28.08.2022 | Announcement #16

 

Dear Friends and Colleagues,

I hope you have now fully recovered after the Banquet 😉

Once again thank you very much for coming to Kraków and for presenting your research at the Symposium. It was so great to finally meet after a long 4-year break, to see both familiar and new faces!

In addition to printed certificates with holographic seals that you received on Friday, I’ll send you PDF certificates (digitally signed, which makes them legal documents) via email later today.

We’ll create an online Symposium Photoalbum with the photos and videos taken by our photographer, Adam Koprowski, and with photos and videos you’ll send us. If you want to share your photos/videos, please upload them to a cloud of your choice and send me the download link to krakow@tardigrada.net (here’re some most popular cloud services: WeTransfer.com, SendSpace.com, GoogleDrive, DropBox, OneDrive, iCloud). Please don’t send us the photos as email attachments. Please send us your download links by 11.09.2022.

Some of you asked if it’d be possible to make your presentations and/or posters available online. It’s a great idea, so if you’d like to share your presentation/poster(s) please fill this form by 04.09.2022 and we’ll upload your PPTX or PDF files onto the Symposium Website for everyone to download them for one month (i.e. until 05.10.2022). Otherwise your presentation will not be made publicly available and it will be deleted.

Following your requests, the new (and final!) deadline for submitting manuscripts to the Symposium Proceedings is 30.11.2022. When preparing your manuscripts, please make sure you carefully follow the Manuscript Guidelines.

Have a safe homeward journey or, if you decided to stay in Kraków for a bit longer, enjoy sightseeing!

Already looking forward to seeing you all again in Japan in 2025!

 

Best Wishes,

Łukasz Michalczyk

Chair of Tardigrada 2022

 

21.08.2022 | Announcement #15

 

Dear Friends and Colleagues,

We are all ready and waiting for your arrival!

Safe and hassle-free journeys! 😊

 

Best Wishes,

Łukasz Michalczyk

Chair of Tardigrada 2022

 

20.08.2022 | Announcement #14

 

Dear Friends and Colleagues,

Just to let you know that the Symposium Book with all abstracts and other useful information has just been published on the Symposium website. In order to save some trees, we’ll provide you only with a printed pocket-sized mini-programme with talk titles, whereas the full Symposium Book is available solely in a digital form. To make it easier to use, the Table of Contents and all presentation titles are hyperlinked and you can go back to the Table of Contents by clicking the header on each page. There’s also a small guide included on how to aid the navigation through the Symposium Book.

Important information regarding talks: Please name your presentations according to the following key: session number (1–9), a hyphen (-), talk number within your session (1–6), a hyphen (-), and the surname of the presenting author without special characters/accents (basic Latin alphabet only, no underscores please). For example, the first talk on Monday should be named as “1-1-Mapalo.pptx” (and/or “1-1-Mapalo.pdf”), the last talk on Monday: “2-5-Pust.pptx”, the second last talk in the morning session on Tuesday: “3-4-Lopez-Lopez.pptx”, the first talk in the second session on Friday: “9-1-Concordet.pptx”, etc. This will greatly help us with session organisation.

Please contact the IT Support (two guys, Konrad and Szymon, with black Symposium badges) to upload your presentation onto the Lecture Hall computer (using your laptop is possible but not recommended). Please upload your talk no later than 30 minutes before your session.

Last but not least – breaking news – the Wawel Dragon (Smok Wawelski) has awoken for our Symposium and you may enjoy trying to find him in the Old Town and the Royal Castle by downloading this app onto your smartphone: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=pl.cinematicvr.smokwkrakowie 😉

Have a great weekend and see you on Monday morning at the Auditorium Maximum!

 

Best Wishes,

Łukasz Michalczyk

Chair of Tardigrada 2022

 

15.08.2022 | Announcement #13

 

Dear Friends and Colleagues,

COVID-19 infection rates in Poland have been low compared to the Spring wave. Thus, currently no COVID-19 tests or quarantine is required upon arrival to Poland. However, the situation is dynamic and unpredictable to some extent, so please keep checking the latest information on travel restrictions at least a few days prior to your arrival to Kraków.

