve and the infinite fern of Gouvea-Mazur.
Prerequisites: 1- A solid understanding of the basic theory of elliptic curves might be very helpful, in the level of Silverman's book. At least familiarity with all the objects that appear in the statement of Birch and Swinnerton-Dyer conjecture would be helpful.
2- Mazur, Barry. Rational points of abelian varieties with values in towers of number fields. Invent. Math. 18 (1972), 183–266. [Just the introduction would provide a good motivation.]
3- http://www.math.washington.edu/~greenber/Park.ps [These are excellent introductory notes to "Iwasawa theory of Elliptic Curves"]

Program

	Monday	Tuesday	Wednesday	Thursday	Friday	Saturday
	02.06.14	03.06.14	04.06.14	05.06.14	06.06.14	07.06.14
10:00 – 11:00	Rahim Zaare Nahandi Introduction to Computational Commutative    Algebra	Sinan Ünver Arithmetic Schemes and Arakelov Theory	Loring Tu Sheaf Cohomology	Olivier Debarre Geometry of subvarieties	Christophe Soulé - Gerard Freixas i Montplet Arakelov theory	Sabir M. Gusein-Zade Singular points of complex hypersurface
11:00 – 11:30	Break	Break	Break	Break	Break	Break
11:30 – 12:30	Loring Tu Sheaf Cohomology	Loring Tu Sheaf Cohomology	Sinan Ünver Arithmetic Schemes and Arakelov Theory	Chris Peters Motivic Aspects of Hodge Theory	Olivier Debarre Geometry of subvarieties	Chris Peters Motivic Aspects of Hodge Theory
	LUNCH	LUNCH	LUNCH	LUNCH	LUNCH	LUNCH
14:00 – 15:00	Sinan Ünver Arithmetic Schemes and Arakelov Theory	Rahim Zaare Nahandi Introduction to Computational Commutative    Algebra	Rahim Zaare Nahandi Introduction to Computational Commutative    Algebra	Sabir M. Gusein-Zade Singular points of complex hypersurface	İzzet Coşkun Birational Geometry of Moduli Spaces	Sabir M. Gusein-Zade Singular points of complex hypersurface
15:00 – 15:30	Break	Break	Break	Break	Break	Break
15:30 – 16:20	Rahim Zaare Nahandi Introduction to Computational Commutative    Algebra	Kazım Büyükboduk Arithmetic of Abelian varieties and Iwasawa theory	Kazım Büyükboduk Arithmetic of Abelian varieties and Iwasawa theory	İzzet Coşkun Birational Geometry of Moduli Spaces	Sabir M. Gusein-Zade Singular points of complex hypersurface	Loring Tu Sheaf Cohomology
16:30 – 17:30	Afternoon Sessions	Afternoon Sessions	TBA	Afternoon Sessions	Afternoon Sessions	TBA

 

Application

The application is now closed for all participants.

Registration Fee

For non-local participants not supported by CIMPA, there will be a non-mandatory registration fee for the conference, to be paid directly to CIMPA, during the registration. For local participants there will be a fee of 50€ to be paid on arrival.

Help

When you need a help, please contact with the organizing committee.

Hotel Info

The official hotels of the workshop are Harem Hotel and Yeni Saray Hotel. (subject to change) In case you prefer a more comfortable stay, you may make your own hotel reservation, preferrably in the quarters of Galata, Cihangir, Beşiktaş, Ortaköy or Üsküdar.

• Harem Hotel (***)

  Address: Ambar Sokak, No:2 Selimiye 34668 Istanbul - TURKEY
  Phone: +90 (216) 310 68 00     Fax: +90 (216) 334 77 30
  web: http://www.haremhotel.com/en/     E-mail: info@haremhotel.com
  Room prices: TBA

  Harem hotel has 100 rooms. All of its rooms are equipped with satellite TV, individual air conditioner and central heating, WC, shower cabin, hair dryer, mini bar (stuff inside the mini bar is not included to room price), wi-fi, phone. Breakfast is an open buffet and its bar is 7/24 open and there is also a Laundry, meeting room, generator. In addition, there are a swimming pool, Turkish Bath and Sauna (steam room), and these are free. This hotel is near the Harem otogar and Harem-Sirkeci ferry port, and at 30 minutes walk-distance to Üsküdar. Between Harem hotel and Üsküdar either you can walk along seaside or take a dolmuş (or taxi). But if you have time, it is suggested to walk along seaside, near the maiden's tower you can give a tea break. To learn the location of Harem hotel and some other important places you can use this interactive googlemaps.

