Language:
The official language will be English

Important dates:

March 02, 2012	Second circular, call for papers and abstract. Registration starts
March 31, 2012	Registration payment will be opened
April 30, 2012	Excursion payment call
May 31, 2012	Deadline for receipt of abstracts and registration forms. Deadline for information for the official invitations from the Russian migration office
June 30, 2012	Notification of registration and acceptance of abstracts. Official invitation letters. Deadline for early prepayment. Deadline for excursion payment
July 31, 2012	Deadline for late prepayment. After this date only payment on site is possible

Preliminary schedule:

September 23, 2012	Registration, Plenary Session, Reception
September 24, 2012	Sessions
September 25, 2012	Mid-symposium excursion
September 26, 2012	Sessions
September 27, 2012	Sessions, closing session, Farewell Party
September 28, 2012	Departure for post-symposium excursion

Presentations and abstracts:
Both oral and poster presentations may be presented. An oral presentation may last 20 minutes (including less than 5 minutes for question and discussion). Speakers may use an electronic projector. Please contact the Organizing committee individually for any other forms of presentation. Vertical numbered display boards 120 by 120 cm will be prepared for posters. Numbers will be placed at the upper left corner of the board. The participants will know their poster number after acceptance of abstract by Organizing Secretariat and registration. The diversity of styles in poster design is appreciated, with the only requirements being the inclusion of the presentation title and name and affiliation of author(s) at the top of poster. The poster session will be organized on a day inconvenient for field trips and excursion, although the posters will be displayed during 4 days between opening and closing ceremony. Informal presentations (slide show, video or oral presentation) may be arranged in the evening time after the sessions or excursions and dinner in the guest rooms of Hotels booked for the Symposium participants. It will be appreciated if you bring presentations with you to share your impressions and experience with participants.

An example of design of abstract for the Symposium "Phytogeography on North-east Asia: task for the 21st century"

Pavel V. Krestov

Institute of Biology & Soil Sciences, Vladivostok, 690022, Russia

Your submission should include the title, author name(s), affiliation and address. It must be submitted through the web-site of symposium at http://www.geobotanica.ru/symposium or sent as a printout on the paper of free for-mat (Letter or A4) and as an exact electronic copy through the e-mail to the address of the Symposium Secretariat. Electronic version must be prepared in the one of following formats: Word (.doc), Rich text format (.rtf), or ASCII (DOS) format (.txt). Please make your abstract not shorter than 1400 and not longer than 2100 characters including spaces between words. Tables, figures or references are not accepted. The abstract book will be published before the symposium and posted in the site of symposium. Organizing Committee is looking for opportunity to publish selected papers in one of the peer reviewed journal. The Symposium Secretariat is to receive your abstracts, both electronic and hard copies, not later than May 31, 2012.

Please use address:

Symposium Secretariat
Botanical Garden-Institute FEB RAS
Vladivostok 690024 RUSSIA
Tel.: +7 423 2388041, +7 914 7038565
Fax: +7 423 2388041
E-mail: krestov@biosoil.ru

Registration:
Please fill the electronic Registration Form on the web site of symposium (http://www.geobotanica.ru/symposium) and submit it to Symposium Secretariat, or send all necessary information through the e-mail.

The registration fee must be paid in US $ in the following amounts:

If payment received	Before June 30, 2012	Before July 31, 2012	On site
Participants	225 US$	250 US$	310 US$
Accompanying persons and students	100 US$	125 US$	170 US$

Registration fee for participants includes:
Participation in the sessions and meetings of the Symposium;
Admittance to the Welcome Reception and Farewell Party;
Symposium Pack (including abstracts);
Participation in the ground mid-Symposium excursions;
Refreshments during the Coffee breaks;
Participation in City excursions

Registration fee for accompanied persons includes:
All items from program for participants other than the Symposium Proceedings.

The registration fee does not include
Medical insurance and meals during the breakfast, lunch and dinner. The details on breakfast, lunch and diner are in the accommodation section.

Payment:
Full payment must be paid by the corresponding deadlines.
Confirmation will be sent upon clearance of payment and the receipts will be provided on-site upon check in.
Payment in USD $ will be made by wire transfer from your bank directly to the account below. All bank charges are the responsibility of the registrant. Be sure to verify the registrant’s name when wiring the fee.

