The International Congress of Vertebrate Morphology is heading to Australia for the first time in 2022.
To be hosted at the Cairns Convention Centre, the global event will bring together more than 700 leading academic scientists, researchers and scholars to exchange experiences and research results on all aspects of Vertebrate Morphology.
Australia competed against Portugal, Italy and the USA for the rights to host the international event.
The conference, hosted by the International Society of Vertebrate Morphology, will be attended by delegates from over 40 countries, with experts from international universities such as Harvard, Cambridge, Yale, Chicago and Brown.
“Cairns was the perfect choice for the 2022 Congress,” said Dr Olga Panagiotopoulou from the Monash Biomedicine Discovery Institute, who led Australia’s bid to host the event.
“Over recent years, Australia has become a leading nation in vertebrate research and we wanted to bring the international community to a city where they could network together and explore one of the most beautiful destinations in the world.”
Life sciences is a growing sector for Australia, which has made the world’s top five in biotechnology for the past three years. Queensland has more than 100 large institutes, facilities, research hospitals, precincts, smaller laboratories and other research organisations involved in the biotechnology sector.
Panagiotopoulou said the event will have a lasting impact on the region and Australia.
“Hosting the congress in Cairns will help us attract international experts, a broad range of delegates and shine a light on the local industry,” she said.
“The Cairns Convention Centre is the perfect host venue, it is close to a variety of accommodation options, an ideal size conference facility, and Cairns provides a lot of pre- and post-touring options for delegates.”
Cairns Convention Centre general manager Janet Hamilton said the event is a fantastic opportunity for Cairns in 2022.
“The centre’s business development team will continue working closely with the society executives and Dr Panagiotopoulou to deliver an exceptional international meeting,” she said.
“The centre is a leader within the region, and in Australia, in hosting international scientific conferences, highlighting our industry strengths and research expertise.”
The bid win joins a number of scientific conference scheduled for Cairns, including the 13th Congress on International Plant Molecular Biology in 2021.