  How to go to Harem Hotel from Atatürk airport?: there are 3 or more ways:
  *  First and easist way, of course taking a taxi to Harem, it will cost ~80TRY (1,5 hour). Especially prefer this way after midnight, beacuse you may not find a ferry or a tram after midnight.
  *  Second way, get on a Metro at the Ataturk airport and change it to tram at Zeytinburnu. Get off from the tram at Sirkeci. Then get on a ferry from Sirkeci to Harem and cross the sea (To ceheck the Sirkeci-Harem ferry schedule, please click here). When you reach the Harem ferry port, on the top of hill you will see the Harem hotel, walk up to there.
  * Third, if you miss the Sirkeci tram station or in that hour if there is no ferry from Sirkeci to Harem, you can get on a ferry/boat either from Eminönü or Karaköy or Beşiktaş to Üsküdar. Then, get on a dolmuş from Üsküdar to Harem, and get of near the Harem Otogar, or take a taxi.
  * Fourth, get on a Metro at the Atatürk airport and change it to tram at Zeytinburnu. Get off from the tram at Sirkeci. Then change to Marmaray train which travels under the Bosphorus strait to Üsküdar. Then get on a dolmuş from Üsküdar to Harem and get of near the Harem Otogar, or take a taxi. You can find the detailed map of trams and metros here.

  How to go to Harem hotel from Sabiha Gökçen airport?: there are 2 ways:
  *  First and easist way, of course taking a taxi to Üsküdar, it will cost ~70TRY (1 hour).
  *  Second but cheapest way, havataş shuttles. Get on a havataş shuttle to Kadıköy (12 TRY, check the shuttle schedule from here), and then take a taxi to Harem (10 TRY).

  How to go to Galatasaray University from Harem hotel?
  First walk down up to main street, then get on a dolmuş to Üsküdar (if you are four people, you can take a taxi, it will totally cost cheaper than dolmuş's.) and get off at Üsküdar. Probably the driver will drop you before ferry port. Do not worry, just follow the crowd (If you have time, it is suggested to walk along the seaside to Üsküdar from the hotel (30 minutes), you will have great times). Get on a ferry/boat from Üskdar to Beşiktaş and cross the Bosphorus (you will really enjoy this trip). When you arrive to Beşiktaş, walk 15 minutes along Çırağan street (the main street parallel to the sea) in the direction of Ortaköy, then you will see the main entrance of the university on the right.

• Yeni Saray Hotel (**)

  Address: Selmanipak Caddesi, Çeşme Sokak, No:31, Üsküdar, Istanbul - TURKEY
  Phone: +90 (216) 553 07 77  /  334 34 85     Fax: +90 (216) 334 56 55
  web: http://www.yenisarayotel.com/english.index.html    E-mails: info@yenisarayotel.com / yenisarayhotel@yahoo.com
  Room prices: TBA

  Yeni Saray hotel has 39 rooms. All of its rooms are equipped with satellite TV, individual air conditioner and central heating, WC, shower cabin, hair dryer, mini refrigerator (drinks inside of the refrigerator is not included to room price), wi-fi, phone. There is a bar and Laundry. This hotel is at the center of Üsküdar, near the Kanaat Lokantası (Kanaat Restaurant) and at 5 minutes walk distance Üsküdar-Beşiktaş ferry port. To learn the location of Yeni Saray hotel and some other important places you can use this interactive googlemaps.

  How to go to Yeni Saray hotel from Atatürk airport?: there are 3 or more ways:
  *  First and easist way, of course taking a taxi to Üsküdar, it will cost ~80TRY (1,5 hour). Especially prefer this way after midnight, beacuse you may not find a ferry or a tram after midnight.
  *  Second but cheapest way, get on a Metro at the Ataturk airport and change it to Tram at Zeytinburnu. Get off from the tram at Eminönü. Then get on a ferry from Eminönü to Üsküdar and cross the sea (the last ferry is at 23:00, to check the winter-time schedule of the Eminönü-Üsküdar ferry, please click here). Then ask some one the Yenisaray Hotel (or its nextdoor the Kanaat Restraunt).
  * Third, if you are using Havaş shuttles, first you will come to Taksim, then either get on a bus or take a taxi to Beşiktaş, and then get on a ferry to Üsküdar (after midnight there is no ferry from Beşiktaş to Üsküdar).
  * Fourth, get on a Metro at the Atatürk airport and change it to tram at Zeytinburnu. Get off from the tram at Sirkeci. Then change to Marmaray train which travels under the Bosphorus strait to Üsküdar. You can find the detailed map of trams and metros here.

