26-30 August 2019
The Venice Summer School: Mechanism in Development & Evolution will take place as an EMBO/FEBS Lecture Course. Applications will open in January 2019. Check twitter for updates: @VeniceEvoDevo.
Location: Venice, Italy
Organizers: Johannes Jaeger, Berta Verd & James DiFrisco
Registration deadline: 30 April 2019
More information: EMBO Events website // course outline // preliminary course schedule
9 June – 5 July 2019
The SFI Complex Systems Summer School offers an intensive 4-week introduction to complex behavior in mathematical, physical, living, and social systems. The school is for graduate students, postdoctoral fellows, and professionals seeking to transcend traditional disciplinary boundaries and ask big questions about real-life complex systems.
The program consists of an intensive series of lectures, labs, and discussions focusing on foundational concepts, tools, and current topics in complexity science. These include nonlinear dynamics, scaling theory, information theory, adaptation and evolution, networks, machine learning, agent-based models, and other topical areas and case studies. Participants collaborate in developing novel research projects throughout the four weeks of the program that culminate in final presentations and papers.
Location: Santa Fe, New Mexico, USA
Organizer: Santa Fe Institute
Registration deadline: 15 January 2019
More information: Summer school website
7-8 March 2019
IWEE19 is the 2019 Interdisciplinary Workshop on Evolution and Ecology: Bringing Science, History and Philosophy Together. IWEE19 aims at bringing together postgraduate students and early-career researchers interested in evolutionary biology and ecology from a variety of disciplines. The workshop is designed so as to dedicate equal time to presentation and discussion. Keynote speakers are Ivana Gudelj and John Turner. Registration is free.
Everyone is invited to submit an abstract of about 250 words for a 20-minute talk accessible to non-specialists.
Location: Leeds, United Kingdom
Organizers: Leonardo Miele, Robest West, Helen Piel & Arthur Carlyle
Abstract and registration deadline: 8 February 2019
More information: workshop website
31 July – 4 August 2019
The third biennial conference of the Pan-American Society for Evolutionary Developmental Biology will be held in sunny Miami, Florida. Check the society website and twitter feed for updates as they become available.
Location: Miami, Florida, USA
10-12 January 2019
The Evolutionary Demography Society, founded in 2013, is a scientific organization that is focused on conceptual integration across disciplines, most notably human demography and evolutionary biology (but also ecology, sociology, anthropology, epidemiology, public health). Plenary speakers at the Sixth EvoDemoSoc Annual Meeting include: Elisabetta Barbi, Yngvild Vindenes, Emily Bruns, Luke Eberhart-Phillips, S. Tuljapurkar, James R. Carey, Ulrich Steiner, Deborah A. Roach, Susan Kalisz, Takenori Takada, Shayna Bernstein, Lotte de Vries, Rebecca Sear, Ron Bassar, and Susanne Schindler.
Location: Miami, Florida, USA
More information and registration: conference website
9-15 September 2018
EMPSEB24 is the 24th European Meeting of PhD Students in Evolutionary Biology. All delegates are expected to give a talk. PhD students in the early stages of their research are very welcome. Delegates may also bring a poster any about any other research in which they are involved.
Location: Bubión, Granada, Spain
Abstract deadline: 13 May 2018
Registration deadline: 1 June 2018
More information and registration: conference website
11-13 January 2019
Behaviour is ubiquitous, and can be studied at various levels of organization, from single molecules to populations, using tools as diverse as microscopy, field observations and mathematical modelling. The key concept of Understanding Behaviour 2019 is to showcase cutting edge behavioural research across disciplines, not limited to the confines of animal behaviour alone.
Location: Mohanpur, West Bengal, India
Abstract deadline: 15 September 2018
Registration deadline: 31 October 2018
More information and registration: conference website
23-26 April 2019
The European Human Behaviour and Evolution Association (EHBEA) conferences aim to provide a much needed interdisciplinary European forum for discussing evolutionary research applied to the behavioural sciences, broadly interpreted. The 14th annual conference will take place in Toulouse, France. Plenary speakers are Etienne Danchin, Claudine Junien, Daniel Lieberman, Richard McElreath, Anne Pusey & Jean Tirole.
Location: Toulouse, France
Organizers: Alexis Chaine, Morgane Gibert, Denis Pierron, Harilanto Razafindrazaka, Jonathan Stieglitz & Clément Zanolli
Abstract deadline: 20 December 2018
Registration deadline: 1 March 2019
More information: conference website
23-28 September 2018
The Complex Systems Society presents their 2018 conference in Thessaloniki, Greece. There are 27 satellite meetings covering a large range of topics within the study of complex systems. For more information and registration, visit the conference website.
