16th International Congress of Arachnology
2-7 August 2004 Gent - Belgium
Gent (Ghent) is a modern European town with about 250.000 inhabitants, situated at the confluence of the rivers Scheldt and Leie. The city was founded in the early Middle Ages and was developed around two abbeys and a castle, all of which are still existing. It has a rich historical past and a well-preserved medieval city centre. Of utmost importance for Gent is its university. It numbers some 25.000 students in 10 faculties of which the Faculty of Sciences is one of the most important. The university buildings are spread both over the historical and the more recent parts of the city, which makes the interaction between town and university very intense.
From 06h00 a.m. till 23h10 p.m., the Airport City Express links the airport with Gent Sint-Pieters railway station. The final destinations of those trains are either Blankenberge, De Panne, Knokke or Oostende. Price is around 7,50 €/person.
All trains pass through Brussels North, Central and South stations (Brussel/Bruxelles Noord/Nord, Centraal/Central, Zuid/Midi). You can go to either one of these stations in Brussels (four trains per hour from the airport) and change there to frequent trains with direction Gent Sint-Pieters or you can take a direct train from the airport to Gent (one per hour).
The train station is located on level -1 of the terminal building itself. You will find the stairs and elevators to your right when arriving in the arrival hall. Follow the “train symbols”.
Timetable information for the whole of Belgium (and international trains) is available in Dutch, English, French and German on the Belgian Railways website (http://www.b-rail.be). The easiest way to find the correct station is to enter "Zaventem Airport" (or “Luchthaven Zaventem”/“Zaventem Aéroport”) in the departure search field and Gent Sint-Pieters as destination.
Arrival by train in one of the railway stations of Brussels (Noord/Nord, Centraal/Central or Zuid/Midi):
Any train with final destination Blankenberge, De Panne, Knokke or Oostende stops in Gent Sint-Pieters.
Arriving in Charleroi you have the following two possibilities:
1) Coach transfer directly to/from Brussels organised by coach company "L'Elan" (these are yellow coaches to be found left around the corner outside the terminal).
-Departure of the coach to Brussels (Bruxelles): 30 minutes after arrival of the plane. The price of the journey should be 10 €. Tickets can be bought in the coach itself.
-Departure of the coach to the Charleroi airport from Brussels South station Bruxelles Midi) just in front of the south entrance Rue de France/Rue de l'Instruction 2h30 before take-off of each flight.
-In Brussels South station (Bruxelles Midi) you can easily find a frequent train connection to Gent Sint-Pieters (see www.b-rail.be for timetables and specifications).
2) In case you would miss that coach there is an alternative via Charleroi railway station but this takes a bit longer and requires one extra step: Bus nr. 68
-Connecting Charleroi airport to Charleroi Sud railway station:
-From Monday to Friday: several departures per hour.
-On Saturdays and Sundays: every hour from 5h50 to 20h50 and 22h10, 23h10
-In Charleroi railway station you have to take a train with destination Gent Sint-Pieters (see www.b-rail.be for timetables and specifications).
-Exit through the
front exit (near track 1), the rear exit is near track 12.
-Walking distances from the station are small, especially to the University
student rooms.
-Public transport in Gent is organised by “De Lijn”. There are several busses (lines 72, 74, 76, 9, 28 and 55) with a stop at the “Heuvelpoort” and a stop at the “Citadelpark” in front of the Ledeganckstraat. Price: 1€.
The congress will take place in the HIKW-building of Ghent University in the K.L. Ledeganckstraat 35, 9000 Gent. The venue at the Faculty of Sciences is situated at ten minutes walking distance from the railway station and at twenty minutes from the city centre. It has a nice botanical garden and a park of about 40 hectares in its immediate vicinity. Maps showing the location of the venue are to be found on the website.
Lectures will be held in two or three parallel sessions in auditoria adjacent to each other. This will facilitate the transfer of participants between different sessions. Presentations will be grouped in the following sections: taxonomy & systematics, ecology, physiology, ethology and biogeography. The poster sessions and coffee breaks will be held in the nearby foyer. There will be possibilities for oral as well as poster presentations. Overhead and slide projectors and digital equipment for Power Point Presentations will be available.
Oral presentations will be limited to 20 minutes, including five minutes for discussion. The official language of the congress is English.
The Proceedings will be published as a special volume of the "The Journal of Arachnology”.
PhD student awards are foreseen for the best poster and the best oral presentation.
Prepare your abstract with the title, authors' names, address and e-mail address in normal (not capital) letters. The text of the abstract should not exceed 3500 characters. The invited speakers are allowed to submit abstracts of up to 8000 characters. Please, do not format the text at all. Submit your abstract by e-mail as an attachment file prepared in Word or RTF format to 16ICA@naturalsciences.be or send a disk to the Secretary by April 1, 2004.
Authors must submit manuscripts to the Organising Committee not later than September 15, 2004. The authors must adhere to the directions for submission and publication as outlined in the Journal of Arachnology. These instructions to authors can also be consulted on http://www.americanarachnology.org/JOA.html. Papers should normally not exceed more than 6 printed pages including a summary, references and up to four figures/tables (ca. 4000 words). Papers that exceed that limit will attract a page charge for every page exceeding the limit. The second (extra large, we hope) issue of 2005 of that journal will be dedicated to the Proceedings of the Congress; the approximate date of publication is estimated around September 2005. Manuscripts that do not meet the deadlines will not be published in the Congress issue.
Poster dimensions should be 80 cm width and 120 cm height (A0 paper). Posters will be on display during the entire meeting.
