Frequently Asked Questions
Venue
ICBS 2026 will take place from August 24 to August 29, 2026, at the main building of the University of Vienna (Universitätsring 1, 1010 Vienna).
Please note: Regular services to the city by rail do not operate. Alternative options include the CAT bus and Vienna Airport Lines buses. Railjet trains to Vienna Hauptbahnhof are also operating, but only at longer intervals.
Yes! The tap water in Vienna comes from vast alpine spring areas and is of very high quality. This excellent water supply is a key factor in Vienna’s exceptional quality of life, which is internationally renowned and has received multiple awards. More information about current water quality levels is available here. Water supply will be available in the University’s courtyard (Arkadenhof).
The venues, lecture halls, seminar rooms and PC rooms at the University of Vienna are largely accessible. Wherever the architecture permits, rooms can be reached via ramps, stair lifts and elevators. Guidance systems for visually impaired visitors, elevators with Braille and acoustic floor announcements, accessible restrooms and wheelchair spaces are also available in many parts of the building. If needed, a EUROkey can be borrowed from the building maintenance desk in the entrance hall of the University.
For further information, please see Accessibility – ICBS 2026.
We organize an ÖkoEvent. ÖkoEvent provides support for the environmentally friendly planning and promotion of events in Vienna. It is a label that can be applied to events meeting the ÖkoEvent criteria.
Free Wi-Fi is available throughout the venue. You will receive your individual access code in your congress bag. Should you have access to eduroam through your institutional email address, you can also use this Wi-Fi access.
No, unfortunately, this is not possible.
A copy shop where you can print documents and purchase office supplies is located directly in the main building of the University of Vienna: Lehrmittelstelle — Monday–Friday, 9:00 AM–5:00 PM. Please note that printing is available, but copying is not.
For copying services, you can visit die Kopie 09 – Vienna University — Monday–Friday, 9:00 AM–12:00 PM and 12:30 PM–5:30 PM.
Please note that the ICBS Registration Desk cannot print boarding passes. Your accommodation may be able to assist you.
If you have lost or found an item, please bring it to the ICBS Registration Desk.
Lockers, labelled Spinde, are available on the ground floor of the University building.
There is a quiet room near HS 2, and a microwave is available at the Hof 8 area on the same level, see both here.
On Sunday, registration will be open from 4:00 PM to 7:00 PM. The Registration Desk will be located immediately inside the main entrance of the University of Vienna (Universitätsring 1). You will receive your badge and can pick up your Congress materials there. Cold refreshments will be available in the Arkadenhof.
The regular opening hours of the Registration Desk are Monday to Saturday, from 8:00 AM to 7:00 PM. You will receive your badge (please wear it all the time) and can pick up your Congress materials there.
Last-minute registration is possible until 29 August, 7:00 PM, so that you can receive your conference badge. If you have an accepted paper but have inadvertently failed to register, please contact . Please note that we are unable to provide congress materials to participants who registered after 31 July.
“Students” are individuals who are enrolled in a bachelor’s, master’s, or doctoral program at the time of registration.
“Scientific guest participants” are individuals accompanying participants who are already registered. These individuals can register for the social program (cultural events, receptions).
Please note: Scientific guest participants will not be listed in the program and do not contribute scientifically to the congress.
Participants who are already registered will receive a link in their confirmation email, through which they can register a person as a “scientific guest participant”.
Conference participants of all categories are welcome to bring their children to the conference site and to the sessions free of charge. We have a quiet room available for any needs in caring for babies and toddlers. We cannot offer childcare onsite, but you can find helpful information for parents with children available on our website.
The registration fees cover participation in all scientific events of the congress, including access to bookstands, refreshments provided during breaks, free entry to the exhibition at the Papyrus Collection, the congress bag, and access to Wi-Fi at the venue. Receptions and cultural activities may require additional payment.
If you are registered, you can log in here with your registration account to book a hotel room from the hotel allotment provided by the University of Vienna.
Additionally, the Schottenstift Vienna offers a limited number of free rooms for nuns and monks.
Regular Congress registration is for the full week. Members of the general public and people from outside the field may obtain one day ticket for selected parts of the programme. Further information is available here.
The social and cultural program is published here. You can log in to your profile using the link provided in your registration confirmation email and sign up for the social program events of your choice.
Refunds of the registration fee are not possible at any time after registration and payment. We therefore recommend purchasing cancellation insurance.
To avoid issues and unnecessary costs, we recommend taking out congress cancellation insurance from Europäische Reiseversicherung. For more information, click here.
Registration
Program & Side Events
The online program will be updated once a day during the Congress. Please note that the printed program and the PDF version reflect the program as of 1 August and will not be updated thereafter.
