XII OPTIMA Meeting
Pisa, 10-16 September 2007
- General structure of the meeting
- General information
- Poster/lecture presentations
- Subscription procedures
- Subscription fees
- Methods of payment
- Cancellation and refunds
- Organizing Committee
- About OPTIMA
- Download area (instructions for proceedings; guides to excursions; circulars and subscription forms)
Please note that:
- size of posters must not exceed 100 cm (height) x 70 cm (width);
- contrary to original plans, credit cards WILL NOT BE ACCEPTED at the registration desk; participants wishing to pay their fees directly at registration will have to pay in cash (Euros only). The organizers apologize for this inconvenient.
General structure of the meeting
The XII OPTIMA Meeting will be held in Pisa, Italy, from Monday 10 to Sunday 16 September 2007.
As usual, the lectures are organized in 12 Symposia, which will be held in the "Porta Nuova" Didactic Center (see Venues). Each Symposium, scheduled for a morning (9-13) or an afternoon (15-19) session, is chaired by a Secretary and features an introductory lecture by the Secretary, four lectures by invited speakers and a final discussion.
Four Symposia are held as plenary, the remaining eight as concurrent sessions.
A first block of Symposia (1-6) is scheduled on Monday afternoon, Tuesday and Wednesday morning; Wednesday afternoon is devoted to the poster session, Thursday to the mid-congress excursions; the second block of Symposia (7-12) is scheduled on Friday and Saturday.
Lunches will be served in the "Ristorante Universitario" (University Restaurant) at 13.30 on
Monday and at 13.00 on Tuesday, Wednesday, Friday and Saturday; a boxed lunch will be provided to participants to the
excursions on Thursday.
Coffee breaks will be served approximately at mid-morning and mid-afternoon.
Dinners are not provided by the organizers, except the farewell dinner (if requested at extra charge in the subscription form) on Friday 14 at the Botanic Garden.
The XII OPTIMA Meeting will be preceded by the Commissions meetings (on Sunday 9 at the Botanic Garden, for designated members only) and followed (16-19 September) by an optional excursion to the Tuscan Archipelago (Elba and Pianosa Isles, if requested at extra charge in the subscription form, for a maximum of 50 participants).
General information
The XII OPTIMA Meeting will be held in Pisa, Italy, from 10 to 16 September 2007.
The Symposia, in the usual number of 12, will cover the following subjects:
- Phytotaxonomic studies in Italy (Secretary: S. Pignatti)
- Vegetation and plant landscapes in Italy (Secretary: C. Blasi)
- Karyology and palinology of Mediterranean plants: case studies (Secretaries: S. Siljak-Yakovlev and G. Kamari)
- Plants and Man: symbiosis and antagonism through the times (Secretary: A. Danin)
- Herbaria: maintenance, management and digitisation of holdings (Secretary: E. Vitek)
- Invasions and extinctions in man-made and natural habitats (Secretary: M. Vilà)
- Tempo and mode of speciation in Mediterranean plants (Secretary: T. Stuessy)
- The study and inventory of Mediterranean Compositae (Secretary: N. Kilian)
- Bryofloristics and bryotaxonomy (Secretary: R.M. Ros)
- Plant-plant and plant-animal interactions (Secretary: J.M. Iriondo)
- Seaweeds and freshwater algae in and around the Mediterranean (Secretary: G. Furnari)
- Maintaining economically important wild plants and relict crops in the Mediterranean (Secretary: V. Heywood)
One afternoon will be devoted to the poster session, organized by G. Venturella.
The Congress will include social events and mid-congress excursions to the Regional Natural Park of Apuan Alps , to Monterufoli-Caselli Nature Reserve and to the Leghorn Hills area. A visit to the Bibbiani park, a private estate close to Pisa, will be organized for accompanying persons.
The meetings of Commissions will take place on 8 and 9 September; those of the Executive Council and of the International Board will take place the morning of 10 September; a post-congress excursion to the Tuscan Archipelago, with a limited number of participants, will be organized on 16-17-18-19 September.
Please see the Dates section for a day-by-day schedule and further details on the Symposia and other events.
Poster/lecture presentations
Please note that while posters can be presented by every participant (only one poster as first author), lectures are presented only by speakers invited by the Symposia secretaries. If in doubt, consult with the Organizing Committee at the addresses provided below.
Secretaries of Symposia, invited speakers and participants wishing to present a poster must provide title of the lecture/poster,
author(s), address(es) including email, abstract and references using the template in doc format enclosed to the
subscription form
by 15 March 2007; files may be uploaded from the personal page on the web site,
copied onto a CD and mailed to the Organizing Committee, or emailed to optima2007@biologia.unipi.it. Abstracts sent only as
printed copies will not be accepted.