  How to go to Yeni Saray hotel from Sabiha Gökçen airport?: there are 2 ways:
  *  First and easist way, of course taking a taxi to Üsküdar, it will cost ~70TRY (1 hour).
  *  Second but cheapest way, havataş shuttles. Get on a havataş shuttle to Kadıköy (12 TRY, check the shuttle schedule from here), and then either get on a Kadıköy-Üsküdar bus (12a), or take a taxi. The last stop of the buss is at walk distance to hotel.

  How to go to Galatasaray University from Yeni Saray hotel? : First walk 5 minutes up to Üsküdar-Beşiktaş ferry port, there are private ferries near the park (they are more confortable, same price, and there is a ferry per 15 minutes). Get on a ferry from Üsküdar to Beşiktaş. When you arrive to Beşiktaş, walk 15 minutes along the Çırağan Street (the main street paralel to the sea) in the direction of Ortaköy, the main entrance of the university is on the right. You may practice this interactive googlemaps.

• La Maison(***):

  Address: Muvezzi Cad. No:63, 80700 Çırağan, Beşiktaş, İstanbul_TURKEY
  Phone: + 90 (212) 227 42 63     Fax: +90 (212) 258 87 29
  Web: http://www.lamaison.com.tr    E-Mail: mail@lamaison.com.tr
  Room prices: TBA

  La Maison hotel has 34 rooms. All of its rooms are equipped with satellite TV, individual air conditioner and central heating, WC, shower cabin, hair dryer, mini bar (stuff inside the mini bar is not included to room price), wi-fi, saffety box. There is a bar, laundry, meeting room, generator and Otopark.

  La Maison Hotel is at 20 minutes walk distance from the Galatasaray University. To learn how you can go to the La Maison hotel, please read the paragraph answering the question
  How to reach Galatasaray University? which is in the Useful info part of this page. Keep in mind that, Müvezzi street is near the 5-star luxiruous hotel, named Çırağan Hotel Kempinski which is a part of the Çırağan Palace, starts near from the bus stop and goes up (250 m) along the Yıldız Park. (At the beginning of the Müvezzi street, on the left side there is an old hotel, named Çırağan hotel, and on the right side there is a Yıldız park with high walls. If you saw these, you are on the right street.) If you walk 7-8 minutes along the Müvezzi street, on the top of hill you will see La Maison hotel. You may practice on this interactive googlemaps.

  If you are planning to stay at La Maison hotel, please make your own reservation from its webpage or contacting them via e-mail: mail@lamaison.com.tr. Since La maison hotel is quite confortable, it will be much more expensive comparing to the Harem Hotel and Yeni Saray hotel.

• SED Hotel (**)

  Address: Ömer Avni Mah. Besaret Sk. No:14 Ayaspaşa 80040 İstanbul - TURKEY
  Phone: +90 (212) 252 27 10  /   Fax: +90 (212) 252 42 74
  web: http://www.sedhotel.com/    E-mail: info@sedhotel.com
  Room prices: TBA

  SED hotel has 50 rooms. All of its rooms are equipped with satellite TV, individual air conditioner and central heating, WC, shower cabin, hair dryer, mini refrigerator (stuff inside the refrigerator is not included to room price), wi-fi, phone. There is a bar and Laundry. To learn the location of SED hotel and some other important places you can use this interactive googlemaps.

  If you take a taxi from Atatürk airport, give the adress to driver, Probably he knows the hotel. In any case keep in mind that this hotel closed to both of Kabataş tram station (if driver is near the kabataş) and AKM building and German consulate (if driver is near Taksim, this sketch will be useful).
  There is another way to SED hotel from Atatürk airport. Get on the Metro at airport and change to Tram at Zeytinburnu. The last stop of tram is Kabataş. Then ask some one the place of SED otel. Do not forget, after midnight there is no Metro and Tram. Third way, take a Havaş shuttle from airport to Taksim, and then either walk or take a taxi to SED hotel. You may practice on this interactive googlemaps.

