Welcome to the 2011 IEEE International Symposium on Information Theory (ISIT 2011) website. The conference will take place on July, 31 - August, 5, 2011, in Saint-Petersburg, Russia, the Northern capital of Russian Federation. For the first time since foundation the ISIT conference takes place in Russia. Interested authors are encouraged to submit previously unpublished contributions from a broad range of topics related to information theory, including (but not limited to) the following areas:

The Symposium is under the aegis of General Trustee
Academician Evgenii P. Velikhov
Academician-secretary of the Russian Academy of Sciences,
Branch of Nanotechnologies and Information Technologies.
President of the Russian Research Center "Kurchatov Institute".
Head of the Russian Public Chamber.

Researchers working in emerging fields of information theory are especially encouraged to submit original findings. The paper submission deadline is February 15, 2011,  at midnight, Eastern Time (New York, USA) with notification of acceptance by May 1, 2011.

ISIT2011 Executive Committee encourages participants to reach out to the HelpDesk for any support regarding the symposium, visa support, hotel accommodation, transportation, excursions, and other travel questions. HelpDesk provides the attendees a single point of contact, to receive help on various ISIT2011 issues.

The representatives of the Executive Committee (Natalia Bulashova, Anton Sergeev, Elena Sidorova, Veronika Prohorova) and the WELT Company (Stanislav Stegalin, Larisa Zazulina, Dmitry Alekseev will try to assist you with your questions or guide you to the right person on TPC or Executive Committee.

1. If, as almost everyone has done and as suggested by the organizers, you plan to apply for a humanitarian or tourist visa, please do so very URGENTLY by forwarding (to ssi@msk.welt.ru) your application according to the instructions to the Reiseburo WELT company that has been engaged by the Symposium to handle the arrangements for the issuance of the visa, the lodging arrangements, and the optional transportation and excursion arrangements at an additional cost. Please note that without obtaining a visa it will not be possible to participate in the conference unless your Russia does not require visa for citizens of your country (this is the case for extremely few countries).

2. A hard copy of an invitation letter is NOT required for obtaining the visa; such letters have been sent to the Russian consulates in your countries. The only thing you need is a TELEX number and information that is sent to you after you apply (see details at http://www.isit2011.org/travel_visa.php). It is possible, though very unlikely, that the consulate employees insist for an explicit Invitation Letter. If that happens, please contact HelpDesk and they will supply you with the letter.

3. If you need an Invitation Letter for your employer to approve your trip please contact HelpDesk and such a letter will be provided. If you need this letter urgently, express mail delivery is possible but in that case, regrettably, you will have to bear the cost which is approximately of the order of $70.

4. If you addressed the Organizers for humanitarian or tourist visa support, please, urgently forward your filled-in Аpplication to Organizers on the Russian side (visa support, hotels booking, transportation and excursion services are processed by Reisebuero WELT Company ssi@msk.welt.ru). It is important for obtaining Russian visas beforehand in order to participate in the Conference. You can find the Аpplication form in your Personal cabinet in WELT “Electronic booking form”.

We appreciate your understanding and your attention to these details. Despite the complicated procedure that is necessary for everyone to go through, we are sure that in the end everything will be taken care of and that we will see you in St.Petersburg for a unique, truly outstanding, and enjoyable Symposium.

Journalists wishing to be accredited to attend the International Symposium on Information Theory ISIT-2011 shall send before July 25, 2011 an official request filled out in the editorial letterhead and certified by the seal and the editor’s signature with mandatory indication of a license number of mass media, together with an Application Form for each journalist completed in accordance with the attached example (see the attached file). These documents shall be sent to the Organizing Committee of the Congress ( helpdeskisit2011@iitp.ru ) Only journalists of officially registered mass media with a license can be accredited to attend ISIT-2011. The following accreditation quotas are imposed on editorial offices:

• newspapers of federal and regional significance – no more than three people;
• news agencies – no more than two people;
• radio – no more than two people;
• television – no more than three people.