Please note that today is the last day to fill out the yellow form and/or the red form if would like assistance upon your arrival and/or examine microscope slides from our collection.

There’s a new subsection of the Symposium website with a few suggestions of extra activities you might want try while being in Kraków.

We don’t want to give too much away about the wonderful Symposium gifts we have for you, but Participants with the Full Symposium Package (_***) are kindly requested to keep some free room in their luggage for a VIP gift (28×24×10 cm of space and 3 kg of weight).

You might have wondered why sessions have different background colours in the Programme (Biodiversity is green, Ecology is blue, Morphology is pink, and Physiology is black). This is so, because Kamil Janelt and I have we prepared themed illustrations for each section, and every one of these illustrations has a dominating colour. The illustrations will be revealed before each of the sessions, and on Wednesday everyone will get a set of postcards featuring these illustrations (+ a postcard with the Symposium logo):

 

While packing and polishing your presentations, stay tuned for the next Announcement, as The Symposium Book with all abstracts will be published later this week.

See you next Monday! 😊
 

Best Wishes,

Łukasz Michalczyk

Chair of Tardigrada 2022

 

05.08.2022 | Announcement #12

 

Dear Friends and Colleagues,

I’m happy to let you know that the detailed Symposium Programme with talk and poster titles is now available on the Symposium website.

Moreover, two further sections, which I hope you may find helpful, are now available: Venue and Polish Essentials.

Also, please don’t forget to fill out the yellow form and/or the red form by 15.08.2022 if would like assistance upon your arrival and/or examine microscope slides from our collection.

Finally, a message for Young Scientist Award Contestants: these shiny Symposium medals with Polish flag ribbons are ready and waiting to be presented (in addition to financial awards) to authors of two best talks (gold medals) and two best posters (silver medals) in the categories of Zoology and Physiology:

 

 

Best Wishes,

Łukasz Michalczyk

Chair of Tardigrada 2022

 

27.07.2022 | Announcement #11

Dear Friends and Colleagues,

The Symposium is now less than a month away and we have as many as three online forms for you to fill out... but don’t worry, they’re not obligatory.

The yellow form is for those of you who would like some help with getting from the Kraków Airport to the City. Our Volunteers, in bright yellow T-shirts with the Symposium logo, will be at the Arrival Hall on Sunday (21.08.2022) and will show you the way to the transportation of your choice (train, bus, taxi), as well as help you to buy appropriate tickets. Please fill out the form by 15.08.2022.

The red form  is for those who would like to examine type specimens deposited at the Jagiellonian University Collection. The types will be available during the Microscope Slide Examination on Friday afternoon. There will be two light contrast microscopes (LCMs) with digital cameras and computers. If you wish to take measurements and/or photos, please bring a USB pendrive with you to save your files. We also encourage you to bring your own slides to the Symposium (at least one LCM will be available throughout the entire Symposium). Please fill out the form also by 15.08.2022.

The blue form is for those of you who would like buy a souvenir T-shirt with the Symposium logo when you arrive to Kraków (we have some really cool gifts for you in the Welcome Pack, but T-shirts are not included). Here is the guide to size categories both for male and female T-shirt models and to the fabric palette (40 colours to choose from!). Price per T-shirt (regardless of the cut, fabric colour or T-shirt size) is 45 PLN. An exemplary dark and bright colour T-shirt are shown below (the difference is in the outline of the logo: bright T-shirts have black outlines whereas dark T-shirts are with white outlines):

 

If you’d like to purchase T-shirt(s), please fill out the T-shirt Order Form by 03.08.2022 (thus, there’s only a week to order the T-shirts and no orders or cancellations after this date will be possible). Please note that if you order your T-shirt(s) you must pay and collect them during the Symposium (both cash and card payments will be accepted).

See you soon!
 

Best Wishes,

Łukasz Michalczyk

Chair of Tardigrada 2022

 

01.07.2022 | Announcement #10

 

Dear Friends and Colleagues,
 

Just to let you know that the preliminary Programme Overview of the Symposium is now available.

More information soon.

