Dr Anke Carius
Society secretary
Department of Plant Physiology
Umeå University
901 87 Umeå
Sweden
Thank you everyone who came to Svalbard and made our conference as special as it was!
In this Gallery you can see some of my (Anke) pictures from Svalbard. If you would like to contribute and publish some pictures here, too, send me an email.
Update your membership or become a member!
SPPS is offering a strongly subsidized member rate for this conference!
If you sign up to become a member you don't have to await a confirmation from us to book your conference ticket for the member price. We usually receive many new membership registrations before our conference so that it can take a little time to answer them all. However, if you do not sign up for a membership but register as a member we will invoice you for the difference in price.
You will be able to book accommodation during the registration for the conference. We working together with Radisson Blu Polar Hotel and Funken Lodge. Rooms are available as double, single and shared double rooms and can be booked for the period from Monday 29th August to Friday 2nd September. A negotiated package for the weekend 2 – 4. september is also available from Radisson Blu Polar Hotel.
Other accommodation is also available in Longearbyen, but you will then need to book this independently (for instance Gjestehuset 102 or Mary Ann's Polarrigg). Shutle buses to the conference venue will leave from Radisson Blu Polar Hotel.
The conference venue is the legendary «Huset» (The House), located with a view over Longearbyen. (See MAP). Shuttle buses will transport conference participants between the hotels and the conference venue – but it is also in 30 mins walking distance.
Right now, there are two routes to Svalbard available: Flight via Oslo with SAS or Norwegian (Tuesday 30th, back Friday 2nd or Sunday 4th) and Flight from Tromsø with Norwegian (only Monday 29th and Friday 2nd). Connecting flights via Oslo are available from Stockholm, Gothenburg, Copenhagen and Helsinki. From Umeå, a possible route is by night train to Narvik, a bus to Tromsø and a short flight. The alternative is to change flights in Stockholm and Oslo and an overnight stay in Oslo. Additional information about travel will be posted here in short time. A shuttle bus from and to the airport at Svalbard is included in the registration fee (Tuesday arrivals and Friday departures only).
All rooms that are bookable are now, after som rearrangement at Radisson Blu and the available rooms for two persons are twin rooms, meaning that the beds can be seperated. For you who would like to share a room due to cost, but does not have anyone to share with, you can now send an email to the SPPS office and we will try to match you up. We need your name and gender, generally, we will match you up with someone of the same gender. Please be aware that it might be impossible to back out of sharing the room, if you end up being uncomfortable with your roommate.
You can also ask to find a roommate if you have already booked. We will modify your booking accordingly.
Mailto: anke.carius(@) umu.se
It is no longer possible to apply for a travel grant for this conference as regular registration time has ended.
SPPS is providing a total of 100.000 SEK for PhD student travel grants. To be able to help many students to participate, SPPS provides 20 stipends worth 5000 SEK each. The travel grants will be in the form of a discount on your registration invoice, so make sure to book accommodation via the registration form. During registration you will be able to indicate that you apply for a travel grant. Please check the respective box if you would like to apply. The prerequisites for our grants are: 1. You are a PhD-student, 2. from a lab within the Nordic countries, 3. member of SPPS 4. actively participating in the conference with a poster or oral presentation (hand in your abstract upon registration).
The program for this year's conference is stuffed with interesting topics, charismatic speakers and exiting excursions and food. In addition to keynote speakers, oral presentations will be chosen for each topic from submitted abstracts.
The scientific committee has selected interesting speakers for each of our five sessions! Of course, also the winners of the SPPS prizes will present their work. More slots for oral presentations are available. If you would like to present your work, please submit your abstract during registration and check the box for consideration for oral presentation. Poster presentations will also be possible, of course!
Malcolm Bennet will represent session 1: Systems biology
Rita Gross-Hardt will represent session 2: Development
Kelly Swarts will represent session 3: Genome Biology
Jonathan Jones will represent session 4: Abiotic & biotic factors
Marinela Dukic will represent session 5: Evolution
Early Bird Registration for SPPS Members: 2500 SEK (only until 10th of April!!)
Regular Registration for SPPS Members: 3000 SEK (from 11th of April until 24th of April)
Late Registration is now open for SPPS Members: 4000 SEK (2nd of May- 1st of July, as long as spots are available). It is not longer possible to apply for travel grants.
The registration for non members is 5000 SEK
Climate and environmental impact
As it is solely possible to travel to Svalbard by airplane, SPPS will "climate compensate" for the caused CO2 exaustion of 180 medium distance plane trips using the United Nations Climate Offset Platform and donate 15.000 SEK to the local Svalbard Environmental Protection Fund. For your trip there, we still urge you to choose the most environmentally friendly travel alternatives.