[Coral-List] ICRS registration deadlines

David Glassom davidg at ori.org.za
Mon Feb 23 05:07:03 EST 2004


Dear Coral Listers

I wonder if I am the only person feeling frustrated by the early registration 
deadline for this year's ICRS in Japan? Especially in view of the lack of 
formal notification of which abstracts have been accepted for oral / poster 
presentations. 
For many researchers, funding for international conferences must be applied for 
as each conference approaches. Often funding depends on confirmation in writing 
that the researcher will present a paper at the conference. It usually takes 
several weeks to a couple of months to hear whether funding has been granted or 
not. Under these circumstances, meeting the registration deadline for 10ICRS 
was extremely difficult - impossible, in my case. I suspect the same is true 
for many other coral researchers, especially young researchers without large 
research grants and those from developing countries, to whom the registration 
fee, converted to local currencies, is a substantial sum. 
Funding issues aside, the early registration deadline also denies researchers 
the chance to consider their attendance if their submissions 
 are accepted as poster presentations rather than talks, which are often 
preferred.  This is especially pertinent since each researcher is limited to 
submission of only 1 oral presentation.

No doubt the early deadline will ensure that the program will run more smoothly 
than in Bali, with fewer late withdrawals. But if the price of a better program 
is a less inclusive conference, will it have been worth it? I doubt it, but am 
interested in what other coral reef scientists think. 

David Glassom

-------------------------------------------------
This mail sent through IMP: www.saambr


-------------------------------------------------
This mail sent through IMP: www.saambr



More information about the Coral-List mailing list