FourtIMCo website

Workshop on meiofauna from chemosynthetic deep-sea environments

The Census of Marine Life project ChEss (Biogeography of Deep-Water Chemosynthetic Ecosystems) is organizing a workshop on ‘Meiofauna from chemosynthetic deep-sea environments’ in conjunction with the 14^th International Meiofauna Conference at Ghent University July, 17 2010. This workshop is organized by Monika Bright and Ann Vanreusel and we would like to invite you to attend for free.

The aim of this workshop is to bring together meiofauna researchers who are interested in any biological aspect concerning deep- sea reducing environments, such as hydrothermal vents, cold seeps, whale falls, sunken wood, and areas of low oxygen that intersect with continental margins and seamounts.

We will have sessions in which we will discuss the current state of knowledge of biogeography, biodiversity and abundance, ecology, origin and evolution, morphological and molecular phylogeny, and taxonomy, and future plans. Further we will discuss the possiblities of multidisciplinary and integrative research, building a platform of researchers to combine our efforts in databases, field programmes, and outreach activities.

Registration: email to Monika Bright monika.bright@univie.ac.at

Registration deadline: June 30, 2010

Any questions and suggestions: email to Monika Bright monika.bright@univie.ac.at

The International Association of Meiobenthologists is pleased to invite you to participate in its

14^th International Meiofauna Conference
FourtIMCo

Ghent - Belgium

July 11-16, 2010

The conference will be hosted by Ghent University, in the province of Eastern Flanders. The city of Ghent is located at the cultural and economic heart of Europe. It is one of the leading institutions of higher education and research in the Low Countries. The Aula academica, situated in the beautiful historic city center, will be the conference venue.

The FourtIMCo aims to bring high-quality scientific presentations and discussions in a friendly, relaxed atmosphere, allowing optimal interaction between scientists from different levels, disciplines, etc… The organizers will therefore endeavour to provide a forum both to established experienced scientists and to young researchers in an early stage of their career.

Call for full registration and abstract submission is open now (due date: 15th April)

The organizing committee of the 14th International Meiofauna Conference wishes you a very healthy and successful 2010!

We are happy to announce that FourtIMCo website is updated with a provisional programme and information on the final registration procedure. We invite you to complete the registration form and submit your abstract(s) before 15 April 2010. Registration is still possible after this date, however at an increased registration fee.

The registration form can be accessed here (User name and password are equal to those used during the pre registration). In case you forgot your password, send an email to fourtimco@ugent.be.

People who did not pre-register can start the full registration here

We suggest that you book your hotel (see FourtIMCo website) well in advance, as the conference coincides with a peak tourist moment in Ghent.

An interesting event of the Meiofauna’s conferences is the traditional raffle. Participants are invited to bring souvenirs from their countries (beers, chocolates, mugs...) or from their Universities (t-shirts, ...) and donate it to the raffle. At the symposium dinner, participants can take part in the raffle and have the chance to win one or more of the souvenirs. The aim of the raffle is to provide income to the Swedmark fund. The Swedmark fund allows Swedmark Travel Awards, to help students to participate in the conference. We hope we can provide more grants for the next meiofauna conference based on the money raised in the raffle of this one.

FourtIMCo will be able to provide 10 Swedmark Travel Awards of 250 euro each to 10 master or PhD students. Candidates for these awards should provide a motivation letter and a brief CV until 15 April 2010. The 10 students with best letters and CV will be awarded.