Location: Thessaloniki, Greece
Abstract deadline: 4 May 2018
Registration deadline: 15 August 2018
More information and registration: conference website
22-24 October 2018
The 2018 IGC Symposium on Microbial Eco-Evolutionary Dynamics aims to discuss recent developments in microbial eco-evolutionary dynamics research and serve as a venue for integrating the results obtained from different fields of evolution and ecology. By bringing together experts on different aspects of microbial evolution and ecology (e.g. experimental evolution, comparative genomics, ecological interactions, and theoretical biology), it hopes to facilitate the development of new research strategies to better understand the generation and maintenance of microbial diversity.
Location: Oeiras, Portugal
Abstract deadline: 15 June 2018
Registration & abstract submission: registration website
More information: conference website
26-27 April 2018
The Evolutionary Biology Centre at Uppsala University is pleased to announce their first symposium on speciation. Plenary speakers are Jenny Boughman (Michigan State University) and Maria Servedio (University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill). For other confirmed speakers, please see the conference poster.
Location: Uppsala, Sweden
Registration deadline: 20 April via the registration website
More information: conference poster
18-21 September 2018
Evolution in the 21st Century is the inaugural conference of the Milner Centre for Evolution. The Milner Centre for Evolution is a unique cross-faculty research centre bridging biology, health, and education. The opening of the new dedicated facility will be marked with a broad ranging conference on evolutionary biology, bringing together world leaders from across the field of evolution, including palaeontology, population biology, evolutionary ecology and much more.
Plenary speakers are: Alice Roberts (University of Birmingham), Gil McVean (University of Oxford), Hanna Kokko (University of Zurich), Neil Shubin (University of Chicago), and Peter and Rosemary Grant (Princeton University).
Location: Bath, United Kingdom
More information: conference website
29 July – 12 August 2018
The Diverse Intelligences Summer Institute will build a community of early career scholars dedicated to actively breaking down transdisciplinary boundaries in investigating the frontiers of intelligence. Pushing back the frontiers of intelligence requires pulling down the barriers between traditional disciplines. It requires the constitution of a new “community of practice” focused on diverse intelligences, in which promising young scholars are connected across disciplinary lines. The schedule balances lectures on cutting edge research with mentored collaborative work among fellows and includes a few local outings for fun and camaraderie!
Location: St Andrews, United Kingdom
More information and registration: summer school website
16-19 April 2018
Evolang 2018 is the 12th International Conference on Language Evolution. The Evolang conference series provides the major meeting for researchers worldwide in the origins and evolution of language. The conferences are interdisciplinary, with contributions from disciplines including, but not limited to: anthropology, archeology, artificial life, biology, cognitive science, genetics, linguistics, modeling, paleontology, physiology, primatology, and psychology. Typically, about 300 delegates attend, with representatives from all these disciplines.
Location: Torun, Poland
Abstract deadline: 15 September 2017
More information: conference website
27-28 September 2018
The perception of environmental stimuli, their processing and integration is essential for any organism. Apart from the more familiar senses like hearing, seeing or tasting, there are sensory tasks performed by highly specialized animals, such as echolocation in bats or the perception of polarized light in grasshoppers. Sensory processing consequently also differs strongly between species. However, at the same time there are astonishing similarities between sensory modalities of phylogenetically distant animal groups, such as the shared cellular structure of light-sensitive organs or the genetic control and developmental origin of sensory cells. With methodological innovation, more and more species can be used for detailed analyses, which further expand the understanding of the evolution of sensation.
GOEvol is an evolutionary biology network based in Göttingen, Germany, and they present their 2018 conference on the evolution of sensation. GOEvol VI – #Sensation @GOEEvolution 2018 will be a small interdisciplinary symposium with an informal atmosphere. Because of the diversity of research and various methodologies in multiple (emerging) model organisms in the field of evolution of sensation the organizers want to bring together scientists from a broad range of fields to reveal commonalities across disciplines.
Location: Göttingen, Germany
Registration deadline: 15 July 2018 via registration website
More information and registration: conference website
5-7 July 2018
The Evolution of Knowledge conference is the 7th in a series of biennial conferences for integrating the history of science and philosophy of science, known as &HPS. The meeting is organised by the Committee for Integrated HPS (history and philosophy of science) and the Max Planck Institute for the History of Science. The theme “evolution of knowledge” aims at refocusing the history and philosophy of science on long-term and global aspects.
