It is with great pride that I announce that Bremen University, Department of Geosciences, has been voted as the site for the next INA conference, which will be held in September/October 2000 and be prepared by my team of young scientists mainly working on calcareous dinoflagellates ('calcispheres'). The topics will be open, and you are invited to make suggestions regarding any subject you would like to have on the agenda, workshops, etc. Those who participated in INA7 may remember Bremen being described as an interesting and beautiful place, worth visiting not only from the nannoplankton point of view. It looks back to a history of more than 1200 years and is now an independent state of the Federal Republic of Germany, consisting of the cities of Bremen and Bremerhaven. The international seaport right near the North Sea is nick-named the German 'Key to the World', and still shows reminders not only of international trade connections but also of European emigration into the world, namely the Americas, for more than 100 years. Thanks to its proximity to the sea, it offers the unique chance to visit one of the world's important tidal flat areas. And another most pleasant feature - it is not too expensive a place. Today you would have to estimate ~US$50 for accommodation (double occupancy) including breakfast, about US$4 for a meal in the university dining hall, US$15 in a restaurant.
Apart from being a touristic highlight as well as the home of the famous 'Town Musicians of Bremen', the city boasts polytechnics, a well-developed research scene with numerous non-university institutes, the headquarters of the German Centre for Polar Research at the Alfred Wegener Institute in Bremerhaven, and, last but not least, a modern university (only founded in 1971) with a very well-equipped Department of Geosciences (founded in 1986) involved in many international activities and focusing on marine geoscience and the history of climate change, with nannoplankton playing an important part! Given this scientific background and all the facilities required for the successful organisation of our conference, my team are eager to welcome you to:
INA8!
Professor Dr. Helmut Willems
Fachbereich 5 - Geowissenschaften
Klagenfurter Stra§e, 28359 Bremen, Germany
Tel.: +49 421 2182198; fax: +49 421 2184451
