Key Dates
- Annual Meeting 22 – 25 July 2025
- Pre- and Post-meeting workshops offered
- Early Bird Registration deadline passed
- Travel Award Application deadline passed
- Abstract submission deadline – extended to 30 May 2025
Meeting outline
- Tuesday, July 22nd
– Registration (all day)
– Icebreaker Boat Trip (9:30 a.m. – noon)
– 1st Session (2 – 5 p.m.) - Wednesday, July 23rd
– whole day of sessions
– Harbour Boat Tour (optional, 6:30 – 7:30 p.m.)
– Council Meeting and Council Dinner (evening) - Thursday, July 24th
– whole day of sessions
– Banquet (all student attendees receive a free banquet ticket, 6 – 8:30 p.m.)
– Oral Presentation and Poster Prizes as well as Travel Awards will be awarded during Banquet - Friday, July 25th
– three-quarter day of sessions
– Fellows Meeting (3 p.m.)
– Farewell Reception including colleagues and students from CUHK (4 – 7 p.m.)
Pre- and Post-meeting Workshops
- students receive a US$50 discount on workshop registrations
- Workshop 1: Advanced Topics in Phylogenetic Analysis with Parsimony
Saturday July 19th – Monday July 21st 2025 (directly before annual meeting)Instructors: Pablo A. Goloboff (Unidad Ejecutora Lillo, Argentina), Santiago Catalano (Unidad Ejecutora Lillo & Universidad Nacional de Tucumán, Argentina) & Michael Pittman (The Chinese University of Hong Kong)
Fee: US$150
This course is intended to help students and researchers with some grasp of phylogenetic
techniques on topics that go beyond the basics. The course requires some familiarity with
methods for character optimization and searching trees, as well as the basic use of TNT. The course is aimed mostly to researchers working with morphological datasets, and covers several aspects and problems related with such type of data.
Each of the topics will be introduced with a short lecture, followed by hands-on exercises to illustrate the topics discussed in the lecture.
Saturday, July 19
+ Wildcard taxa. Reduced consensus. Methods for identification of wildcards. Wildcards
and measures of support.
+ Tree searches and measures of support. Identifying difficult datasets. Special search
techniques. Resampling and Bremer supports; pros and cons of each.
Sunday, July 20
+ Placing species in a reference tree: PlaceMyFossils script
+ Morphometric and geometric morphometric data. Superimposition; combining
multiple structures. Combining morphometric data with discrete characters. Searches.
Synapomorphies.
Monday, July 21
+ Character dependencies. Inapplicable characters; criteria for analysis. Recoding into
morphotypes. Other types of dependencies. Syntax for specifying dependencies.
Ambiguity in homology assessment. Methods for recoding. -
Workshop 2: High-throughput Species Discovery Using Nanopore Sequencing: from Specimens to Species in a Few Days
Part 1: Sunday July 20th – Monday July 21st 2025 (directly before annual meeting; high-throughput DNA extraction, PCR and live Nanopore sequencing of amplicon pool)Part 2: Saturday July 26th (directly after annual meeting; data analysis)
Instructors: Rudolf Meier & Amrita Srivathsan (Leibniz Institute for Evolution and Biodiversity Science, Germany)
Fee: US$200
With biodiversity loss accelerating globally, the need to document and identify species is more urgent than ever. DNA barcoding has become a powerful tool to address this challenge, especially in specimen-rich samples that are difficult to sort using traditional methods. This workshop introduces a cost-effective, scalable workflow for biodiversity discovery using the MinION sequencer from Oxford Nanopore Technologies and ONTbarcoder software. By combining rapid DNA extraction (HotSHOT), tagged PCR, and real-time MinION sequencing, participants will explore a streamlined process for generating thousands of DNA barcodes. This approach empowers labs, field stations, and citizen scientists to carry out biodiversity studies efficiently and independently.
Through a mix of lectures and labs, students will gain practical skills in molecular biology and bioinformatics while learning how accessible technologies like MinION and ONTbarcoder are transforming biodiversity research and monitoring around the world.Sunday, July 20
Lecture: Introduction to HotSHOT (HotSHOT is a quick, low-cost DNA extraction method that enables rapid processing of large bulk samples)
Lab: From Specimens to PCR product: HotSHOT of specimens from bulk sample (Participants will extract DNA from insect specimens, preparing them for PCR amplification)
Lecture: Introduction to “tagged” amplicon sequencing (Learn how short DNA tags on primers enable multiplexing and demultiplexing of thousands of specimens)
Lab: “Tagged” amplicon generation using PCR (Hands-on experience generating dual-tagged amplicons for high-throughput sequencing)Monday, July 21
Lecture: Biodiversity Discovery, Viewing PCR results of the gel
Lab: Pooling and clean-up (Participants will prepare pooled amplicon libraries for sequencing through bead-based purification)
Lecture: MinION sequencing (Understand how the MinION sequencer provides real-time, portable sequencing for biodiversity studies)
Lab: Library Preparation and Sequencing (Students will watch the preparation of a sequencing libraries using ONT’s ligation kits and load the MinION device)Saturday, July 26 (Post-conference Bioinformatics Session)
ONTbarcoder (Introduction to ONTbarcoder 2.0, a user-friendly software for demultiplexing and calling DNA barcodes in real-time)
Species Identification with DNA barcodes
Use barcode matches against reference databases to identify known species and flag potential new ones.