See you next month! 😊
 

Best Wishes,
 

Łukasz Michalczyk

Chair of Tardigrada 2022

 

12.06.2022 | Announcement #9

Dear Symposium Participants,

Now that the Cancellation Deadline has passed and all abstracts have been submitted, we have prepared a new section of the website comprising Presentation Guidelines. Please get familiar with the guidelines and prepare your presentations accordingly.

The good news is that COVID-19 cases in Poland are already hitting summer lows, i.e. ca. 250 cases and 3 death per day across the entire country.

On a different note, we are happy to announce that the Rector of the Jagiellonian University has taken the Symposium under his patronage.

Łukasz Michalczyk
Chair of Tardigrada 2022

 

 

19.05.2022 | Announcement #8

Dear Friends and Colleagues,

A quick reminder that the extended Late Registration deadline is only three days away, i.e. this Sunday, May 22^nd at midnight (CEST). Thus, if you haven’t completed your registration via our Registration Platform, please do it as soon as possible.

In case of any problems with registration or payment, please contact Michał or Kinga at konferencje@uj.edu.pl (please don’t forget to place “Tardigrada 2022: ” followed by the topic of your query in the email subject line).

This is the last Symposium Announcement circulated via the Tardigrada Newsletter Mailing List. All future Announcements will be sent from krakow@tardigrada.net only to the registered Symposium participants. Nevertheless, all Announcements will continue to be published here.

Łukasz Michalczyk
Chair of Tardigrada 2022

 

 

24.04.2022 | Announcement #7

Dear Friends and Colleagues,

This is just a quick reminder that the extended Early Registration deadline is next Friday, i.e. there’s only one week left to register with the Early Registration fees. Thus, if you haven’t completed your registration via our Registration Platform, please do it as soon as possible to avoid paying the Late Registration fees, which all are 25% higher than the Early Registration fees.

Please note that registering under the Early Registration fees requires: (1) filling the registration form, (2) paying the registration fee, and (3) submitting your abstract(s) if you want to give a talk or/and present your poster(s). Submitting your abstract(s) after 22.04.2022 will mean that you will have to pay the Late Registration fee in order to present at the Symposium.

If for any reason you cannot come to the Symposium but you’d still like to present your poster in absentia, you can register, send us your poster in PDF, and we will print and display it for you.

In case of any problems with registration or payment, please contact Michał or Kinga at konferencje@uj.edu.pl (please don’t forget to place “Tardigrada 2022: ” followed by the topic of your query in the email subject line).

COVID-19 infection and death rates in Poland are now low and constantly decreasing:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Data source: Polish Ministry of Health; graph: Flourish Studio (modified).

Thus, it seems that the rates are very likely to diminish to nearly zero in the summer, as predicted based on the last two summers.

As always, we kindly ask you to spread the news about the Symposium wherever you can!

Cannot wait to see you all this summer in Kraków!  😊

Łukasz Michalczyk
Chair of Tardigrada 2022

 

 

29.03.2022 | Announcement #6

 

Dear Friends and Colleagues,

I hope this message finds you well and healthy.

I have received numerous requests to extend the deadline, as some of you need more time to finalise abstracts and secure funds to pay the registration fees (please remember that abstract submission deadlines are the same as registration deadlines). Therefore, to accommodate your appeals, the Early Registration deadline is now extended to 22.04.2022, whereas the new Late Registration is 22.05.2022, and the new Cancellation deadline is 06.06.2022. The Early Registration countdown has now been reset to the extended date.

Some of you are also concerned about whether the Russian aggression against Ukraine may affect the Symposium. I would like to emphasise that Poland is a member of NATO and as such, the risk of military actions on the territory of Poland is negligible. Moreover, despite welcoming a large number of Ukrainian refugees (or guests, as we refer to them), life in Kraków is business as usual (see photos below). Most importantly, however, in the unlikely case that the Symposium cannot be held in Kraków in August 2022, everyone who registered will be able to vote on whether they want to postpone the Symposium and come to Kraków in 2023 or whether they would like the Symposium to be held online. In other words, registration entails no risk of losing your funds.

