International online congress on palaeontology at the Universitat de València
Students and professors from the University have organised the 1st Palaeontological Virtual Congress (1st PVC), the first scientific congress on palaeontology entirely online. During the congress, which will last 15 days, all participants will be able to share their research and keep in touch with other palaeontology researchers from all over the world. The meeting will end on Saturday 15.
12 de december de 2018
More than 350 experts of 35 different nationalities from five continents have taken part in the initiative so far. It will be completed with a book of abstracts including a total of 160 contributions. Thus, the congress is supported by a scientific committee made up of 150 experts on different palaeontology fields and coming from different countries.
The project, which is brand new in palaeontology, has been designed and organised by a team of researchers, PhD students and postgraduates from different institutions. Some of the institutions are the Universitat de València, the Cavanilles Institute for Biodiversity and Evolution Biology, the Museum of Palaeontology of Alpont, the Valencian Museum of Nature History and the UNED. The Universitat de València made available its facilities and IT support to hold the congress.
The main objective of the 1st Palaeontological Virtual Congress is to offer an international platform so that research teams with limited resources access to results of palaeontological research. The organisation therefore states that the initiative is also aimed to tackle a problem with traditional congresses. These have less participation and so researches from affluent countries with well-funded science benefit from it, which does not occur in developing countries. This can be observed in the great participation from countries in South-America, Africa, the Middle East, and Eastern Europe. Moreover, the benefits from the merchandising will be donated to the Médecins Sans Frontières NGO.