Useful Info

• How to reach Galatasaray University?:

  Galatasaray University is 24 km away from the İSTANBUL ATATÜRK AIRPORT. Right in front of the exit door of the Ataturk International Airport, take the HAVATAŞ bus to TAKSİM (40 mn, 10 TRY) and get off at the last stop, TAKSIM SQUARE (for detailed information about HAVATAŞ buses please visit http://havatas.com/en/coach.aspx?i=1 ). Then either take a taxi (15mn, ~15 TRY), or take a bus and get off at the stop Galatasaray University. The number of busses are: 40 (Taksim - Sarıyer), 42T (Taksim - Bahçeköy), 40T (Taksim - İstinye - Dereiçi), DT1 (Taksim - Ortaköy Dereboyu), DT2 (Taksim - Ortaköy Dereboyu).

  Second possibility, from İstanbul Atatürk Airport to Galatasaray University is taking a taxi (45 mn, ~70 TRY).

  Finally, you may take the metro from İstanbul Atatürk Airport and change to tramway at the Zeytinburnu station. Get off at the last stop in Kabataş. From Kabatas taxi costs 8 TRY, there are also regular buses (get on the bus going to Ortaköy direction).

  If you are coming from Sabiha Gökçen Airport, take the HAVATAŞ bus to TAKSİM (~1.5 hr, 17 TRY) (for more detailed information, please visit http://havatas.com/en/coach.aspx?i=2 ).

  Keep in mind that, Atatürk Airport is more closer than Sabiha Gökçen Airport to the Galatasary University.

• Local Information:

  Galatasaray University is at 10-15 minutes by walk from both Beşiktaş and Ortaköy. If one wants to take a bus to University, he/she can take any bus working on the shore (for example, the number of busses from Kabataş: 22, 22RE, 25E; from Ortaköy: 40, 40T, 42T, DT1, DT2).

  The best way to reach Galatasaray University from Anatolian side of the city is to take a boat to Beşiktaş from Kadıköy or Üsküdar.

  For Metro, Tram, Ferry 9and Busses either you can use Akbil (1.95 TRY per trip, and you can charge your Akbil Card) or use tickets (1 ticket: 4 TRY, 2 ticket: 7 TRY, 3 ticket: 10 TRY, 5 ticket: 15 TRY, 10 ticket: 28 TRY).

• Time Schedule of IDO Ferries: http://sehirhatlari.com.tr/en
• Istanbul Rail Network Map
http://www.istanbul-ulasim.com.tr/media/8540/erisim_2200px_1546px-01.jpg
• Bank Services:

  In general Banks are open between 8:30 - 17:30 from Monday to Friday.

• Currency:

  he currency in Turkey is Turkish Lira (TRY). Actually 1 US $ = 1.95 TRY and 1 Euro = 2.60 TRY (August 20, 2013)

• Drinking Water:

  Although it is safe to drink tap water, it is recommended to buy bottled drink water which can be found almost everywhere at stores. There are several supermarkets in Beşiktaş which is 15 minutes on walk from GS University. You can safely brush your teeth with tap water.

• Electricity:

  The electricity supply is 220 V, 50 Hz, with the type of sockets which are standard in most European countries.

• Language:

  In Turkey the official language is Turkish. The Turkish language comes from Central Asian Languages Family and very different from the european languages. The Turkish alphabet is based on the latin alphabet. In general, in Istanbul many people talk English and you can easily communicate with other people. As İstanbul is a touristic city you can find many tourism offices.

• Phone Information:

  As it belongs to two continents in İstanbul there are two geographical regions : European and Asian sides. The local telephone code of European side is 212 and the one of the Asian side is 216. The national telephone code of Turkey is 90. All of the telephone numbers consist of 7 digits. For example telephone number of Galatasaray University is 2274480 and the code of the European side is 212. So if you want to call Galatasaray University from Asian side the number transforms into 0 212 2274480. If you want to call the same number from abroad it transforms into 00 90 212 2274480. There are prepayed telephone cards of Turkish Telecom specially designed for calling abroad.

• Shopping:

  Almost all of the shopping centers are open every day until 22:00 hours.

• Safety:

  Beware of dangerous and inconsiderate driving, especially when crossing roads. Even if you are on a pedestrian crossing, look carefully before crossing. Turkey is a comparatively safe country as far as crime is concerned, but it is best to take reasonable precautions against pickpockets in crowded areas.

• Time Zone:

  The time zone is 1 hour later from Central European Time Zone, 2 hours later from the Greenwich Mean Time.

• Visa information for foreigners (general):

  http://www.mfa.gov.tr/visa-information-for-foreigners.en.mfa"