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Just a reminder that the September 7th deadline for abstract submission for
the 47th Annual Meeting of The Palaeontological Association is rapidly
approaching.
Registration (but not abstract submission) will be possible after this date
but will carry a late payment charge of 10 stlg.
Highlights include:
Seminar on Stem Groups - Fossils, Origins and the Evolution of Body Plans
Two days of open palaeontological sessions
Annual Address by Mike Benton: Palaeontology and the future of life on Earth
Poster sessions fully integrated into meeting
Field excursion to visit the Precambrian Biota of Charnwood Forest
Social events including the Annual Dinner
It is already clear that this will be yet another Annual Meeting of broad
palaeontological scope and international participation. Among those who have
registered to date are participants from Canada, Czech Republic, Denmark,
Egypt, England, France, Germany, Ireland, Russia, Scotland, Sweden, USA, and
Wales, with contributions ranging across the full spectrum of current
palaeontological research. Check out the details below and on the web at
www.palass.org and submit your registration online without delay.
Annual Meeting of The Palaeontological Association
Department of Geology, University of Leicester
December 14 17, 2003
********** **********
Announcement, Call for Abstracts and Registration
(also available at www.palass.org)
The 47th Annual Meeting of The Palaeontological Association will take place
in the Department of Geology, University of Leicester.
As usual, registration fees (25 Pounds Sterling for members, 15 Pounds
Sterling for students) and accommodation costs have been kept low to
encourage broad participation. In addition to two days of scientific
sessions and posters, plus a field excursion, this years meeting features a
thematic seminar of invited presentations from international speakers (Stem
Groups - Fossils, Origins and the Evolution of Body Plans; see below for
details) and the Annual Address (presented by Prof. Mike Benton).
Leicester is easily accessible from within the UK and has good connections
to international airports (see below).
Registration, abstract submission and payment (by credit card) is by online
forms at www.palass.org (if you wish to submit an abstract please prepare
it, in MS Word or rtf file format, before using the forms; as part of the
online submission process you will be asked to attach your abstract to a
form).
The deadline for registration and abstract submission is
September 7th, 2003. Registration (not abstract submission) may be possible
after this date, but will incur a late payment charge (and University
accommodation may not be available).
********** **********
Call for abstracts
Presentations on any aspect of palaeontology and evolutionary studies are
welcome. Presentation options are 15 minute talk, 10 minute talk or poster.
You will be asked to express a preference when you submit your abstract.
Talks will be limited to one per speaker; poster sessions will be an
integral part of the meeting. Overhead projector, slide projector, media
projector and computer facilities will be available. For PowerPoint
presentations, we will require a file on CD or zip-disk at least one day in
advance. Guidelines for abstract content and formatting, and a MS Word
template, are available at: www.palass.org/forms/AnnualAbsGuide.html
********** **********
Outline Programme
Sunday, December 14th
Afternoon seminar, Stem Groups - Fossils, Origins and the Evolution of
Body Plans (see list of speakers below)
followed by Ice Breaker Party
Monday, December 15th
Scientific Sessions, followed by:
Annual Address, ³Palaeontology and the future of life on Earth², by
Mike Benton
Annual Dinner, Beaumont Hall
Tuesday December 16th
Scientific Sessions
Wednesday December 17th
Field Excursion: The Precambrian Biota of Charnwood Forest
Further details of social events, the scientific programme and the field
excursion will be available from the Associations website at www.palass.org
as they become available
********** **********
Venue, Accommodation and Travel
Leicester is centrally located in England and is easily accessible by road
or rail, with good links to international airports. Maps and details of
routes to Leicester are available online at
http://www.le.ac.uk/maps/maps.html. For overseas participants, Birmingham
and East Midlands airports are within an hour of Leicester. There are direct
trains from Stansted Airport (many budget flights from European countries
fly into Stansted), and London (St Pancras Station; a little over 1 hour).
For online train times, prices and booking, visit www.thetrainline.com.
Technical sessions will take place on the main University Campus, in Bennett
Building lecture theatres adjacent to the Department of Geology. Posters
will be displayed in the large foyer areas outside the lecture theatres.
Tea, coffee and lunch will also be served here.
Accommodation will be in Beaumont Hall, situated in landscaped grounds in
Oadby, 3.5 km from the University Campus. Buses will be provided to
transport participants to and from the University Campus at the beginning
and end of each day; a scheduled bus service (no. 80) runs throughout the
day (online timetables and routes at
http://www.arriva.co.uk/real/web/arriva/internet/bustimes.nsf/pgaFrameset?Op
enPage&Leicester).
********** **********
Seminar: Stem Groups - Fossils, Origins and the Evolution of Body Plans
Sunday December 14, 2003, 2.00-6.00 pm (Part of the Annual Meeting,
University of Leicester, UK)
This afternoon of thematic talks and discussion will explore what is perhaps
palaeontologys most important contribution to current evolutionary research:
the nature of stem groups and their role in understanding the origins of
major extant clades. It will address questions such as: What are stem
groups? Why are they important? What have they got to do with Palaeontology?
The seminar will highlight the importance of stem groups in understanding
the origins of extant phyla: without them we cannot hope to reconstruct the
sequence and timing of character acquisition during the assembly of body
plans, or have clear systematic criteria for recognising the true origins of
clades. Only palaeontology can provide these crucial data, yet the value of
stem groups is not appreciated by many active palaeontologists, and
misconceptions about the definition of stem groups and their significance
are commonplace.
Speakers and Provisional titles:
Graham Budd, Uppsala University, The search for stem groups in the Cambrian
and the origin of the phyla; Mike Coates, University of Chicago, Assembling
a tetrapod body plan: definition, slippage & stems; Philip Donoghue,
University of Bristol, Stem groups, the fossil record and molecular dates
for the origins of major clades; Else Marie Friis, NRM, Stockholm, Stem
groups and angiosperm origins; Dick Jefferies, NHM, title tba, Paul Kenrick,
NHM, London, Land plant origins: body-building from scratch; David Unwin,
Humbolt Museum, Berlin, The origin of birds, feathers and flight: have stem
groups solved the problem?
Attendance at the seminar is free to conference participants, but only if
booked in advance. Please do not turn up on the day without informing the
organisers.
Posters or talks on the theme of stem groups would also be welcome as part
of the main meeting.
********** **********
The Palaeontological Association runs a travel grant programme to assist
overseas palaeontologists presenting talks or posters at the Annual Meeting.
For the Leicester meeting, grants of up to £100 are available to registered
full-time students whose presentations are accepted and who are travelling
from outside the UK. Payment of these awards is given as a disbursement at
the meeting, not as an advance payment. Students interested in applying for
a Palass travel grant should contact the Executive Officer of the
Palaeontological Association, Dr Tim Palmer, by e-mail to
<palass@palass.org>.
********** **********
Deadline for registration and abstract submission for the Annual Meeting:
September 7th, 2003
Local secretary:
Mark Purnell
Department of Geology
University of Leicester
University Road
Leicester LE1 7RH
+44 (0)116 252 3645 (tel)
+44 (0)116 252 3918 (fax)
<Leicester2003@palass.org>
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