Society of Systematic Biologists

Web site

Organizers
Olivier Gascuel (CNRS, Montpellier)
Mike Steel (Univ. Canterbury, Christchurch)

Theme
This conference follows a similar workshop that was held in June 2003. The subject is evolution, which is considered at different scales: sequences, genes, gene families, organelles, genomes, and species. The focus is on the mathematical and computational tools and concepts, which form an essential basis of evolutionary studies. Recent years have witnessed rapid progress in this area, with models and methods becoming more realistic, powerful, and complex. The goal of the conference is to provide pedagogical presentations of the main subjects in the field, from basic principles to the cutting edge, with time for discussion and debate. There will be presentations by some of the leading experts in the field. Each speaker will survey a broad range of methods, techniques and results. Young scientists will also be selected, to give short talks or present posters.

Expert Speakers
Elizabeth Allman (Univ. Southern Maine)
Laurent Excoffier (Univ. Bern)
Joe Felsenstein (Univ. Washington)
Dan Gusfield (Univ. Berkeley)
Daniel Huson (Univ. Tuebingen)
Bret Larget (Univ. Wiscousin)
Arne Mooers (Univ. Simon Fraser)
Pavel Pevzner (Univ. California)
Allen Rodrigo (Univ. Auckland)
Charles Semple (Univ. Canterbury, Christchurch)
Mike Steel (Univ. Canterbury, Christchurch)

Call for Presentations of Young Scientists
Young scientists will be selected, to give short talks or present posters. Those wishing to do so should email Olivier Gascuel and Mike Steel with an extended abstract of the intended presentation, with links to published papers or manuscripts (gascuel@lirmm.fr, M.Steel@math.canterbury.ac.nz)
Deadline: February 28, 2005,

Location and registration
The conference will be held in the French mathematical Institut Henri Poincare, situated in the centre of Paris, close to the Luxembourg garden. The registration web site will be open soon (address is above). The registration fee is 100 Euros (not applicable to expert and selected speakers). Early registration are encouraged as in 2003 the meeting filled up and registration was closed (with a waiting list) sometime before the meeting.