USD $ Account
Bank Name	Far Eastern Commercial Bank
Account Number	40503840500161000003
Swift Code	FAECRU8K
Bank Address	27, Gogolya str., Khabarovsk 680000, Russian Federation
Recipient’s Name	BGI FEB RAS

Cancellation
If cancellation will be made before August 15, 2012, the registration fee and deposits will be refunded with an exception of $ 50. If cancellation will be made before September 10, 2012, 50% of amount paid will be restrained. In case of cancellation after September 10, 2012 the registration fee and deposits will not be refunded.

Accommodations
Participants of Symposium may stay in one of the Hotels of Vladivostok. All are medi-um class (2-3-4 * +). Price ranges on March 2012 and services are as listed below. This information is just for orientation. Please check TripAdviser, Booking.com and other sites for actual information.

Hotel	Price (Rus roubles)			Breakfast	Class	Distance to Venue (m)	Look what a Trip Adviser says
	Single	Double	Suite
Vlad Motor Inn	-	3600	4600	no	***	19000	link
Hyundai	6750	7710	14500	included	****	400	link
Equator	-	4000	5500	included	***	1300	link
Vladivostok Amur Bay	2900	2900	-	included	***	1400	link
Versailles	6240	7000	-	included	****	900	link
Avanta	-	4000	-	included	**	7500	link
Azimuth - Amurskiy Zaliv	-	2800	5500	included	***	1300	link
Zhemchuzhina	2500	4000	4500	included	-	1000	link

the list is still to be added

All Hotels in Vladivostok are very busy during summer. It is strongly recommended that you make reservation as far in advance as possible. Organizing Committee can book the Hotel for participants on the condition of earlier registration.

If you book hotel through the organizing committee, the hotel deposit, $100 US, should be paid with registration fee. Please indicate the dates of your arrival and departure in Registration Form.

Organizing committee looks for the low-cost accommodation opportunities for symposium participants. Please wait for additional information.

Excursions:

There will be mid- and post-symposium excursions.

Mid-symposium excursion

(Cost for excursions will be included in registration fee).

A. easy (2-3 hours). Vladivostok Botanical Garden

B. moderate (6-7 hours). Ussuri Reserve (temperate old-growth forest)

C. moderate (10-12 hours). Islands of Peter the Great Bay (small-island temperate vegetation)

To look at the images from the areas of mid-symposium excursions please visit our web page on http://www.geobotanica.ru/symposium

Please indicate chosen excursions in Registration Form.

Post-symposium excursion

We plan four 7-day long excursions:

I. Southern boundary of circumboreal zone and Ussuri taiga – cost 520 US$;

II. Natural and anthropogenic forest and meadow vegetation of southernmost Primorye – cost 420 US$;

III. Landscapes and mail zonal vegetation of Kamchatka – cost 640 US$;

IV. Landscapes and mail zonal vegetation of Baikal Lake area – cost to be calculated.

These areas represent respectively northern temperate and southern boreal maritime, northern boreal oceanic and middle boreal continental bioclimates in their extreme appearances.

Please check the itineraries of Post-symposium excursions

The costs of excursions are preliminary and may be slightly changed. The costs of Baikal and Kamchatka excursions do not include the price of flight Vladivostok-Petropavlovsk-Vladivostok (approximately 800 US$ round trip) and Vladivostok-Irkutsk-Vladivostok (approximately 900 US$ round trip). In order to reduce price of flights please try to include the excursion flights into your flight itinerary. Please note that flights for excursion to Kamchatka must be arranged on September 28, 2012. The last day of excursion is scheduled on October 5, 2012. So, flight from Kamchatka and Irkutsk will be possible in October 6, 2012. Symposium excursion reservation and payment should be made before June 30, 2012.

The payment should be made in US$ to Tour Agency, which is selected for the excursion organization.

If the minimum number of required persons is not met, the excursion may be canceled (minimum 15 persons for the excursions I and II and min 10 persons for the excursions III and IV).

We do not provide travel insurance for excursions. Please arrange your own travel insurance for whole term of your staying in Russia.

