First Circular
Dear Colleagues and Friends, The Host Committee have the honour to invite you all to the 13th Meeting of the European Association of Vertebrate Palaeontologists, organized by the Department of Biosystematics of the Opole University, under the patronage of the Rector, Prof. Dr S.S. Nicieja, at Opole (southwest Poland) from 8 to 12 July 2015. Host committee: Adam Bodzioch, Grzegorz Hebda, John W.M. Jagt, Elena A. Jagt-Yazykova, Anna Kocorek, Magda Kościuk, Dorota Konietzko-Meier, Miłosz Mazur, Sławomir Mitrus, Sylwia Nowak, Arkadiusz Nowak With the support of: Kamil Gądek, Kamil Gruntmejer, Klaudia Kardynał, Jakub Kowalski Programme committee: Adam Bodzioch, Grzegorz Hebda, John W.M. Jagt, Elena A. Jagt-Yazykova, Dorota Konietzko-Meier, Sławomir Mitrus paleontologia@uni.opole.pl
Topics Similar to all previous EAVP meetings, the planned one will follow the general objectives of the association to promote and encourage communication and collaboration, as well as to bring together the vertebrate palaeontology community of Europe through the organisation of such a meeting in a different country every year. Delegates are invited to provide oral and poster presentations that cover all aspects of vertebrate palaeontology. We would also like to hear from you if you have any ideas about thematic sections and/or mini-symposia within the framework of the meeting (see below). Key dates and deadlines 1. We ask all interested people to respond please to a short questionnaire (see next pages) which will help us gauge the approximate number of participants, organize the meeting and acquire funding. Please complete the survey by 15 December, 2014 2 Deadline for proposal of thematic sessions: 31 January 2015 3. Deadline for preliminary registration: 8 February 2015 4. Call for abstracts: 8 February 2015 5. Deadline for abstract submission: 15 March 2015 6. Abstract decision: 4 May 2015 7. Deadline for early bird registration: 15 May 2015 6. Deadline for regular registration: 10 June 2015 6. Final conference programme: 15 June 2015 Technical information Technical data on payment of attendance fees, abstract preparation, length of oral presentations and poster size will be communicated in the second circular.
Preliminary programme Tuesday, 7 July: Arrival of participants; registration - icebreaker party (evening) Wednesday, 8 July: Registration, scientific presentations, poster session, board meeting Thursday, 9 July: Scientific presentations, general assembly (including full elections to the Board), auction Friday, 10 July: Scientific presentations Saturday, 11 July: Farewell dinner and tour at Krasiejów (Late Triassic vertebrates, annex largest dino park in Poland) Sunday, 12 July: Field trips 1. Mini-field trip to Cretaceous sites, in Opole city. 2. Field trip to Middle Triassic (Muschelkalk) localities. The annual general meeting of EAVP members will take place on Thursday, 9 July. This year sees all positions (except for Treasurer) up for election, so prospective candidates should contact the current Board members for information. The annual charity auction to raise funds to support student attendance at the EAVP meetings will be staged after the general assembly. Due to poor interest rates in banks, we rely on the auction more heavily than ever, so please remember to bring items for the auction! EAVP Fund As for previous EAVP meetings, our funds will provide two 250 grants for students presenting an oral communication at the meeting. Selection will be made on the basis of an abstract with a covering letter and a CV. More information will be provided in the second circular. Transmitting Science Grant Transmitting Science (http://www.transmittingscience.org/) will offer a grant of 250. Details will be provided in the second circular.
Help us organize the conference! If you are interested in attending the EAVP 2015, please send us by 15 December 2014, the following basic information at: paleontologia@uni.opole.pl - last name, first name - e-mail address - name of the institute you are currently associated with - do you intend to give a presentation (oral or poster)? These data will help us organize the meeting and acquire external funding. We wish to make the conference free of additional cost (except for the registration fee and the field-trip to the Muschelkalk). However, to do this we need support from external sponsors. In the second circular we will indicate the final cost for the icebreaker party and conference dinner we hope to be able to offer these free of charge.