Location: Hannover, Germany
Abstract deadline: 15 December 2017
More information and registration: conference website
11-12 April 2018
The York Cross-disciplinary Centre for Systems Analysis and University of York are hosting an international workshop exploring the cross-disciplinary theme of Evolution, Evolvability and Change. It seeks to bring together ideas, approaches, concepts, and perspectives from natural biological systems and other physical systems, from engineered physical and virtual systems, and from human social systems. Researchers from these connected fields will be able to engage across the disciplines, to discuss the latest findings, to transfer discoveries and concepts from one field to another, and to inspire new ideas and new collaborations across the theme. Keynote speakers are Prof Tom McLeish (Durham University, UK), Prof Guillaume Beslon (INRIA, Lyon, France) and Dr Habil Marco Vignuzzi (Institut Pasteur, France).
Location: York, UK
Registration: registration website
More information: workshop website
4-6 October 2018
The Münster Evolution Meeting is a forum in which to present and discuss evolutionary questions across all fields (botany, zoology, microbiology, medicine, philosophy, etc) and levels (from molecules to societies). The meeting aims to bring evolutionary biologists working in German-speaking countries together in a smaller setting, to allow for intensive networking and discussion. The two and a half day meeting will feature one day of talks on microevolution and another on macroevolution.
Location: Münster, Germany
Abstract submission deadline: 1 May 2018
Registration submission deadline: 13 September 2018
More information: conference website
26-28 September 2018
“Where is evolutionary thinking currently at? What advances to our understanding of evolutionary processes have been made? What gaps are there?”
The workshop “Talking evolution” offers the opportunity to present and discuss traditional evolutionary thinking in the light of findings from the fields of niche construction theory, extra-genetic inheritance, developmental bias and phenotypic plasticity.
The workshop will feature prominent speakers from all fields, targets young and established researchers currently working or planning on working in these fields, and encourages discussions in an openly structured timetable. Plenary speakers are: Paul Brakefield (Trinity College, UK), Luis-Miguel Chevin (CEFE, France), Troy Day (Queen’s University, Canada), Ilkka Kronholm (University of Jyväskylä, Finland), Kevin Laland (University of St Andrews, UK) & Sonia Sultan (Wesleyan University, USA). See the workshop flyer.
Location: Plön, Germany
Abstract submission deadline: 30 April 2018
Registration: registration website
Organizers: Noémie Erin, Alice Feurtey, Dominik Schmid & Vandana Venkateswaran
21-22 June 2018
The Young Social Learning Researchers (YSLR) network will be hosting its second annual workshop in St Andrews in June. YSLR aims to bring together early career researchers from all corners of the broad and diverse field of Social Learning, to promote interdisciplinary collaborations and form an international community. The workshop will provide a platform for discussion on the state-of-art in the field, and will help participants develop interdisciplinary thinking and build a support network of fellow researchers. The workshop will conclude with a panel discussion on “Learning in the field – 20 years of Social Learning”, with Malinda Carpenter, Kevin Laland, Luke Rendell and (TBC) Ellen Garland.
Location: St Andrews, UK
Registration deadline: 20 April 2018
More information and registration: workshop website
16-21 July 2018
The Biological and the Social between 1900 and Today Summer School held at the Central European University, Budapest, will explore the historical and present relationship between social sciences and evolutionary theory. Key topics of the course will include: early history of eugenics, different hereditary theories and their social implications, the nature/nurture divide, uses of history in genetics and vice versa, the relationship between social science and evolutionary theory. A limited number of tuition waivers and accommodation grants are available but applications for full scholarships are no longer accepted.
Location: Budapest, Hungary
Organizers: Tatjana Buklijas & Emese Lafferton
Registration deadline: 19 March 2018
More information: Summer school website & flyer
10-11 July 2018
BES Macro 2018 is the annual meeting of the British Ecological Society Macroecology (and macroevolution) Special Interest Group. Each year the meeting aims to highlight all kinds of macro-scale research, across diverse taxa, timescales, and career stages. Keynote speakers are Brian McGill (University of Maine), Nathalie Pettorelli (Zoological Society of London), Bob O’Hara (Norwegian University of Science and Technology) and Anne Magurran (University of St Andrews). Priority for remaining talks will be given to early career researchers.
Location: St Andrews, UK
Registration deadline: 30 April 2018
More information and registration: conference website
Contact: facebook and twitter
10 June – 6 July 2018
The Complex Systems Summer School offers an intensive 4-week introduction to complex behavior in mathematical, physical, living, and social systems. The school is for graduate students, postdoctoral fellows, and professionals seeking to transcend traditional disciplinary boundaries and ask big questions about real-life complex systems.
The program consists of an intensive series of lectures, labs, and discussion sessions focusing on foundational concepts, tools, and current topics in complexity science. These include nonlinear dynamics, scaling theory, information theory, adaptation and evolution, network structure and dynamics, adaptive computation, simulation, and other subjects. Participants collaborate in developing novel research projects throughout the 4 weeks of the program that culminate in final presentations and papers.
