The Minister of Science and Technology, Naledi Pandor (MP) will tomorrow, Saturday, 10 October 2009 at 11h00 address the opening session of the 30th General Assembly of the International Union of Biological Sciences, hosted by the University of the Western Cape in Cape Town.
The International Union of Biological Sciences (IUBS) is a non-governmental, non-profit organisation, established in 1919 and its objectives include:
* to promote the study of biological sciences
* to initiate, facilitate and coordinate research and other scientific activities necessitating international, interdisciplinary cooperation
* to ensure the discussion and dissemination of the results of cooperative research, particularly in connection with IUBS scientific programmes and
* to support the organisation of international conferences and assist in the publication of their reports.
This year the IUBS is holding the Darwin 200 series of symposia in various countries on five continents, for example; Biological Education Christchurch in New Zealand, 12to 16 February 2009, Basic Issues in Evolution Venice in Italy, 1 to 5 May 2009, Biological Consequences of Global Change Beijing, China, 8 to 10 July 2009 or 150 years of Darwin’s Evolutionary Theory: a South American Celebration Punta del Este, Maldonado, Uruguay, 3 to 6 September, 2009.
The last symposium in the series is The Human Evolution Symposium. The conference will have a relatively broad focus on human evolution research and as such it will cover: the latest research on human genomics, archaeology, palaeontology, genetics and genographic research. The aim of Darwin 200 has been to celebrate the impact of Darwin’s ideas on current scientific knowledge.
Enquiries:
Lunga Ngqengelele
Tel: 012 843 6802
Cell: 082 566 0446
E-mail: lunga.ngqengelele@dst.gov.za
Issued by: Department of Science and Technology
9 October 2009
