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

第七届国际脊椎动物形态学大会（ICVM）将在佛罗里达州博卡拉顿的佛罗里达大西洋大学举行。本届大会延续了前几届icvm所确立的国际合作、合作和卓越的传统。大会以其广度和深度的报道而闻名，汇集了当今最优秀和最聪明的形态学家，并鼓励形态学学生现在做出贡献，并在未来几年与该领域一起成长。大会鼓励其400多名参与者倾听、讨论、学习，并将新想法带回课堂、现场和实验室。这种大学氛围为丰富思想和建立合作创造了机会。ICVM-7是近十年来在美国举行的第一次大会，每天举行一次全体会议，每次会议都强调该领域的一个不同的关键方面。每天将同时举行口头报告、专题讨论会和讲习班。晚上将举行海报展示会议，包括四场海报专题讨论会。一个国际组成的科学计划委员会（SPC）从39个提案中选择了15个口头形式的专题讨论会，4个海报形式的专题讨论会和4个研讨会。会议鼓励研讨会组织者编制发言者名单，以反映各自领域研究人员的多样性，特别是在国籍、性别和职业阶段方面。他们特别努力地寻找和邀请研究生和博士后，他们为脊椎动物形态学带来了新颖的想法、强有力的、充满活力的方法和热情。成熟和年轻研究人员的结合是ICVM的基础。NSF奖励资金将按以下优先顺序分配：(1)研究生和博士后学者（大多数专题讨论会由6名演讲者组成，其中至少包括一名研究生或博士后），(2)来自经济落后国家的参与者，(3)其他有经济需要的人，例如无薪研究/教师职位的参与者，(4)研讨会和研讨会组织者，以表彰他们的贡献，以及全体会议演讲者。

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.