While we are on the subject of Ukraine, I am happy to announce that all Ukrainian citizens and residents affiliated with Ukrainian institutions, who left the country on or after 24.02.2022 or are currently in Ukraine and wish to apply for a Travel Grant, are exempt from age limits and from paying the registration fee in advance.

I also have some good news regarding the COVID-19 situation in Poland. The omicron wave has plummeted much faster than predicted and the current infection and death rates are similar to those at the end of April 2021, so we are one month ahead in the desired direction compared to the last year. This significantly strengthens the predictions based on the two last years that the rates are expected to diminish to nearly zero in the summer (see the subsection devoted to COVID-19 for more details).

Here are a couple of photos I took yesterday afternoon in the Old Town and at the river to show you that although the overall mood is not cheerful, life goes on as usual:

 

28.02.2022 | Announcement #5

 

Dear Friends and Colleagues,

Just to let you know that our Registration Platform is fully operational and you can start registering for the Symposium (big thanks Kinga Rozwadowska from the JU Conference Organisation Section for her valuable help in setting up the Platform).

In case of any problems with registration or payment, please contact Kinga or Michał at konferencje@uj.edu.pl (please don’t forget to type “Tardigrada 2022: ” followed by the topic of your query in the email subject line).

Take care,

Łukasz Michalczyk
Chair of Tardigrada 2022

 

 

14.02.2022 | Announcement #4

Dear Friends and Colleagues,

I am very pleased to present you with the official website of the 15^th International Symposium on Tardigrada: tardigrada.uj.edu.pl

Although a few sections are yet to be published at later times (e.g. the Symposium Programme), the great majority of subsites are fully operational and you are kindly invited to explore them all. The most important sections at this moment are: information on all Deadlines related to the Symposium, Fees & Payments, detailed Abstract Guidelines (with a template to help you prepare your abstracts), and the description of our Registration Platform (which is aimed to be launched by the end of the month). Those among us who are still lucky to be enjoying their youth may be interested in information about Travel Grants and Young Scientist Awards too. There are two countdown clocks on the website: one showing how much time is left until the Symposium (currently 188 days), and the other – displayed only in the REGISTRATION section – counting down to the Early Registration deadline (45 days left).

You may also find useful the sections devoted to information and tips on what are the best ways of Getting to Kraków and how to find great Accommodation in the Royal City (primary suggestion: book as soon as possible, especially that nowadays many booking services offer reservations without prepayments or with fully refunded cancellations up to a week prior to arrival). Some of you may be hesitant to travel in the COVID-19 era, thus there is a separate section devoted only to COVID-19 and how to make your trip to Kraków as safe and as hassle-free as possible. Please check out also the Contact section and our kind request on how to use the offered channels of communication to help us help you efficiently.

Furthermore, I am very happy to introduce the amazing Invited Speakers who will deliver interesting and inspiring keynote talks. I am also glad to confirm that the prestigious Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society will kindly host the Symposium Proceedings (big thanks to Maarten Christenhusz, Editor-in-Chief of the ZJLS, and the Oxford University Press for making this possible).

I am also extremely grateful to our Sponsors (mainly the Polish Ministry of Education and Science, but the Faculty of Biology of the Jagiellonian University also chipped in), whose generous support made it possible to organise an attractive Symposium programme while keeping the registration fees at affordable levels despite the raging inflation and the global COVID-19 crisis (I owe thanks to Patrycja Dąbrowska-Wierzbowska from the JU Research Support Centre for helping me with the Ministry application).

I hope you will enjoy the Symposium website (huge cheers to Michał Rdzanek from the JU Conference Organisation Section for his invaluable help in setting up the website; and to Vladimir Gross for proof-reading the contents). I also hope that you will register as soon as the Registration Platform comes to life (it is currently being thoroughly tested to ensure smooth registration, abstract submission and payment processing).

Please forward this Announcement to anyone who could be interested in attending the Symposium, and please publicise also the address of the Symposium website, tardigrada.uj.edu.pl, by all possible means (social media, newsletters, websites, blogs, etc.).