Species Estimation (Apply clustering algorithms to barcode data to estimate species diversity in bulk samples)
Cluster Fusion Diagrams (Visualize the relationships between barcode clusters to assess species boundaries and taxonomic resolution) -
Workshop 3: Areas of Endemism: Methods and Theory, a Critical Review
Saturday July 26th – Monday July 28th 2025 (directly after annual meeting)Instructors: Claudia Szumik & M. Dolores Casagranda (Unidad Ejecutora Lillo, Argentina)
Fee: US$150
In this introductory workshop, we present a review of major theoretical and methodological discussions surrounding areas of endemism and their formal delimitation, while also highlighting crucial but often neglected topics that need attention. The course consists of approximately 60% practical computational work, analyzing real and hypothetical datasets using NDM/VNDM. It is designed to teach the basics of AE identification and to promote discussion of analytical and theoretical challenges within an empirical framework. Students are encouraged to bring their own biogeographic questions and datasets to actively work on them during the workshop.
For more details and info, you can write us at: whs.biogeography at gmail.com
Travel Awards
- please see cladistics.org/awards for a summary of available travel awards
- deadline for submission passed – al funds spent
Meeting and Workshop Registration & Payment
- see link to the registration and payment page below
- Early Bird Registration passed (regular registration fees apply 1 March – 21 July 2025)
- all students attending the meeting receive a free ticket to the Banquet (worth US$65)
- students receive a US$50 discount on workshop registrations
- registration fees:
- Student WHS member: US$200
- Student non-member: US$215 (includes WHS 2025 membership and free banquet ticket worth US$65)
- WHS member (faculty, postdoc & other non-student) without banquet ticket: US$270
- WHS member (faculty, postdoc & other non-student) with banquet ticket: US$335
- Non-member (faculty, postdoc & other non-student) without banquet ticket: US$285 (includes WHS 2025 membership)
- Non-member (faculty, postdoc & other non-student) with banquet ticket: US$350 (includes WHS 2025 membership)
Abstract submission
- deadline extended to 30 May 2025
- see link to the abstract submission page below
Visas
Nationals of ~170 countries and territories can visit Hong Kong visa-free for a period from 7 days up to 180 days. Find out more at Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Immigration Department https://www.immd.gov.hk/eng/services/visas/visit-transit/visit-visa-entry-permit.html.
Meeting Venue
The meeting will be held in Room 209AB of the Henry Cheng International Conference Centre of The Chinese University of Hong Kong. This is located right next door to the meeting hotel. Tea breaks will also be held here.
Hotel
The Hyatt Regency Shatin is located right next door to the conference venue and the university’s subway station (University MTR Station), bus terminus and taxi stand. The meeting hotel is the ideal place to stay for the Annual Meeting and also has quick access to both the city centre and beautiful surrounding countryside. Through the university, the organisers have arranged a heavily discounted bed + breakfast rate that also extends before and after the meeting so that you can make the most of your stay in Asia’s World City. Please book directly at this special URL link provided by the hotel:https://www.hyatt.com/en-US/group-booking/SHAHR/G-SL21 OR by quoting ‘SL21’ on the hotel’s reservation hotline +852 3723 7888. We strongly recommend to reserve your hotel stay ASAP as the hotel does get fully booked during the summer.
Meeting lunches will be provided because of the short lunch break and will be held from 12:15 – 1:45 at the meeting hotel on July 22nd – 25th.
Hong Kong
Hong Kong is one of the most exciting cities. Renowned for its cityscape featuring the most skyscrapers in the world, Hong Kong is a global financial centre and commercial port. The city comprises 200+ islands with a rugged landscape featuring subtropical flora and fauna. Where East meets West, the city is modern but also steeped in tradition. A foodie’s and shopper’s paradise, there is something for everyone in Asia’s World City. Find out more at Hong Kong Tourism Board https://www.discoverhongkong.com/eng/index.html.
The Chinese University of Hong Kong
Founded in 1963, The Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK) is a forward-looking comprehensive research university with a global vision and a mission to combine tradition with modernity, and to bring together China and the West. CUHK has a unique college system and is consistently ranked in the top 50 of global university rankings and top 10 in Asian university rankings. Find out more at https://www.cuhk.edu.hk/english/index.html.
School of Life Sciences at CUHK
Established in 2010, The School of Life Sciences (SLS) has ~50 teaching staff, 60+ technical, administrative and clerical staff and 80+ postdoctoral fellows and other research staff. The School offers 6 undergraduate major programmes (Biochemistry, Biology, Cell and Molecular Biology, Environmental Science, Food and Nutritional Sciences, and Molecular Biotechnology) with a total annual intake of ~200 students. The School has 150+ M.Phil. and Ph.D. students and offers two taught MSc programmes (Biochemical and Biomedical Sciences as well as Nutrition, Food Science and Technology). Research in the School spans the life sciences including in the areas of plant molecular biology and biotechnology, protein structure and function, marine biology, environmental science, and food science and technology. We are excited to celebrate our 15 year anniversary with you in 2025. Find out more at https://www.sls.cuhk.edu.hk/.
