From Lisbon airport
By bus:
You can take either Aeroshuttle (CARRIS Nº96) (http://www.carris.pt/en/bus/96/
ascendente/default/) or a taxi (7-9 €) to the Sete Rios bus terminal. From the terminal, there are frequent Rede Expressos coach services to Coimbra which take about 2,5 hours (13 €): http://www.rede-expressos.pt/default.aspx
The coach station in Coimbra (Estação Rodoviária RBL) is situated close to the city centre and is a 10 minutes taxi ride to the conference location, and a good 10-15 minutes walk to the city centre.
By train:
You can take either Aeroshuttle (CARRIS Nº96) or a taxi (7 €) to Gare/Estação Oriente railway station. Trains run every hour from 6 am to 9 pm. The fastest (and the most expensive, up to 30 €) service is provided by Alfa Pendular, which takes 1,5 hours to Coimbra-B station, followed by Intercidades (inter-city service) (15 €), which takes almost 2 hours to the same station.
From Oporto airport
The Francisco Sa Carneiro airport in Oporto is 11 km away from the city, so getting a taxi from there to the railway station is quite expensive (20-25 €, with 20 per cent surcharge in the evenings and weekends). The easiest and less costly way will be to take the Metro. The direction to it is signposted throughout the aiport, so just follow the signs and take Line E (Violeta) from the airport to the Campanhã railway station. Metro trains run about every 20 minutes from early morning until after midnight. That will take about 33 minutes and cost 2 € - a Z4 (zone four) ticket.
Two types of train services are available from the Campanhã railway station as well: Alfa Pendular service (fastest yet most expensive) and the Intercidades. The Alfa trains run almost every hour and takes less than an hour to get to Coimbra-B. The second class single fare is 15 €. Intercidades takes slightly more than an hour and cost 10,50 €. For the timetables, go to http://www.cp.pt/cp/searchTimetable.do
Please note that both train services run to the Coimbra-B station, which is located somewhat far from the city centre, hotels and the University (a 10-15 minutes taxi ride away). So, if you wish to get to the centre by train, you will have to get off the train at Coimbra-B station and take a local train shuttle (free of charge provided you kept your AP or IC train ticket, runs every 15-20 minutes) from Coimbra–B to Coimbra-A. The Coimbra-A railway station is situated right in the centre of Coimbra.