Phycological Society of America 2020 meeting cancelled

PSA logo

Well, my summer travel plans just got downsized. Hot on the heels of Chlamy 2020 deadlines extended, the PSA meeting in Providence, Rhode Island is cancelled:

Greetings fellow phycologists,

I think that we can all agree that the greatest strength of our society is the fantastic folk of which it is comprised. We have members from around the planet, at every stage of professional development, all unified by our love of all things algal. Thus, it is with a heavy heart that after consultation with, and on behalf of, the Executive Committee, we have decided to cancel the meeting in Rhode Island this year for several Covid-19 related reasons.

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Chlamy 2020 deadlines extended

Chlamy 2020

This is straight from the Chlamy 2020 mailing list:

Due to the COVID-19 epidemics, the organizers of Chlamy 2020, the 19th International Conference on the Cell and Molecular Biology of Chlamydomonas, have decided to push all deadlines by 24 days. The early bird registration rates will be available until April 24, i.e. one month before the start of the conference. We hope that this will give you enough time to make an informed decision about your participation to Chlamy 2020. Please visit our website https://chlamy2020.sciencesconf.org for all details on this top-notch meeting.

If you are tempted to participate, please do pre-register now, without paying. It will help us keep track of who would be interested to attend. This way you will receive all the information in due time, and be able to manage travel arrangements so as to benefit from the currently low air fares. Payment of registration fees is suspended for the moment, until we see clearer into our future. But you can deposit your abstract any time. The selection of talks from abstracts is scheduled to take place between April 7 and April 15.

Note that we have pledged to NOT cancel the meeting, whatever happens. At worst, we will postpone it, without changing the location.

Hope to see you at Chlamy 2020 !

The Chlamy 2020 organization committee.

Volvox 2019 meeting report

Volvox 2019 logo

Dominique Morneau has posted a report on the Fifth International Volvox Conference over at nature.com:

The Volvocales are an order of flagellated green algae, varying in size from one cell (Chlamydomonas) to >500 cells (Volvox), representing an interesting model for studying the evolution of multicellularity and cell differentiation.

The Volvox meeting takes place every two years, each year growing larger and larger. This year’s attendees – 67 altogether – came from Japan, Thailand, the US, the UK, and Canada, and ranged in career stage from high school students to established researchers.

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Reminder: early bird registration for Volvox 2019 ends soon

Volvox 2019 logo

If you’re planning to go to the Fifth International Volvox Conference, it’s time to get a move on. Early bird registration and, more importantly, abstract submission end Saturday. Registration is open (at a slightly higher rate) until July 13, but if you want to present a poster or talk, the June 1 deadline applies.

The meeting is July 26-28 in Tokyo and includes a July 29 excursion to the NIES microbial culture collection and the National Museum of Nature and Science.

Reminder: tomorrow is the deadline for the Kato Memorial Bioscience Foundation travel fellowship

¥50,000 is ¥50,000! Applications for travel fellowships from the Kato Memorial Bioscience Foundation for the Fifth International Volvox Meeting are due tomorrow. These fellowships are to help non-Japanese students and postdocs travel to Tokyo for the meeting. ¥50,000 is around $500, a pretty good return for an easy application. Answer a few questions, send an email, and your trip could be $500 cheaper:

Applicants are required to submit a pdf file of the completed application form (download here) to Volvox2019 Office (E-mail: volvox2019 (at) gmail.com)

The Royal Society of Biology deadline is also coming up soon (March 1).

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Travel fellowships for Volvox 2019

Volvox 2019 logo

Registration for the Fifth International Volvox Conference (July 26-29, 2019) will open next month, but meanwhile there are several opportunities for students and postdocs to apply for financial help. The newest of these (and the one with the nearest deadline) is a set of five travel awards from the Kato Memorial Bioscience Foundation:

Funding from the Kato Memorial Bioscience Foundation https://www.katokinen.or.jp/ for five travel awards for overseas (i.e. non-Japanese) students (PhD, Masters, undergraduates) and postdocs for Volvox 2019, 26-29 July, Tokyo is now available. Travel awards are 50,000 yen per person (~$500 US) and will be distributed at the Volvox 2019 registration desk by the local organizers, on 26 July 2019.
Applicants are required to submit a pdf file of the completed application form (download here) to Volvox2019 Office (E-mail: volvox2019 (at) gmail.com) by February 20, 2019. Five awardees will be chosen based on their abstract and need for financial support. The successful applicants will be informed by March 1, 2019. Travel receipts must be submitted to the local organizers at the conference to be eligible for reimbursement.

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