Location: Santa Fe, New Mexico, USA
Organizer: Santa Fe Institute
Registration deadline: 29 January 2018
More information: Summer school website
8-9 May 2018
Researchers and affiliates of the John Templeton funded project ‘Putting the Extended Evolutionary Synthesis to the Test’ are invited to attend a two-day workshop to be held at the University of Cambridge. Organised around seven pre-circulated papers (to be made available in early April), the workshop will examine ideas around unity, centrality, and organisation the life sciences from a range of disciplinary perspectives.
Spaces for the workshop are limited. If you are interested in attending, please contact Andrew Buskell before 29 January 2018.
Location: Cambridge, UK
More information: download PDF
2-8 September 2018
The Eco Evo Devo Summer School builds on the successful courses run in 2012, 2014 and 2016 to again provide postgraduates with the opportunity to explore key questions and experimental approaches in ecological evolutionary developmental biology with leading scientists in this field.
Hands-on training will be provided in established practical techniques in both the laboratory and field, while the conceptual framework of this expanding research area will be addressed through seminars and discussion groups.
Location: Oxford, United Kingdom
Organizer: Oxford Brookes University
More information: Summer school website
3-4 May 2018
The ICEBSM 2018: 20th International Conference on Evolutionary Biology and Speciation Mechanisms aims to bring together leading academic scientists, researchers and research scholars to exchange and share their experiences and research results on all aspects of Evolutionary Biology and Speciation Mechanisms. It also provides a premier interdisciplinary platform for researchers, practitioners and educators to present and discuss the most recent innovations, trends, and concerns as well as practical challenges encountered and solutions adopted in the fields of Evolutionary Biology and Speciation Mechanisms.
Location: Rome, Italy
Abstract deadline: 15 December 2017
More information and registration: conference website
19-24 August 2019
The European Society for Evolutionary Biology will host their 2019 Congress in Turku, Finland. The call for abstracts opens 15 January 2019.
Location: Turku, Finland
Organizers: Craig Primmer, Tina Ahonen, Jon Brommer, Veijo Jormalainen, Kai Lindström, Toni Laaksonen, Irma Saloniemi, Hanna Tuomisto, Suvi Ruuskanen, Ilari Sääksjärvi, Sanna Huttunen & Varpu Vaahtera
Abstract deadline: 30 March 2019
Registration deadline: 10 May 2019
More information: conference website
24-26 September 2018
The Polish Society for Human and Evolution Studies will hold their fifth annual conference in September in Warsaw. More details to come.
Location: Warsaw, Poland
More information and registration: conference website
22-24 October 2018
The Cultural Evolution Society will hold their second annual meeting in October. The Global Biosocial Complexity Initiative at Arizona State University is excited to welcome over 300 participants from around the globe. Topics for paper proposals may include: psychology of cultural learning, cultural and historical dynamics, cooperation and norms, models of cultural evolution, and linguistics and language evolution. Confirmed speakers are Lucy Aplin (Max Planck for Ornithology, Radolfzell), Alison Gopnik (UC Berkeley), Katie Manning (King’s College London), and Nathan Nunn (Harvard University).
Location: Tempe, Arizona, United States
Abstract deadline: 1 September 2018
Registration: registration website
More information: conference website
13-16 September 2018
Information available early 2018. See the European Society for Human Evolution meetings page for updates.
Location: Faro, Portugal
18-21 July 2018
The Canadian Society for Ecology & Evolution (CSEE) present their 2018 meeting with the theme “Fundamentals in Ecology and Evolution: Now and Into the Future”.
Location: Guelph, Canada
More information and registration: conference website
15-17 May 2018
Marine Evolution 2018 is a Marcus Wallenberg Symposium organized by the Centre for Marine Evolutionary Biology at University of Gothenburg. It will bring marine evolutionary biologists from all over the world together to present recent and ongoing work, share ideas and discuss future collaborations, all in the beautiful setting of the Kosterhavet Marine National Park in the archipelago on the Swedish west coast. Keynote speakers are: Cynthia Riginos (University of Queensland), Nicolas Bierne (University of Montpellier), Andreas Hejnol (Sars International Centre for Marine Molecular Biology), Marjorie Oleksiak, (Rosenstiel School of Marine & Atmospheric Science), Nicolas Galtier (University of Montpellier), and Frédérique Viard (Station Biologique Roscoff).
