11th International Symposium on Early Vertebrates:
Uppsala, Sweden, August 2007

Dear Colleague,

Following the decision taken at the Gramado meeting last year, that Uppsala University should host the next International Symposium on Early Vertebrates, we have started looking at possible conference dates. For a couple of reasons we have decided to bring the meeting forward to 2007: firstly, because it will then coincide with the 40th anniversary of the 1st  Symposium in Stockholm 1967; secondly, because 2007 is the 300th anniversary of the birth of Linnaeus, and thus a year of celebration for all aspects of systematic biology at Uppsala University. We feel this will provide an excellent context for our meeting.

We are proposing to hold the meeting during the week beginning Monday 13 August, partly because the European Society for Evolutionary Biology will be holding its annual congress in Uppsala the following week (20-26 August). This is a large meeting (800+ delegates) covering various aspects of evolutionary biology including palaeontology and evo-devo, so some of you may wish to take the opportunity to attend both meetings. More information about ESEB can be found on their homepage, <http://www.eseb.org/>.

It has not proved practicable to coordinate our meeting with the 8th International Congress of Vertebrate Morphology. That meeting is scheduled to take place in Paris in July 2007, but July is a bad time to organize a meeting in Uppsala as almost the entire University support staff is on holiday and it is very difficult to get things done.

We propose to schedule three days of lectures, and are considering two possibilities for fieldtrips: Gotland (Silurian microvertebrates) and the Ringerike Sandstone of Norway (Silurian vertebrates). Collecting opportunities would be good on the Gotland trip but probably limited on the Norway trip; both filed trips would allow delegates to visit historically important localities. In addition, we are planning a visit to the Palaeozoology Section of Naturhistoriska Riksmuseet (Swedish Museum of Natural History) in Stockholm.

Uppsala is a historic city with the oldest university in Scandinavia (founded 1477). The city centre is dominated by the twin landmarks of the castle and cathedral, there is a fine range of museums as well as various memorials of Linnaeus (his botanic garden, town house and country residence are all preserved and open to visitors), and the town is well-supplied with restaurants and cafes. Arlanda International Airport, Sweden's main air hub, is 40 minutes away by (frequent and reliable) airport buses or 20 minutes by train. Stockholm is also within easy reach by train; there are usually several departures per hour and the journey time is about 40 minutes. Daytime temperatures in mid August are usually around 15-25C. More information about Uppsala and its university can be found at <http://www.uppland.nu/eng/>  and <http://www.uu.se/>.

For the moment we would like to get an initial idea of the likely number of delegates and their fieldtrip preferences. We would be most grateful if you could fill in the following form and return the e-mail to <per.ahlberg@ebc.uu.se>.

Attendance:

[  ] Yes, I plan to attend the meeting

[  ] I would like to attend the meeting, but the proposed dates are unsuitable.
(If so, can you suggest alternative dates that would work for you?)

[  ] No, I am not interested in attending the meeting

Presentations:

[  ] I plan to present a paper/poster

[  ] I do not plan to present a paper/poster

Fieldtrips:

I would be interested in:

[  ] Gotland

[  ] Norway

[  ] Both

[  ] Neither

Needless to say, your answers are not binding. We look forward to hearing from you! Finally, please pass this message on to anyone you think might be interested and hasn't received it.

Per Ahlberg
Henning Blom

Organizers, 11th International
Symposium on Early Vertebrates

--

Professor P. E. Ahlberg
Subdepartment of Evolutionary Organismal Biology
Department of Physiology and Developmental Biology
Evolutionary Biology Centre
Uppsala University
Norbyvägen 18A
752 36 Uppsala
Sweden