Conference Proposal: 7th International Congress of Vertebrate Morphology, Boca Raton, Florida, July 2004

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The 7th International Congress of Vertebrate Morphology (ICVM) will be held at Florida Atlantic University, Boca Raton, Florida. This Congress continues the tradition of international cooperation, collegiality, and excellence established in the previous ICVMs. Known for its breadth and depth of coverage, the Congress brings together the best and brightest morphologists of today, and encourages students of morphology to contribute now and to grow with the field for years to come. The congress encourages its more than 400 participants to listen, discuss, learn, and take home new ideas to the classroom, field, and lab. This collegial atmosphere creates opportunities to enrich ideas and build collaborations. ICVM-7, the first Congress to be held in the USA in nearly a decade, includes one plenary lecture per day, each highlighting a different key aspect of the field. There will be daily concurrent sessions for contributed oral presentations, symposium sessions, and workshops. Poster presentation sessions, including four poster symposia, will be held in the evenings. A Scientific Program Committee (SPC) of international composition selected 15 symposia in oral format, 4 symposia in poster format, and 4 workshops from a field of 39 proposals. Symposium organizers were encouraged to develop speaker lists reflecting the diversity of researchers in their area, particularly with respect to nationality, gender, and career stage. They made special efforts to identify and invite graduate students and postdocs who bring novel ideas, robust, energetic approaches and enthusiasm to vertebrate morphology. This combination of established and younger researchers is a foundation of the ICVM. NSF award funds will be distributed in the following order of priority: (1) graduate students and post-doctoral scholars (most symposia, consisting of 6 speakers, include at least one graduate student or post-doc), (2) participants from economically disadvantaged countries, (3) others with demonstrated financial need, such as participants holding unpaid research/faculty positions, (4) symposium and workshop organizers, in recognition of their contributions, and plenary speakers.