Monday August 2: welcome party.
Tuesday August 3: “Belgian night” in the botanical garden.
Wednesday August 4: Mid-week excursion.
Thursday August 5: free evening.
Friday August 6: Congress Dinner (30 €/person).
Excursion to different sections of the river Scheldt. This river has exceptional salt- and freshwater marshes, extending from its estuary in the North Sea to a distance of 160 km inland towards Ghent (European Special Areas of Conservation). Possibility of collecting spiders, visit of some monuments.
Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday: special excursion program (visits of some Belgian cities: Ghent, Bruges, …). Wednesday: mid-week excursion.
Final registration can be done by completing the necessary information on the final registration form, which can also be downloaded from the website (http://allserv.rug.ac.be/~jpmaelfa/index.htm), and sending it before April 1, 2004 by e-mail (16ICA@naturalsciences.be) or regular mail to the Secretary: L. Baert, Royal Belgian Institute for Natural Sciences, Vautierstraat 29, B-1000 Brussels, Belgium.
The registration fees are:
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Before February 1, 2004
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Before April 1, 2004
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After April 1, 2004
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| Members of the ISA: |
€ 200
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€ 220
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€ 400
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| Non-members of the ISA: |
€ 240
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€ 265
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€ 480
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| Accompanying persons: |
€ 150
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€ 165
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€ 300
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| Students: |
€ 100
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€ 110
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€ 200
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The registration fee includes congress participation, mid-week excursion, abstract volume, proceedings, welcome party and several receptions.
Bank account number: 001-3835900-14
Name of the account: 16ICA-Gent-2004
Address of the account: Jean-Pierre Maelfait, Monterreystraat 43, 9000 Gent, Belgium
Address of the bank: Fortis Bank, Kantoor Gent-Heuvelpoort, Zwijnaardsesteenweg 8, 9000 Gent, Belgium
Swift code/BIC of FORTIS bank: GEBABEBB
IBAN number of the account: BE94001383590014
Only payments in € will be accepted. Additionally, it must be ensured that all bank charges are for the account of the sender.
The registration at the Congress will be possible from Sunday 1 August from 10:00 till 22:00 in the HIKW-building of Ghent University in the K.L. Ledeganckstraat 35, 9000 Gent.
Student hostel: € 23 (no breakfast). The payment of the student hostel accommodation has to be done together with the registration fee.
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Single
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Double
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| Ghent River Hotel |
€113
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€132
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| Gravensteen |
€106
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€126
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| Ibis Kathedraal |
€ 90
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€ 99
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| Ibis Opera |
€ 85
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€ 94
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Prices are per person per night with all costs (breakfast and taxes) included. People choosing for this option should make their booking directly with the hotel of their choice with the mention they are attending the 16th ICA (file number 255- ICA).The reservation can be made for both Ibis hotels through the website http://www.hotels-belgium.com/gent/hotels.htm, for the Ghent River Hotel via www.ghent-river-hotel.be and for Hotel Gravensteen via www.gravensteen.be (deadline 30 Mai 2004).
A map of the city of Gent with the location of hotels can also be found on the website: http://www.hotels-belgium.com/gent/hotels.htm
http://www.use-it.be/eng/sleeping.htm
Breakfast (€ 1,50) and lunch (between 2,5 and 5 € according to your choice) will be available at the student restaurant “Overpoort”. The meals have to be paid in the restaurant.
A limited number of grants may be available for students and for participants of the less endowed countries. Any request should be directed to the Congress President (jean-pierre.maelfait@instnat.be) as quickly as possible and not later than February 1, 2004. It must include a short CV, a motivation for participation and an estimate of the travel costs involved.
| Registration |
April 1, 2004
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| Grant application |
February 1, 2004
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| Payment /Accommodation reservation |
April 1, 2004
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| Abstract submission |
April 1, 2004
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| Manuscript submission |
September 15, 2004
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Post-Congress Excursion, 8-9 August 2004.
The post-congress excursion will go to the Belgian coast and the Boulonnais-region in the North of France (Région Nord-Pas-de-Calais). During these two days, we will visit a large variety of nature reserves, characterised by an extremely rich botanical (more than 15 species of orchids) and faunistical value. August 8 we visit the coal spoil heaps of Sainte-Marie (a historical industrial area but now an interesting nature reserve with a large variety of dry and humid habitats), large deciduous woodlands on limestone. August 9 an excursion will be organised to the coastal marshes and sand dunes of Dannes and the marshes of Villiers. There will be ample opportunities for spider collecting. Return in Ghent is foreseen at 21:00. Price: 100 € per person. Please register for this event on the enclosed registration form.
-J.-P. Maelfait (President), Institute of Nature Conservation, Brussels & Ghent University, Gent.
-L. Baert (Secretary), Royal Belgian Institute for Natural Sciences, Brussels.
-R. Bosmans, Nature Department, AMINAL, Antwerpen.
-R. Jocqué, Royal Museum of Central Africa, Tervuren
-M. Alderweireldt, L. Beladjal, D. Bonte, S. Gurdebeke, F. Hendrickx, D. Vanacker, J. Vanden Borre, Ghent University, Gent.
-J. Bosselaers, M. Christiaens, H. De Koninck, M. Janssen, R. Kekenbosch, J. Lambrechts, M. Ransy, J. Van Keer, K. Van Keer, “Belgian Arachnological Society ARABEL”
Additional information can be found on the website:
http://allserv.rug.ac.be/~jpmaelfa/index.htm