All the best in the recently started New Year 😊 and lots of love on the occasion of St. Valentine’s Day! ♥

Łukasz Michalczyk
Chair of Tardigrada 2022

 

12.12.2021 | Announcement #3

Dear Friends and Colleagues,

I hope this message finds you well and healthy.

A quick announcement with some vital updates concerning the 15^th International Symposium on Tardigrada, which is planned to be held in Kraków, from the 22^nd to the 26^th of August 2022:

Early Registration and Abstract submission deadline is the 31^st of March 2022, whereas Late Registration will be open until the 15^th of May 2022.

The official Symposium website will be released in the beginning of 2022 and the link to the website with further information will be sent in the Fourth Announcement. For the time being, all information on the Kraków Symposium can be found in the dedicated section of the Tardigrada Newsletter.

We will be grateful for forwarding this announcement to your friends and colleagues who might be interested in attending the Symposium.

Please stay tuned for future announcements, which will be published on the Tardigrada Newsletter and will be also circulated via the Tardigrada Newsletter Mailing List.

We look forward to seeing you all in Kraków next Summer!

Best Wishes & Take care,

Łukasz Michalczyk
Chair of Tardigrada 2022

01.03.2021 | Announcement #2

Dear Friends and Colleagues,

We have been carefully observing the dynamics of the COVID-19 pandemic, restrictions and vaccinations in Poland and throughout the World. It seems that holding the Symposium this year is too risky, thus we have come to the conclusion that the best solution is to postpone the event to 2022.

Therefore, the new date of the 15^th International Symposium on Tardigrada is the 22^nd – 26^th of August 2022, and we have updated the official logo of the Symposium accordingly:

We will be very much grateful for forwarding this announcement to your friends and colleagues who might be interested in attending the Symposium.

Please stay tuned for future announcements, which will be published on the Tardigrada Newsletter and will be also circulated by the Tardigrada Newsletter Mailing List.

We look forward to seeing you all in Kraków next year!

On behalf of the Organising Committee,
Chair of XV International Symposium on Tardigrada,
Łukasz Michalczyk

01.10.2020 | Announcement #1

Dear Friends and Colleagues,

As announced three years ago in Copenhagen, the 15^th International Symposium on Tardigrada is planned to be held in Kraków, Poland, from the 23^rd to the 27^th of August 2021, and as of today (October 2020), this date remains valid.

However, since the COVID-19 pandemic has significantly altered the lives of people in 2020 throughout the world, we must take into consideration that travel and gathering restrictions may extend into 2021 and it may not be possible to hold the Symposium as originally planned. If this is indeed the case, we could postpone the Symposium to 2022, move the meeting to an online platform in 2021 or organise a hybrid meeting in 2021 (a small gathering in Kraków transmitted online).

The Organising Committee has agreed that if the pandemic is still untamed in early Spring 2021, it would be better to postpone the Symposium to 2022 than to move it to the virtual dimension partially or in full. We decided that this will be the best solution since with the current technology virtual meetings are far from what real gatherings can provide. This is especially important in terms of social interactions, including informal conversations that often take place in parallel to the conference programme and which are an indispensable arena for exchanging thoughts and ideas.

Thus, depending on the dynamics of the COVID-19 pandemic in Spring 2021, we will either confirm that the Symposium will take place in 2021 as originally planned or we will inform that the conference will be postponed to 2022. This will be communicated in the second announcement which is planned to be published in early Spring 2021.

A dedicated website with detailed information on the Symposium is planned to be launched in the Spring 2021 and in the meantime all Symposium announcements will be communicated via the Tardigrada Newsletter Mailing List and they will also be published in the 'News' section of the Tardigrada Newsletter.

The Symposium Proceedings are planned to be published in the Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society.
We are also happy to present the official logo of the 15^th International Symposium on Tardigrada:

The explanation of the idea behind the logo is available in the section of the Tardigrada Newsletter dedicated to the Symposium.
We will be very much grateful for spreading this announcement to your friends and colleagues.

We look forward to seeing you all in Kraków!

On behalf of the Organising Committee,
Chair of XV International Symposium on Tardigrada,
Łukasz Michalczyk