On behalf of the Australian Physiological Society (AuPS), the Physiological Society of New Zealand (PSNZ), and the Australian Society for Biophysics (ASB), we extend an invitation to you to attend our combined societies conference, hosted at the University of New South Wales (UNSW Kensington campus, Sydney), Sunday 2nd December to Wednesday 5th December.

We are delighted with the broad program that has been achieved, with symposia spanning the breadth of the physiological sciences and biophysics. Eighteen symposia spanning seven themes have been developed, with 14 international speakers. These session themes form a kernel for free oral and poster presentations. Please view the programme and consider communicating your latest research within these free communication formats.

We are honoured to have three keynote lecturers:

AuPS invited lecturer

Prof. Joe Lynch: Glycine receptors: their structure and function and their role in health and disease.
Queensland Brain Institute; School of Biomedical Sciences, University of Queensland.

Invited plenary speakers:

Prof Håkan Westerblad: Muscle fatigue
Scandinavian Exchange Lecturer, Karolinska Inst. Sweden.
Prof Lutz Birnbaumer. Molecular makeup and physiology of TRPC channels.
National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS), USA.

The meeting format will include facilitated poster commentary and judging, and prizes for student and post-doctoral presentations.

The welcome reception on the Sunday night features Prof. Lynch's plenary lecture, followed by drinks and food with entertainment from Amy Freeman. There is a student social on Monday night at the White House, on the UNSW campus, and a highlight for the conference, our Combined Societies' buffet dinner on the Sydney Harbour cruise boat the Bella Vista with awards and spot prizes and live entertainment from the nine member Wonder Brass rhythm and blues band.
The dinner cruise will be held on Tuesday 4 Dec, 7 - 11pm. Coaches will take people down to the Star Casino Wharf from UNSW and return to UNSW afterwards.

The conference will finish on Wednesday evening with a closing reception and prize presentation.

Registration includes the welcome reception, tea & coffee during the meeting, the conference dinner and the closing reception.
A wide range of lunch options are available in the UNSW food court located below the UNSW Glass Pavilion conference centre. Low cost accommodation will be available via UNSW student housing (bookable via the conference website) and extensive accommodation options are readily at hand in the Randwick - Eastern suburbs area, including nearby Coogee Beach.

In short, this is a meeting not be missed. If you are not yet a member of one of our Societies and would like to present your research, then you can register as a non-member and have a member sponsor your abstract. It will be to your advantage to join one of the societies first. Consult the information on the registration page.

On behalf of the Programming Committee & the Local Organizing Committee for the AuPS, PSNZ & ASB 2012 combined conference

Gary Housley
Chair of the AuPS Local organising committee, g.housley@unsw.edu.au. Phone: +61-2-9385-1057

Recording Etiquette at Meetings

Society etiquette requires you to obtain permission from authors before taping, filming or photographing sessions or posters.

Poster Presentation Guidelines

The poster display boards are floor length, measuring 1200cm Wide x 1800cm High, covered with fabric.
The orientation must be portrait
The posters will be attached with Velcro dots, available at the Registration Desk on arrival.

Displaying Posters

The procedure for displaying posters will be as follows:

All posters to be mounted before 12.00h on Monday 3rd December and to remain up until Wednesday 5th December.
Posters are to be mounted on the numbered board position corresponding to the poster number (not the proceedings number) indicated to the left of each poster title on the program website.
Presenters of odd numbered posters (including all ASB posters) will be present at the first poster viewing session during lunch 12.30-2.00pm Monday,
Presenters of even numbered posters to be present at the second poster viewing session during lunch 12.30-2.00pm Tuesday.

Oral Presentation guidelines (Free Communications)

Oral presentations are 10 min plus 5 min for questions. All Powerpoint presentations scheduled for an oral session should be uploaded onto the provided computer before the starting time of the first presentation of the oral session. Presentations should be designed with ease of transport across computer platforms in mind. Use of individual laptops is not recommended and will not be supported. Note that time limits will be strictly adhered to by session chairs.