This is the final pre-conference announcement for the 7th International Conference on Strange Quarks in Matter, to be held in Atlantic Beach, North Carolina, from March 12-17, 2003. The complete program is now posted on our web page: http://www.phy.duke.edu/SQM2003. We look forward to your participation in a wide-ranging discussion including a broad survey of the past and future of the field as well as coverage of the latest results from RHIC and other exciting current topics. We would like to remind you of several important dates:

IMPORTANT DEADLINES
Deadline for request for Student Support: February 10, 2003
Online registration: NOW - March 1, 2003
Late conference fee: after February 10, 2003

Note: To qualify for the early registration fee, you must BOTH register AND pay, either by credit card or by check received at Duke University by February 10. Participants who wish to pay at the conference itself will pay the late penalty no matter when they registered. Further note that registration for the conference is via the web page but hotel accomodations must be made separately.

STUDENT SUPPORT
A limited number of scholarships will be available for graduate students and postdocs, covering either the registration fee or local expenses. Eligible registrants wishing to apply for support should please check the respective box just below the "Special Needs" section on the registration form. If you have already registered and forgot to check the box you can still apply by sending mail to sqm2003@phy.duke.edu (deadline is Feb. 10th).

LOCATION & DATES
Sheraton Atlantic Beach Oceanfront Hotel, Atlantic Beach, North Carolina, USA
Dates: March 12-17, 2003
Conference will begin at 9:00 a.m. on Wednesday, March 12, 2003, and end at 11am on Monday, March 17, 2003.
The web page describes all the details concerning the conference, some of which are briefly summarized below.

REGISTRATION
Registration and payment via credit card are now available via our web page.
Please note that registrations are valid once payment has been received. There are two possible methods of payment:

1. by credit card via the web
2. by check (see below)

We are unable to accept International Postal Money Orders or Eurochecks. Please send a check in US dollars drawn on a US bank or International Money Order payable to: Duke University, SQM2003. Please submit the Registration electronically, and mail your check with a copy of your final Registration invoice to:

Duke University
SQM2003
Office of the Dean of the Natural Sciences
012 Allen Building
Box 90029
Durham, NC 27708

Checks must be received at the above address by February 10, 2003, to qualify for the $350.00 advance registration fee.

ACCOMMODATIONS
You are responsible for booking your hotel accommodations. Please call or fax the Sheraton Atlantic Beach Oceanfront Hotel by February 10, 2003, and reference "SQM" to receive special conference rates.

Sheraton Atlantic Beach Oceanfront Hotel
2717 W. Fort Macon Road
Atlantic Beach, NC 28512
Telephone: 1-800-624-8875 or 1-252-240-1155
Fax: 1-800-240-1452 or 1-252-240-1452

More detailed information can be found on the SQM2003 web page.

CONFERENCE FEE
Early registration fee: $350
Late Registration Fee: $400.00 (applies after February 10, 2003)
On-Site Registration Fee: $425.00

The registration fee includes:

• conference proceedings
• 6 breakfasts, 6 lunches
• break refreshments
• evening reception
• poster session reception
• banquet dinner

EVENING SCHOOLS
Several general talks addressing physics topics covered in this conference will be given on the evenings of Wednesday, March 12, and Friday, March 14, 2003. These talks will be aimed specifically at a graduate student audience. Information regarding times and location within the hotel will be included in your Conference Packet.

POSTER SESSION
The Poster Session is planned for the afternoon of Friday, March 14, 2003, in the Atlantic Room of the hotel. Abstracts selected for the Poster Session will be displayed on 4 feet x 4 feet boards. Further information regarding the poster display will be provided in your Conference Packet. A wine and cheese reception will accompany the Poster Session.

SCIENTIFIC PROGRAM
Each morning will begin with a plenary session at 8:30 a.m. in the combined Atlantic-Cape Lookout-Cape Fear Rooms. Afternoons will consist of either another plenay session or two concurrent parallel sessions which will take place in the Atlantic Room and the combined Cape Fear-Cape Lookout Rooms. The complete program including speakers can be found on the web site.

EXCURSIONS
Two excursions will take place in the afternoon of Saturday, March 15. Please note the limited capacities for these events. Since they will occur at approximately the same time of day, you may choose only one. It is important that you indicate your attendance at the reception and choice of excursions on the Registration page.

Excursion 1:

North Carolina Maritime Museum and stroll around Beaufort, NC.

Excursion 2:

Duke Marine Laboratory & Susan Hudson Research Vessel

More details are available on our web pages.

RECEPTION
Thursday, March 13
Evening at the North Carolina Aquarium at Pine Knoll Shores.

TRAVEL
The Sheraton Atlantic is an oceanfront hotel located on the island of Bogue Banks on the southern Outer Banks of North Carolina. The nearest airport is New Bern, NC, which is easily accessible by air from all major centers via several daily flights on US-Air through Charlotte. The nearest major airport is Raleigh-Durham, North Carolina. We strongly recommend that you visit the SQM2003 web pages for detailed travel information.
Please see: http://www.phy.duke.edu/SQM2003/travel.html

COMPUTER ACCESS
It is planned that a limited number of stationary laptop computers will be available for you to access your e-mail. We will also provide hubs for those who bring their own laptop as well as wireless networking around the conference rooms.

On behalf of the local and international organizing committees, we invite you to participate and hope you will be able to attend. We are looking forward to a lively and interesting conference.

Sincerely,

Steffen Bass, Berndt Mueller, George Stephans, Thomas Ullrich