new news about ISBA2020

Dear ISBA Members,

As you probably are all aware now that there is a coronavirus epidemic going around in China, impacting most severely Hubei province but all provinces in China have been affected to various extents. Expectedly there are concerns among the community regarding attending the ISBA World Meeting in China in late June.

We are keeping a close eye on the development. While at this point we are cautiously optimistic that the epidemic will not last till June, both as a result of the extraordinary measure that China is taking to contain the spread, and as cold-like coronaviruses generally don’t spread effectively as temperature rises in spring. However, we want to stay cautious and keep options open, and will take the necessary actions to ensure the health and safety of our community.

As of now, after discussing with the ISBA executives and the local organizers, we have decided to

1. Extend the Early Registration Deadline from April 15 to May 15, allowing the prospective participants to have more time to observe the development.

2. Keep the submission for Contributed Posters open till the new Early Registration Deadline May 15.

3. Keep you all updated should there be any changes in the plan of the meeting. In particular, if in the next couple of months the epidemic is not contained, and thus there will be health risk to the community in participating in the meeting, we will consider alternatives such as postponing the World Meeting.

If you were considering submitting a Contributed Talk and/or Travel award application by the deadline Jan 31, please still do so as the Scientific Committee will need sufficient time to evaluate those submissions.

Thank you all again for your support to the meeting and ISBA.

We hope that the epidemic will be contained quickly and we will still be able to see you all in Kunming!

Best Regards,
Li Ma, on behalf of the ISBA2020 Scientific Committee