The International Palaeontological Congress (IPC) is a quadrennial meeting of paleontologists from a variety of countries and disciplines. The International Paleontological Association and paleontological societies headquartered in various countries and specifically the Paleontological Society in the USA support it. It is open to all who are interested in paleontology. The meeting planned for June 16 through June 21, 2006 in Beijing, China will be the second IPC. The previous congress in Sydney, Australia in 2002 was an excellent opportunity for the presentation of the results of new research and for discussions of current areas of paleontological research. One aim of IPC is to allow specialists who would not otherwise normally be in contact to meet and exchange ideas.
The Paleontological Society believes that the continued interest of students and young professionals is critical to the health of the field. Not only will they maintain the study of past life, they are the ones who will provide fresh approaches and examine old fossils with new eyes. IPC provides an outstanding educational opportunity to obtain focused presentations of global paleontological information from talks and poster presentations without the other distractions presented at a more provincial and general geological meeting. It also allows students the ready opportunity to meet with international leaders in the field and to discuss their research in progress, both formally and informally, in a venue not provided by a national or regional geologic meeting.