Location: Strömstad, Sweden
Abstract deadline: 1 February 2018
More information and registration: conference website
Organizers: Kerstin Johannesson, Anders Blomberg, Pierre de Wit, Samuel Perini & Eva Marie Rödström
13-16 May 2018
Building on the momentum of the highly successful #PEQG16 (held at GSA’s The Allied Genetics Conference), the 2018 Population, Evolutionary, and Quantitative Genetics Conference (#PEQG18) brings together population, evolutionary, and quantitative geneticists to promote cross-disciplinary exchange between those doing theoretical and experimental work in these broad but overlapping fields. Topics will span the diversity of PEQG, including: theoretical population genetics, molecular evolution, quantitative and complex traits, population genomics, experimental evolution, adaptation and ecological genetics, statistical genetics, genome evolution, and speciation.
Location: Madison, United States
More information and registration: conference website
Organizers: Fernando Pardo-Manuel de Villena, Dmitri Petrov, Matthew Hahn, Hopi Hoekstra, Lauren McIntyre & Matt Rockman
18-20 April 2018
The AsiaEvo Conference is a platform that will bring together researchers from all fields concerned with evolution, including genomics, developmental biology, paleontology, phylogenetics, ecology, biogeography, evo-devo, and others from Asia and the rest of the world. The conference aims to stimulate evolutionary research in Asian area, to reinforce cross-disciplinary collaboration among countries, and to promote young researchers.
Location: Shenzhen, China
More information and registration: conference website
9-13 April 2018
The meeting will consider applications of mathematical modelling to explore processes and mechanisms in various biological systems ranging from a cell to the human society. A special focus will be on the interplay between ecology and evolution across time and space. MPDEE’18 is also expected to explore similarities between modelling techniques traditionally applied in ecology and evolution and those used in other life sciences with the purpose to enhance interdisciplinary approaches and to stimulate further advances in population dynamics, ecology and evolution. The meeting will be an open forum for interaction between theoreticians and empirical biologists with the main goal of enhancing communication between the two groups to better link theories with empirical realities.
Location: Leicester, United Kingdom
Registration deadline: 31 January 2018
More information and registration: conference website
Organizers: Andrew Morozov & Sergei Petrovskii
14-19 January 2018
This Gordon Research Conference on the Origins of Life, entitled, “The Prebiotic Milieu Building the Evolution of Early Life” promises to be a highly interdisciplinary meeting. The sessions will provide a state-of-the-art update of the field, while also providing room for discussion and debate on some of the larger outstanding questions in our understanding of the origin of life.
Location: Galveston, Texas, United States
Registration deadline: 17 December 2017
More information and registration: conference website
Conference chairs: Matthew Pasek & Nicolle Zellner
8-12 July 2018
The Society for Molecular Biology and Evolution (SMBE) will host a conference in celebration of the 50th Anniversary of the Neutral Theory of Evolution, as published in the landmark paper by Kimura in 1968.
Location: Yokohama, Japan
Abstract deadline: 25 January 2018
Registration deadline: 15 June 2018
More information and registration: conference website
14-16 December 2017
The Society for Molecular Biology and Evolution (SMBE) will hold a satellite meeting on evolution of microbes in natural and experimental populations – synthesis and synergies. The meeting aims to bridge the gap between complimentary approaches (experimental evolution in the laboratory and studying variation within natural populations) and build upon synergies and reciprocal benefits. The meeting will include a session on ‘Big Data’ analysis and microbial genomics supported by MRC-CLIMB (Cloud Infrastructure for Microbial bioinformatics).
Location: Assam, India
More information and registration: conference website
26-29 June 2018
The European Society for Evolutionary Developmental Biology (EED) will hold their 7th meeting in June 2018. Scientists and students from all over the world are invited to present their most recent research and discuss the current state of the art and future directions of Evo Devo. Confirmed keynote speakers are Graham Budd (Uppsala University), Angela Hay (Max Planck Institute for plant breeding research), Mark Martindale (University of Florida) and Philipp Mitteröcker (University of Vienna).
Location: Galway, Ireland
Abstract deadline: 16 February 2018
More information and registration: conference website
19-22 August 2018
ESEB is delighted to welcome you to the Second Joint Congress on Evolutionary Biology. Joint Congresses take place every six years and bring together four of the world’s largest academic societies in the field of evolutionary biology: the European Society for Evolutionary Biology (ESEB), the American Society of Naturalists (ASN), the Society for the Study of Evolution (SSE) and the Society of Systematic Biologists (SSB). There will be 78 symposia during the meeting, running as parallel half/full-day sessions. For more information and a list of symposia, please visit the conference website.
Location: Montpellier, France
Abstract deadline: 15 January 2018
13-15 September 2017
The Cultural Evolution Society supports evolutionary approaches to culture in humans and other animals. The society welcomes all who share this fundamental interest, including in the pursuit of basic research, teaching, or applied work. Consequently, the inaugural meeting encourages contributions across a diversity of themes. Keynote speakers are Christine Caldwell (University of Stirling), Miriam Haidle (Tübingen University), Cecilia Heyes (University of Oxford) and Peter Richerson (University of California).