Equipment for field excursions

We suggest that you bring warm sweater and coats, water proof clothing. Because most of excursions will be in the forests or in volcanic and mountain areas, on tephra deposits or lavas, it is recommended that you wear tephra- and water-tolerant footwear: i.e. strong shoes or boots.

Travel information
Visas
All foreign participants of Symposium must have valid Passport and visa to enter in Russia. Please contact the nearest Russian Consulate to obtain visa. In the Consulate everyone will be asked for official invitation letter from Russian Immigration Office and invitation letter from Organizing Committee of Symposium. The letter from Russian Immigration Office is our responsibility, and in order to prepare it we need to obtain from you following information:

1. Passport data (all information on the first page of your passport including passport number);
2. Length of your stay in Russia;
3. Photocopy of the first page (with photo) of your passport, faxed or sent by e-mail;
4. Exact route of your travel within Russia (based on the itinerary);
5. Affiliation and organization-employer of participants with full mailing address, telephone and fax;
6. The city with Russian Consulate, where you intend to apply for Russian visa.

Earlier submission of required documents will guarantee the timely prepared official invitation letter. The deadline for information submission is May 31, 2012.

How to reach Vladivostok
Vladivostok is situated in the southernmost part of the Russian Far East. The fastest way to reach city is by air. Direct flights from Tokyo, Niigata, Osaka (Japan), Seoul (Ko-rea), Beijing, Harbin and Shanghai (China) to Vladivostok are available from Vladivostok Air, Korean Air and Siberian Air (S7). Aeroflot, Siberian Air and Vladivostok Air connect European Russian cities (Moscow, St.-Petersburg) to Vladivostok. Aeroflot, Siberian Air, Ural Air connect Vladivostok to Irkutsk and to Petropavlovsk. European participants can reach Vladivostok via Moscow, St.-Peterburg or Novosibirsk, taking direct flight from one of those points to Vladivostok. Organizing Secretariat have opportunity to book Hotel in Vladovostok and Air tickets for Vladivostok – Petropavlovsk-Kamchatskiy and Vladivostok – Irkutsk flight for participants going via Vladivostok. For more specific information, please contact the Organizing Committee.

Local information
Health
The registration fee does not cover insurance for the participant. Simple medication will be available in Petropavlovsk and Irkutsk during the session and during the post-symposium excursion. We would strongly recommend to bring specific medicine if you use any. No vaccinations are needed in Russia.

Cities
During our excursions we will go in areas around the cities of Vladivostok, Khabarovsk, Petropavlovsk-Kamchatskii and Irkitsk. Please look at the pages of these cities in Wiki:
Vladivostok - Khabarovsk - Irkutsk - Petropavlovsk-Kamchatskii

Climate
Late September is still late summer in southern part of Primorye, but in Kamchatka and Irkutsk temperatures may be well above zero in day time but well below zero in the night time.

Clothing
During the sessions no formal dress is required. During the excursions we suggest to bring warm sweater, warm coat, water proof clothing. Because most of excursions will be in the forests or in volcanic and mountain areas, on tephra deposits or lavas, it is recommended that you wear tephra- and water-tolerant footwear: i.e. strong shoes or boots. Good news: no mosquitoes and ticks in this season in the areas of excursion.

Money
The Russian monetary unit is Ruble [rubl'] devided into 100 kopeks [kopeika]. In March 2012 $ 1 US = 29-30 Rubles. These rates will likely remain actual in September 2012.

Credit cards are accepted in all big cities, credit card terminals and ATMs are available in the big hotels. You may use only Russian Rubles in Russia. Cash can be easily obtained from ATMs from any credit cards. If you want to take some amount of cash from your country, please note that most convenient currencies in Russia are US$ and Euros. It is possible to exchange them to rubles in the any place in Russia. There may be difficulties to exchange any other currency.

Time
Vladivostok time belt is 11, Irkutsk 9, and Petropavlovsk 13 hours ahead of Greenwich Mean Time (GMT), and respectively 7, 5 and 9 hours ahead of Moscow time.

Electricity
The electric current is 220-240 V, 50 Hz alternating current. Two-pin round plugs are standard.

Telecommunications
International telephones, Fax, e-mail will be available in the Symposium Venue and Hotel, reserved for participants.