Symposium registration form Please fill out this form on-line () or return to: paleontologia@uni.opole.pl before 31 January 2015 Name.... Institute...... Postal address..... Email.... Proposed short symposium/thematic session characteristics (topics, main goals, approximate number of participants)
Preliminary registration form Please fill out this on-line () or return to paleontologia@uni.opole.pl before 8 February 2015 Name.... Institute....... Postal address....... Email.... 1. Status/payment for early bird registration/regular registration: Student EAVP member 40 /60 EAVP member/non-eavp student 60 /80 Non-EAVP member 80 /100 2. Do you intend to give a presentation? Y/N Oral presentation Preliminary title:.............. Poster Preliminary title:.......... 3. Do you plan to attend the icebreaker party? (price in 2 nd circular) 4. Do you plan to attend the conference dinner? (price in 2 nd circular) Y/N Y/N Any special dietary requirements or preferences?... 5. Do you plan to attend the mini-field trip on Sunday, 12 July? (free) Y/N 6. Do you plan to attend the field trip on Sunday, 12 July? (30, light lunch included) Y/N
Field trips 1. Upper Cretaceous (Turonian), led by Elena Jagt-Yazykova and John Jagt (eyazykova@uni.opole.pl and john.jagt@maastricht.nl) Upper Cretaceous strata in this area are accessible at three (both working and disused) quarries, i.e. Odra, Folwark and Bolko. The Turonian chalks and limestones, with marly intercalations, are locally rich in macrofossils, and the assemblages are closely comparable to those from northern Germany, northern France and southern England, illustrating the Boreal province. Numerous inoceramid bivalves (good index forms), ammonites (small heteromorphs and large-sized desmoceratoids), echinoids, non-inoceramid bivalves, gastropods, sponges, solitary corals and ichnofossils occur. Amongst vertebrates, shark and ray teeth and teleost fish scales and bones are the commonest, but other groups should also be present, albeit rarely. 2. Muschelkalk led by Adam Bodzioch (abodzioch@uni.opole.pl) The Upper Silesian Muschelkalk is famous for yielding the richest fossil assemblages across the entire epicontinental Triassic of Europe. The best outcrops are found at numerous active and abandoned quarries located 20-40 km south-east of Opole, where the transgressiveregressive sequence of the Lower Muschelkalk (comprising also the Röth limestones and the Middle Muschelkalk Diplopora dolomites) can be seen. The fossil assemblage is dominated by marine invertebrates, including reef-building scleractinian corals and siliceous sponges. Bones of fish, amphibians and reptiles are rare; however, they do form thin horizons at the Röth/Muschelkalk boundary near Gogolin.
Few details Poland (Polska) is a country in central Europe that is bordered by Germany in the west, the Czech Republic and Slovakia in the south, Ukraine and Belarus in the east, and the Baltic Sea, Kaliningrad Oblast (a Russian exclave) and Lithuania in the north. It is a member of the European Union and belongs to the Schengen Area, but is NOT a member of the Eurozone. The official currency is the Polish zloty (PLN). 1 Euro equals about 4 PLN. There is no problem to pay using all major credit cards, to obtain money from cashpoints or bureaux de change. Opole is a city in southwest Poland on the Oder River (Odra), with a population of 125,992 (June 2009). It is the capital of the Upper Silesian Opole Voivodeship. http://info.um.opole.pl/en/ Opole University (Polish: Uniwersytet Opolski) currently has over 10,000 students doing 32 majors and 53 specialisations. Staff members total 1,380, among whom are 203 professors and habilitated doctors and 327 doctors. The university confers licentiates, as well as master and doctoral degrees. http://www.uni.opole.pl/page/61
LABORATORY OF PALAEOBIOLOGY The Laboratory of Paleobiology is part of the Department of Biosystematics. http://www.kbios.uni.opole.pl Our research focuses on the Mesozoic Era, because Opole is located literally on top of Cretaceous sediments and adjacent to outcrops of Triassic (Muschelkalk and Keuper) and Jurassic strata. The most famous locality close to Opole is Krasiejów the place with the worldfamous bone accumulations of Late Triassic vertebrates, such as Silesaurus opolensis, Polonosuchus silesiacus, Stagonolepis olenkae, Paleorhinu sp., Metoposaurus diagnosticus, Cyclotosaurus intermedius and others. The Krasiejów site still is an active place of excavation and a splendid example of co-operation between science and business. Here is situated one of the largest and most modern dinoparks, with an in-situ exhibit of original bones. http://www.juraparkkrasiejow.pl/
How to get to Opole The conference will be organised in Opole, the principal city of the region with a university and numerous hotels and restaurants, easily reached by public transport, near the A4 motorway (coming from Germany) and other important, internal-polish connections. You can reach Opole via international airports at Katowice (www.katowiceairport.com/en/index/index/0) and Wrocław (http://airport.wroclaw.pl/en/), both about 80 km from Opole, easily connected by trains, as well as via Warsaw or Kraków (and from there an express train to Opole). The options thus are train, international buses or car. Important for participants of ISPH in Bonn. The ISPH meeting will be held in Germany 3 days before EAVP meeting. To take advantage of this situation, we, along with the organizing members of ISPH, are planning a field trip from July 6-7 that will take participants of ISPH through some of eastern Germany s most interesting fossil sites, ending in Opole, Poland, the location of the EAVP meeting. More information on the field trip will be available in the upcoming months. Check out the ISPH website http://bonn2015.isph.org/for details. Accommodation Opole offers a wide range of accommodation options, but we suggest that you choose a place close to the meeting venue in order to enjoy the atmosphere of the city centre. We kindly ask you to arrange your booking by yourselves at the hotel of your choice. Detailed information on hotels and prices will be supplied in the second circular. All details regarding the technical side of the conference will be presented in the second circular, but if you are interested in advance information, please do not hesitate to contact us at the email address listed above. With best regards The Organising Committee