[A letter from ILS president Paolo Annicchiarico]
Dear colleagues and friends of the ILS,
first of all, best wishes to you and your closest ones for a healthy and prosperous 2022!
Unfortunately, the last year was more difficult than most people expected with regard to the pandemy. The problems connected to it are still on-going in many countries.
One consequence of this situation will be the postponement of the Fourth ILS Conference from 2022 to 2023. The new date for the Conference is from September 19th to September 22nd, 2023, still in Granada (Spain).
The ILS Executive Committee debated about a postponement and finally agreed on it in consideration of (i) the heavy financial consequences for the Organizing Committee of a possible conference cancellation, and (ii) the much greater perceived interest of a physical meeting relative to an on-line conference held in 2022.
We believe that the one-year postponement and the anticipation of the conference to the late-summer period (when the infection is historically lowest) minimize the risk of a non-physical conference for the new planned date. While assuring that any possible precaution will be taken by the Organizing Committee to ensure a safe participation to the conference, we anticipate that no further postponement will occur. The conference will take place on-line in the unfortunate case that the pandemy prevented a physical conference in 2023.
No ILS membership fee will be due for 2022. The ILS conference participation fees in 2023 will include the ILS membership fees for the 3-year period 2023-2025, amounting to 50 € euro as usual.
The ILS Executive Committee has also decided to organize a cycle of webinars, one per month from September 2022 to June 2023. It will be a way to be in closer contact, looking forward to meeting in person in September 2023. We aim to define the list of speakers by June 2022.
The ILS website will provide information on the postponed ILS conference and the cycle of seminars in due time. Please keep contributing to the development of this website, e.g. by communicating (to nelson.nazzicari@crea.gov.it) information on new events or on-going research projects to post in the website.
With best regards,
Paolo Annicchiarico
(President of ILS)