Location: Jena, Germany
More information & registration: conference website
Organizers: Andy Whiten, Fiona Jordan, Joe Brewer, Michele Gelfand, Michelle Kline, Olivier Morin & Russell Gray
4-7 April 2018
The European Human Behaviour and Evolution Association (EHBEA) conferences aim to provide a much needed interdisciplinary European forum for discussing evolutionary research applied to the behavioural sciences, broadly interpreted. Details of the 2018 conference will be announced shortly.
Location: Pecs, Hungary
4-7 July 2018
The Human Behavior and Evolution Society (HBES) host their 30th annual conference in July 2018. HBES is an interdisciplinary organization dedicated to using evolutionary theory to enrich our understanding of human behavior. Their membership includes researchers from a range of disciplines in the social, behavioral, and biological sciences. Abstract submission and registration opens on 1 February 2018.
Location: Amsterdam, The Netherlands
More information and registration: conference website
31 January – 3 February 2017
The generalized theory of evolution aims to gather answers to frequently raised questions within the framework of a generalized theory of evolution, and to explore recent attempts to move beyond mere qualitative theorizing in the domain of generalized evolutionary systems. By bringing together researchers with a common interest but with different backgrounds and toolboxes, it hopes to inspire interdisciplinary discussions and new collaborations. For more information, please visit the conference website.
Keynote Speakers: Daniel Dennett (Tufts University), Eva Jablonka (Tel Aviv University), Ruth Mace (University College London), Alex Mesoudi (University of Exeter), Thomas Reydon (University of Hannover), Gerhard Schurz (University of Duesseldorf) & Brian Skyrms (University of California, Irvine).
An official conference report was published in the Journal for General Philosophy of Science. Videos of plenary talks, slides from presentations and roundtable discussion are available on the website repository.
Location: Düsseldorf, Germany
Organizers: Karim Baraghith, Christian Feldbacher-Escamilla, Corina Strößner & Gerhard Schurz
Abstract deadline: 1 September 2017
Registration deadline: 5 January 2018
3-4 October 2017
On the nature of variation: random, biased and directional is an international conference organized by the Centre for Philosophy of Science of the University of Lisbon (CFCUL). Adaptationism, i.e. the claim that natural selection provides a sufficient explanation for the evolution of most traits, pervades all aspects of biological thinking. The underlying assumption supporting adaptationism is that variation is somehow random, namely, that it is neither biased nor directional. This conference aims to provide an interdisciplinary context for uncovering and critically evaluating the rationale behind the hypothesis of variation randomness in the light of new developments in the evolutionary sciences (e.g. from the impact of instructive mutations in prokaryotes – CRISPR-Cas -, to mutation-biased divergence in molecular sequences, to the likely role of developmental biases in phenotypic divergence). Why was variation characterised as random in the first place? And what would be the case if either mutational or developmental biases were to impinge on the evolutionary process?
Invited speakers: Eva Boon (Technische Universiteit Eindhoven, Holland), Pietro Corsi (University of Oxford, UK and EHESS, Paris, France), Leonore Fleming (Utica College, USA), Gerd Müller (Universität Wien, Austria), Sahotra Sarkar (University of Texas at Austin, USA and Presidency University, Kolkata, India), Arlin Stoltzfus (Institute for Bioscience and Biotechnology Research, NIST, USA).
Location: Lisbon, Portugal
Organizers: Elena Casetta, Silvia Di Marco, Jorge Marques da Silva, Carina Vieira da Silva & Davide Vecchi
Abstract deadline: 15 July 2017
20-25 August 2017
The biennial European Society for Evolutionary Biology (ESEB) congress is one of the largest conferences in evolutionary biology. The scientific program, beginning on Monday 21 August, will consist of 8 parallel sessions running throughout the 5 days (except Wednesday afternoon). There will be some 300 oral presentations fitting within 35 symposia selected by the Scientific Committee. There will also be poster sessions associated with the different symposia, five plenary talks, and two lectures by the 2016 and 2017 winners of the John Maynard Smith Prize.
Confirmed plenary speakers are Renée Duckworth, Nicole Dubilier, Chris Jiggins, Svante Pääbo, Linda Partridge, Stephen Stearns, Andreas Wagner (tentative) and Nina Wedell (Presidential Address). There will be exhibition space throughout the congress for 1000 posters.
Due to space constraints, attendance is limited to 1500 participants, on a first-come, first-served basis. Both ESEB and SSE offer travel stipends to support participation of student members from economically disadvantaged countries.
