ICPP98 Update
7th International Congress of Plant Pathology, Edinburgh
9-16 August 1998
It’s next year . . . !
. . . So now is the time to make your plans, budget for your costs, applyfor funding, and rearrange your holiday to take in the Edinburgh InternationalFestival the week after the Congress!
As a BSPP Member you have received the First Announcement. If you didn’treturn the form to receive further information, do it now! Youwill then receive the Second Announcement in September. If you need more copiesof the First Announcement, contact the Congress Secretariat or visit the Website. Get plenty – and send them to your colleagues all over the world!
The programme . . .
. . . is coming along strongly. It’s in a novel format, with modularsymposia and poster sessions arranged in half-day units. Symposia will compriseinvited oral presentations and include a structured discussion session. Eachsymposium (more than 50 have already been arranged) will have something for thespecialist and something for anyone with a general interest. Poster sessionswill include a structured discussion. There will also be evening discussionmeetings and workshops.
Throughout, topics will be of direct relevance to modern plant pathology.They will appeal to the entire range of plant pathological interests in bothdeveloped and developing nations. Don’t be dismayed if you don’t see yourfamiliar session on a traditional topic – host plant resistance, nematology,crop loss assessment, soilborne diseases, whatever . . . Your interests WILL becatered for within the new format!
Financing your trip . . .
. . . needs thinking about well ahead. The first step for most people willbe to request funding from your unit’s travel budget for next year. For anyonewho is a plant pathologist, there has to be a very strong case to attend, so youneed not be shy putting it forward. Presenting a poster willnearly always strengthen your case. The deadline for titles and abstracts ofposters will be 28 February 1998. Details will be in the Second Announcement.Abstracts will be in a full-page format and will be citable aspublications.
The next step may well be to look for top-up funding from other sources. ForBSPP Members, the Society has established a substantial Assistance Fundto help with costs. Details will be announced later this year. Make sure you arestill a paid-up Member! Tell your colleagues, students, overseas contacts,friends . . . even rivals about the Assistance Fund. NOW is the time for them tojoin BSPP and qualify to apply to the Fund.
For those in developing countries, BSPP has established aBursary Fund to help with costs of the visit to Edinburgh. BSPPhas been supported by many organizations and individuals with contributions tothis Fund. Details will be announced later this year. Many BSPP Members havegenerously contributed to the Bursary Fund. Further gifts or covenants to thisworthy cause are warmly invited: contact Dr Derek Perry, BSPP Treasurer.
Meanwhile, the ICPP98 Organizing Committee is engaged in a major fundraising campaign with a target of more than £200,000 to help make theCongress more affordable for all.
Other attractions . . .
. . . are many. The British royal family, one of whose homes(the Palace of Holyrood House) is in Edinburgh, has lent its name to theCongress through our Patron, The Princess Royal (Princess Anne). She is expectedto address the Opening Ceremony on 10 August 1998.
Edinburgh is not to be missed. Our First Announcementcorrectly calls it “one of the most dramatic and beautiful cities in Europe. . .” and of course ” . . . a focus of plant pathological activity”If you plan to stay on for the Edinburgh International Festival, starting theweek after the Congress, do plan early. Every year hundreds of thousands ofpeople from all over the world come to this famous festival of culture, thearts, entertainment, pageantry, fringe events . . . If you haven’t been before,this is your chance! Scotland is there to be explored.Highlands, islands, bagpipes, tartans, whisky, golf, . . . Make a holiday of it!
The Edinburgh International Conference Centre, venue for theCongress, has now been open a year and has hosted many splendid events. Itstechnical wizardry includes the main Pentland Auditorium, with revolvingsections enabling it to be set up as one, two or three separate auditoria.
Social events at the Congress will include a Ceilidh (it’ssome kind of music, song, dance thing), a couple of receptions, localexcursions, and lots more. Scottish hospitality should take care of everything.
Information technology . . .
. . . Whether you are technophile or technophobe, you will like the IT atICPP98! For example, the programme and abstracts will be availableelectronically if you want, but we shall not be forcing technology on you if youare not keen. If you do not have access to the World Wide Web, you are missingsomething that everyone can enjoy. If you are connected, take a look at theICPP98 Web site, and return to it often because it will be your most up-to-datesource of information about the Congress.
Peter Scott
Chairman, 7th ICPP Organising Committee