Please note that size of posters must not exceed 100 cm (height) x 70 cm (width).
Subscription procedures
All correspondents are encouraged to subscribe through their personal page on the web site: username and password may be requested from the login page of this web site.It is also possible to download the subscription form from the download section and submit it via e-mail (as attachment), regular mail or fax. Here follow the relevant co-ordinates:
- e-mail address: optima2007@biologia.unipi.it
- postal address: Optima 2007 Organizing Committee, Botanic Garden, via L. Ghini 5, I-56126 Pisa, Italy
- fax number: +39 050 2211 309
Subscription fees
In order to encourage early subscriptions, discounted fees are offered for all participants submitting the subscription form along with proof of payment by 31-1-2007; regular fees will apply until 15-3-2007, while late fees will apply until 15-8-2007 (see table below). Please note that after 15-8-2007, payment of the subscription fee will be possible only on site, either as cash (Euros only) or credit card.
| Payment date | Non members fee | OPTIMA members fee | students/acc. persons fee |
| before 31-1-2007 | 360,00 EUR | 310,00 EUR | 200,00 EUR |
| before 15-3-2007 | 460,00 EUR | 360,00 EUR | 250,00 EUR |
| before 15-8-2007 | 600,00 EUR | 500,00 EUR | 350,00 EUR |
| On site | 650,00 EUR | 550,00 EUR | 400,00 EUR |
| Farewell dinner | 40,00 EUR | 40,00 EUR | 40,00 EUR |
| Post-congress excursion | 350,00 EUR | 350,00 EUR | 350,00 EUR |
Fees include: welcome lunch (Monday 10 September); lunches (including drinks) from Tuesday 11 to Saturday 15 September; all coffee breaks; mid-congress excursion; proceedings of the Meeting, including mailing to participants' addresses; social events; conference materials (regular pack for members/non members, basic pack for studens/accompanying persons); guided visit to the Bibbiani estate on Wednesday 12 September (for accompanying persons only, from 30 up to 50 participants).
Fees do not include: dinners (farewell dinner may be requested in the subscription form), accommodation, post-congress excursion (unless requested in the subscription form) and any other item not specifically mentioned above.
Methods of payment
Payments can be made by 15-8-2007 only by bank giro to the following bank account:UNIVERSITA' DI PISA
CASSA DI RISPARMIO LUCCA-PISA-LIVORNO
SEDE CENTRALE PISA
| C/C (Account n.) | 2437408 |
| ABI | 6200 |
| CAB | 14011 B |
| IBANN | IT 03 T 06200 14011 000002437408 |
| BIC (Swift Code) | BPALIT3L |
specifying "subscription to Optima 2007 meeting for" and your name. Please note that bank expenses must be covered by subscribers, not charged to the recipient.
Payments can also be accepted on site directly at the registration desk during the Meeting (at extra charge). Major credit cards or cash (Euros only) will be accepted ony for on site payments. Traveller's cheques, bank cheques, cash other than Euros or other forms of payment will not be accepted.
Cancellation and refunds
Cancellation of a subscription is allowed until 15-8-2007. An explicit statement of cancellation is requested in written form, properly dated and undersigned by the subscriber, sent by regular mail.The subscription fee paid will be refunded only via bank giro (bank expenses charged to subscriber) as specified below, depending on the cancellation date.
| Cancellation date | Refund (% of paid subscription fee) |
| before 31-1-2007 | 100% (less bank expenses) |
| before 15-3-2007 | 75% (less bank expenses) |
| before 15-8-2007 | 65% (less bank expenses) |
No cancellation will be allowed after 15-8-2007. The above deadlines and refund percentages apply only to subscription fee, not to payments made to secure the hotel reservation (please see Accommodation).
Organizing Committee
- Fabio Garbari (President; email fgarbari@biologia.unipi.it)
- Gianni Bedini (Secretary; email gbedini@biologia.unipi.it)
- Guido Moggi (email guido.moggi@unifi.it)
- Alessandro Chiarucci (email chiarucci@unisi.it)
- Federico Selvi (email selvi@unifi.it)
About OPTIMA
The Organization for the Phyto-Taxonomic Investigation of the Mediterranean Area (OPTIMA) is an international association of
botanists interested in the Mediterranean area. OPTIMA encompasses botany in its widest sense and deals with all groups of
plants and all disciplines which have an impact on systematic studies.
Please see for further information.
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This page last updated on 21 August 2007
webmaster Gianni Bedini