Location: Groningen, The Netherlands
More information & registration: conference website
Organizers: Leo Beukeboom, Simon Verhulst, Bregje Wertheim, Martine Maan, Emma Plender-Hartman, Paul Steerenberg, Mariska Pater & Franjo Weissing
30 July – 4 August 2017
Behaviour 2017 is a joint meeting of the 35th International Ethological Conference (IEC) and the 2017 Summer Meeting of the Association for the Study of Animal Behaviour (ASAB). Behaviour 2017 will gather international professionals, academia members and students from all fields of behavior research, such as behavioural ecology, neuroethology, behavioural endocrinology, behavioural genomics, animal cognition, evolutionary biology, human ethology, applied ethology, conservation ethology, animal welfare, modelling and many others. Registration is open.
The conference program will offer an opening keynote address from Frans de Waal and invited plenary talks from distinguished researchers including Sue Healy, Hanna Kokko, Sylvie Rétaux, Gene Robinson, Raghavendra Gadagkar and David Anderson, covering topics such as the comparative study of emotions, social evolution, behavioural genomics, animal cognition, evo devo of behavioural adaptations, and modeling behavior evolution. There will also be a program of symposia, and sessions of contributed talks and posters, which will enable all delegates to present their work.
Location: Estoril, Portugal
More information: conference website
11 June – 7 July 2017
The Complex Systems Summer School offers an intensive four week introduction to complex behavior in mathematical, physical, living, and social systems for graduate students, postdoctoral fellows, and professionals in the sciences and social sciences. The school is for participants who seek background and hands-on experience to help them prepare to conduct interdisciplinary research in areas related to complex systems.
The program consists of an intensive series of lectures, laboratories, and discussion sessions focusing on foundational ideas, tools, and current topics in complex systems research. These include nonlinear dynamics and pattern formation, scaling theory, information theory and computation theory, adaptation and evolution, network structure and dynamics, adaptive computation techniques, computer modeling tools and specific applications of these core topics to various disciplines. In addition, participants will formulate and carry out team projects related to topics covered in the program.
Location: Santa Fe, New Mexico, USA
Organizer: Santa Fe Institute
18-21 August 2017
The 2017 meeting of the International Society of Evolution, Medicine & Public Health will take place in Groningen in conjunction with the XVIth European Society for Evolutionary Biology Meeting. ISEMPH brings together scientists, teachers, clinicians, and students in the evolution and medicine community to share ideas and create new connections that will advance the field. This open meeting is designed to bridge the many different disciplines where relevant research takes place, including infectious disease, public health, genetics, anthropology, psychology, oncology, ecology, and veterinary medicine.
Location: Groningen, The Netherlands
Registration deadline: 1 July 2017
More information & registration: conference website
Organizers: Frank Rühli, Joe Alcock, Nicole Bender, Dan Blumstein, Michelle Blyth, Jacobus Boomsma, Detlev Ganten, Grazyna Jasienska, Joachim Kurtz, Jon Laman, Alejandra Nuñez de la Mora, Charlie Nunn, Robert Perlman & Gertjan van Dijk
18-21 September 2017
The overall aim of the course is to introduce process-based research approaches and conceptual frameworks to a broad range of experimentalists, theoreticians, and philosophers interested in the problem of (developmental) evolution. Relevant concepts from process philosophy and dynamical systems theory will be discussed through a number of foundational theoretical lectures. These will be complemented by specific examples of how process thinking can be and is already being used to get specific insights and new explanations for evolutionary and developmental dynamics. Morning lectures are followed by interactive discussions and reading clubs in small groups in the afternoons. Participants will also be able to present their own work to the teachers and the other students at a poster session on the first evening.
Location: Venice, Italy
Organizers: Alessandro Minelli, Gerd Müller & Giuseppe Fusco
School director: Johannes Jaeger
27-29 November 2017
The Primate Society of Great Britain (PSGB) celebrates its 50th anniversary this year with a meeting at the Royal Geographical Society, London in November. Speakers include Jane Goodall, Frans de Waal, Robin Dunbar, Bob Martin and Russ Mittermeier (scientific program here). This 2-day event includes talks, round-table discussions, posters, and social events. Registration is now open.
Location: London, United Kingdom
Abstract deadline: 4 August 2017
7-8 December 2017
Sexual Selection: Do We Still Need To Test The Alternatives?
The 30 years since the publication of Bradbury and Andersson’s landmark “Sexual selection: testing the alternatives” has seen a wealth of new empirical data on the mechanisms and patterns of sexual selection, alongside major theoretical advances. However, some key concerns remain, including what drives the evolution of mate choice and how sexual selection and natural selection interact. Moreover, the very definition of sexual selection remains contested. In this meeting, the latest findings in sexual selection will be explored, in terms of both theory and experiment, to chart progress in understanding this most beguiling of evolutionary mechanisms, and to map the way forward for the next generation of sexual selection researchers.
