10 th Benelux Congress of Zoology 7-8 November 2003 Leiden, the Netherlands Institute of Biology - Leiden University - Kaiserstraat 63-2311 GP Leiden P.O.Box 9516-2300 RA Leiden - the Netherlands +31-71-5274832 beneluxcongress@biology.leidenuniv.nl http://www.bio.uu.nl/~kndv/bcz2003 Preliminary Announcement - June 2003 Organisation Koninklijke Belgische Vereniging voor Dierkunde - Societé Royal Zoologique de Belgique (KBVD, SRZB) Koninklijke Nederlandse Dierkundige Vereniging (KNDV) Nederlandse Vereniging voor Gedragsbiologie Association des Biologistes Luxembourgois (ABIOL) Supported by NWO, the Netherlands Organisation for Scientific Research, by Leiden University and the Foundation for Evolutionary and Ecological Science, Leiden
1. General information The Benelux Congress of Zoology is a yearly zoological meeting that includes invited lectures and oral / poster presentations by participants. It is an excellent opportunity for zoology students and young scientists to meet colleagues and to present and discuss the results of their own research. Moreover, the congress gives an overview of the current scientific work at most Benelux universities and zoological institutes and thus provides ample opportunity for establishing contacts for future research. In total about 200 zoologists are expected, ranging from newly graduated students to senior professors. 1.1. Congress themes The congress is open to all disciplines and fields in zoology and sessions will be organised according to the submitted subjects. However, four specific topics have been chosen as congress themes for the plenary lectures and outstanding scientists have been invited to give keynote lectures on these themes. The plenary lectures are loosely based on Niko Tinbergen's four questions (Causation, Function, Development and Evolution) as they were formulated exactly 40 years ago. Distinguished Zoologist Lecture: Professor Sir Gabriel Horn (Cambridge): Imprinting: Zoology's gift to neuroscience Professor Tim Clutton-Brock (Cambridge): Structure and function in vertebrate society Professor Denis Duboule (Geneva): A genetic approach to vertebrate development and evolution Professor Paul Brakefield (Leiden): The power of 'evo-devo' to explore evolutionary constraints One morning or an afternoon session will especially be devoted to animal behaviour. 1.2. Location and dates The congress will take place in the Stadsgehoorzaal, Breestraat 60, in the centre of the historical city of Leiden on 7 and 8 November 2003. A map and directions can be found at http://www.leidenuniv.nl/ics/kaart/. For train schedules see http://www.ns.nl/binnenland/index.cgi. 1.3. Social event on Friday evening On Friday evening there will be a buffet in the old Leiden observatory with cheese, fish, salads and drinks.
1.4. Contact information Congress Secretariat: Kaiserstraat 63 P.O.Box 9516 2300 RA Leiden email: beneluxcongress@biology.leidenuniv.nl tel.: 0031-(0)71-5274832 fax.: 0031-(0)71-5274900 1. Scientific program 2.1. Invited speakers Each morning and each afternoon session will commence with a talk by an invited speaker. The invited speakers for the 10th Benelux Congress of Zoology are: Prof. Sir Gabriel Horn (Cambridge, UK) - Distinguished Zoologist Lecture Prof. Paul Brakefield (Leiden, The Netherlands) Prof. Tim Clutton-Brock (Cambridge, UK) Prof. Denis Duboule (Geneva, Switzerland) 2.2. Registration and accommodation Registration can be achieved either on-line via this website of the 10th Benelux Congress of Zoology that will be available from 15 August or via regular mail. Printed registration forms are available on request. Registration deadlines are: 15 September (early bird) - 15 October (late registration). Registration fees are: Members (KBVD, KNDV, ABIOL) : 35 Non-members: 40 Late registration: 40 Ph.D. students: 25 Master students: 10 Registration at the conference: 50 Registration includes congress participation, coffee breaks and a conference package including the abstract book. Participation in the banquet as well as the buffet ( 12) must be paid for separately and booked in advance (via the registration form). Lunch ( 6 each) will be served on Friday and Saturday at Plexus, a University restaurant at Kaiserstraat 25, which is within 10 minutes walking distance from the congress venue, the Stadsgehoorzaal. Reservation of accommodation is your own responsibility (not dealt with by the organizers). To facilitate your search, we recommend you contact your preferred hotel / B&B as soon as possible. On the site http://www.hotels.nl/leiden/ you may find several hotels in the range from one star hotels to four star hotels. There are a few B&B to be found on the site http://www.leidenpromotie.nl/horeca/
2.3. Posters, abstracts and paper submission Oral presentations should not exceed 20 minutes, including five minutes for discussion. The official language of the congress will be English. Computers for PowerPoint presentations will be available in all session rooms. The PowerPoint presentations has to be sent to beneluxcongress@biology.leidenuniv.nl before 15 October in order to put it on CDs. A cable for DB-15 video adapters is available for laptops. Other equipment (e.g. overhead projectors, slide projectors and video) will not be available. Posters should be prepared beforehand and hung up by the participants. Materials for hanging the posters will be provided. The poster may be up to 80 cm wide and 120cm high. Please take into consideration that your poster should be legible from a distance of 1-2 m. Graphs, drawings and illustrations should be heavily drawn. Remember, a good poster contains only few words. The maximum number of posters is 100. PDF files of poster can be sent to beneluxcongress@biology.leidenuniv.nl. These files will be made available to conference participants on a CD. An abstract book will be available upon arrival at the congress venue. All abstracts should be written in clear, concise English, should not exceed 250 words and should be submitted electronically before 15 October. Abstracts submitted after this date will not be printed in the abstracts book. 2.4. Student awards Prizes ( 250 each) will be awarded for the best poster presentation (students graduated in 2002 or 2003), best poster presentation (Ph.D. students) and best oral presentation (students who graduated in 2002 or 2003). We strongly encourage students to participate in these competitions!!!.
Local Organising Committee, Leiden University Elizabeth van Ast Tom van Dooren Evert Meelis Johanniek van der Molen, Chair Sonja Wijfjes - Chang Bas Zwaan Scientific Committee Peter Aerts, University of Antwerp (Belgium) Jacques van Alphen, Leiden University (The Netherlands) Johan Billen, Catholic University of Leuven (Belgium) Johan Bolhuis, Utrecht University (The Netherlands), Chair Carel ten Cate, Leiden University (The Netherlands) Roger Huybrechts, Catholic University of Leuven (Belgium) Joris Koene, Free University Amsterdam (The Netherlands) Menno Kruk, Leiden University (The Netherlands) Johan van Leeuwen, Wageningen University (The Netherlands) Evert Meelis, Leiden University (The Netherlands) Mees Muller, Wageningen University (The Netherlands) Rob Peters, Utrecht University (The Netherlands) Simon Verhulst, University of Groningen (The Netherlands) Thijs Zandbergen, Utrecht University (The Netherlands)