On 11 and 12 May 2015, the Special Interest Group A2 (Ports and Maritime) of the World Conference on Transport Research Society (WCTRS), co-chaired by Prof. Eddy Van de Voorde (Department of Transport and Regional Economics - University of Antwerp / TransportNET) and Prof. Enrico Musso (Department of Quantitative Methods - University of Genova / TransportNET), will host a two-day international conference under the title ‘The Port and Maritime Sector: Key Developments and Challenges’. It will be held at the Department of Transport and Regional Economics, University of Antwerp, Belgium.

The draft conference program is now online.

The conference will be open to attendance by any interested academic or business responsible active or interested in the maritime and port field.

This conference is not just a conference, but has a number of specific features.

• A meeting between scientists and practitioners;
• Each half day of the conference will feature a thematic top keynote speaker, from academia as well as from the port and maritime industry;
• Stress on interdisciplinarity, i.e. all disciplines will be treated (engineering, economy, legal, mathematic,…);
• The subject is about theory and empiry, secondly derived products;
• New research areas and business opportunities will be dealt with.

Special features :

-          Free walking dinner buffet offered by Port of Antwerp 11 May 2015

-          Free technical visit to Port of Antwerp 13 May 2015

-          Conference fee fixed at €100

-          Free copy of new scientific book ‘Port Business: Market Challenges and Management Actions’ for all registered participants.

Conference participation amounts to €100 and will include access to all sessions, a technical visit, all public conference catering and library and other facilities.

More practical details on the conference will be communicated upon registration. Registration and payment are due before 30 April 2015!