The plenary session presentations are published in an open-access volume: https://www.vandenhoeck-ruprecht-verlage.com/themen-entdecken/geschichte/geschichte-des-mittelalters/60517/byzantium-beyond-byzantium. Abstracts are published in the online program and will soon be available in a PDF version, too.
The program is available at https://www.icbs2026.org/program/.
Presentations in Free Communications Sessions are allocated 10-12 minutes,
Plenary Papers 20 minutes. The speaking time in Round Tables and Thematic
Sessions is determined by the Convener(s).
Use your Congress registration credentials to register here. Please note that side events that no longer appear in the registration tool are fully booked. Unfortunately, no exceptions can be made for fully booked side events.
There are five coffee stations at the Congress venue: three in the Arkadenhof, one in the Festsaal area near the book exhibit, and one in Atrium 7 close to the seminar rooms. You can find them marked with the coffee symbol on the venue map. The coffee stations open at 10:00 AM. The first coffee break is from 11:45 AM to 12:30 PM, followed by the lunch break from 2:00 PM to 3:30 PM, and a final coffee break from 5:00 PM until 5:30 PM. Snacks will be provided during the coffee breaks at 11:45 AM and 5:00 PM. During the lunch break, no lunch or snacks will be served, but coffee will still be available at the coffee stations.
During the first break, we will offer Viennese Kipferl provided by our sponsor Ströck, as well as vegetarian and vegan tramezzini and wraps, and fresh fruit. During the 5:00 PM break, we will serve assorted pastries.
The Audimax Buffet, located close to the Audimax, offers a freshly prepared lunch menu every day from 12:30 PM to 3:30 PM. A main dish and a drink cost €9.50, and payment is made directly at the restaurant. Bowls are also available to take away and can be eaten on site, in the Arkadenhof or in nearby Votivpark. You can find the daily menu here. There are also plenty of restaurants, supermarkets, cafés around the University if you would like to explore other options.
ICBS 2026 is an ÖkoEvent, so we avoid bottled drinks and offer Vienna’s excellent tap water instead. Refill stations are available in the Arkadenhof and marked with the water tap symbol on the venue map. You can also refill your conference bottle, which you will receive upon registration, from any tap at the venue. Other drinks can be purchased at the Audimax Buffet or at nearby grocery stores.
Please don’t hesitate to contact any member of the Organizational team of the Congress (orange button on the name badge). For those who prefer to communicate outside the Congress organization, we have also made available a telephone service by an external Viennese organization. They can be reached by phone on all Congress days from 11:00 AM to 10:00 PM at +43 677 64 88 55 41 or by email at . Representatives will also be available in person in the Arkadenhof on Monday and Wednesday from 2:00 PM to 3:30 PM.
An official photographer will be present on Monday. Participants were asked for their consent during registration. If you do not want photos to be taken of you, please approach the photographer to not photograph you.
You can follow coverage of the Congress via the official AIEB accounts on Facebook, Instagram and Bluesky, using the hashtags #ICBS2026 and #ICBSVienna. The Congress will also be covered by the social media channels of the University of Vienna, the Austrian Academy of Sciences, and the Department of Byzantine Research (Byzanzforschung) at the Austrian Academy of Sciences.
Congress T-shirts will be available at the Registration Desk for €25, with payment by card.
Practicalities
&
Well-Being
Traveling
&
Confirmations
Traveling from the EU:
If you are an EU citizen, you do not need a visa for Austria. If you have a valid visa for another EU country, you must bring your visa and passport when traveling to Austria.
Travelers from outside the EU:
If you are traveling from outside the EU, you may need to apply for a Schengen visa at an Austrian embassy in your home country or, if there is no embassy in your country, at a local Schengen embassy.
Information from the Austrian government about applying for a visa can be found here.
Please register first before requesting an invitation letter. Then send an email with the subject “Invitation Letter: ICBS 2026” and the following information to visa(a)icbs2026.org:
– Name (as it appears in your passport)
– Professional affiliation (optional)
– Private/work address
– Date and place of birth
– Nationality
– Passport number
– Issuing authority/country
– Expiry date of passport
– Planned arrival and departure dates
– Registration number
– Title of presentation (optional)
NOTE: We can only issue invitation letters for registered participants!
Please note that we can only issue invitation letters for registered accompanying persons. If registration for accompanying persons is not available, we are unable to issue an invitation letter.
If registration for accompanying persons is completed, please send us an email with the subject “Invitation Letter: ICBS 2026” and the following information about the accompanying person(s) to visa(a)icbs2026.org:
– Name (as it appears in the passport)
– Professional affiliation (optional)
– Private/work address
– Date and place of birth
– Nationality
– Passport number
– Issuing authority/country
– Expiry date of passport
– Planned arrival and departure dates
– Registration number
Participants who explicitly selected this option during the registration process will automatically receive a Confirmation of Participation after the congress, sent to the email address used for registration.