Organizers: Nina Wedell & David Shuker
7-9 November 2016
Developments in evolutionary biology and adjacent fields have produced calls for revision of the standard theory of evolution, although the issues involved remain hotly contested. This scientific discussion meeting, organised in partnership with the British Academy, presented these developments and arguments and encouraged cross-disciplinary discussion. This involved the humanities and social sciences in order to provide further analytical perspectives and explore the social and philosophical implications.
Location: The Royal Society, London, UK
Organizers: Denis Noble, Nancy Cartwright, Sir Patrick Bateson, John Dupré & Kevin Laland
11-14 May 2017
The aim of this workshop is to initiate close interaction and exchange between philosophers of science and biologists, both within the research programme and outside it, to reflect on the nature of causation in biological evolution. The EES has a different perspective on causation in evolution, and ascribes a greater range of processes evolutionary significance, than traditional perspectives. The workshop will set out to scrutinize these claims, with both philosophers (acting as independent arbiters) and non-project members (including non-sympathizers) present to ensure good debate.
The nature of these differences will be discussed and their implications for the structure of evolutionary theory will be drawn up. In addition to leading to a key synthetic publication, the discussion will effectively provide a guide for continued exchange between conceptual analysis and empirical and theoretical projects within the wider research programme, such that each can benefit from the other, in terms of interpretation and communication of results.
Twitter #CAPIE2017
Blog posts by Wim Hordijk, Jan Baedke and Massimo Pigliucci
KLI event webpage and photo gallery
Location: KLI, Vienna, Austria
Organizers: Tobias Uller & Kevin Laland
25-26 May 2017
Innovation in cultural systems – an interdisciplinary meeting is a two-day interdisciplinary conference sponsored by an ASAB Interdisciplinary Workshop grant and the College of Life and Environmental Sciences, University of Birmingham. The conference will bring together researchers from different academic backgrounds together, from archaeology, anthropology, psychology, biology, animal behaviour and philosophy, to discuss recent theories, data, and ideas on innovation.
Innovation plays a critical role in the emergence and spread of new behaviours within both non-human and human culture but its role for cultural evolution has just started to become a focus of research. During the conference, we will discuss the following questions:
Location: University of Birmingham, UK
Organizers: Elisa Bandini & Eva Reindl
Abstract deadline: 1 April 2017
Registration deadline: 1 April 2017
13-15 February 2018
This workshop will discuss:
(i) the historical origins of the separation of development and inheritance and their description in genetic terms, and how this shaped the development of research programmes within evolutionary biology,
(ii) the possible implications of alternative conceptualizations, and the re-integration of this relationship, that are emerging through recent advances in the biological sciences, and are emphasized by the EES, and
(iii) how experimental work and mathematical modelling best can proceed under constructive views of development and inheritance and the implication it has for how to assign fitness and establish adaptation.
Participants will contribute to a special edition of a relevant journal.
Location: SFI, Sante Fe, USA
Organizers: Kevin Laland & Tobias Uller
14-16 November 2018
The aim of this workshop is to reflect anew on the processes that give phenotypic evolution directionality. Traditionally, only natural selection was granted a creative role in evolution. However, changing concepts of development, and of the interaction between organism and environment, are increasingly leading researchers to consider a broader range of processes as potentially imposing directionality on evolution, including the evolution of adaptations.
Key foci for the workshop will be developmental bias, niche construction, and the role of plasticity in generating these biases. The workshop will be informed by key theoretical and experimental studies conducted within the wider research programme. Participants will contribute to an edited volume on this topic.
Location: SFI, Sante Fe, USA
Organizers: Kevin Laland, Tobias Uller, Marcus Feldman & Michael Lachmann
More information: workshop website
1-4 April 2019
Evolutionary biology is a vibrant field with a theoretical framework that itself evolves. The Evolution Evolving conference will focus on some emerging themes in the relationship between development and evolution. Topics include the evolutionary causes and consequences of developmental bias, plasticity, niche construction and extra-genetic inheritance – all of which contribute to an understanding of evolvability. The conference will feature a balanced program of talks and poster sessions spanning three days, and be a mix of empirical and theoretical work, as well as contributions to the history and philosophy of evolutionary biology.
Location: Cambridge, UK
Organizers: Paul Brakefield, Kevin Laland, Tobias Uller, Katrina Falkenberg & Andrew Buskell
Abstract deadline: 1 December 2018
Early bird registration deadline: 4 January 2019
More information: conference website
