AFRAS 2027 · Programme
Six days in the Waterberg
Arrival on Sunday 10 January, three days of presentations around an open day for collecting, and departure after breakfast on Friday 15 January.
Programme overview
The week at a glance
The provisional programme follows on 11 December 2026.
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Sunday
10 January 2027
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Monday
11 January 2027
Sessions Oral and poster presentations
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Tuesday
12 January 2027
Sessions Oral and poster presentations
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Wednesday
13 January 2027
Open day Open day: collecting, a free day or other activities
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Thursday
14 January 2027
Sessions Oral and poster presentations, the AGM, the colloquium dinner and awards ceremony
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Friday
15 January 2027
Departure Departure after breakfast
On the open day you can collect, rest, or join the activities at the venue. Facilities and activities
Presentations
How the sessions work
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Oral presentations
Regular presentations are 15 minutes: 12 minutes for the presentation plus 3 minutes for questions.
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Flash presentations
A 5-minute flash session (2.5 minutes to present, 2.5 minutes for questions) for students who do not have final data yet but would like to pitch the core idea and preliminary findings of their project.
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Posters
Poster presentations run alongside the oral sessions on the presentation days.
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Workshops and special sessions
Delegates may suggest workshops or dedicated sessions on a topic to the programme organiser.
Abstracts
Submit an abstract
Abstracts are submitted online through Oxford Abstracts and close on 2 November 2026.
- Length
- A maximum 300 words
- Style
- Title and author names in sentence case
- How many
- You may submit more than one abstract.
- Opened
- 1 August 2026
- Closes
- 2 November 2026
- Outcome
- 9 November 2026
The abstract platform
Submit your abstract on Oxford Abstracts by 2 November 2026. You may submit more than one abstract.
Submit an abstractWorkshops and special sessions
Delegates may suggest a workshop or a dedicated session on a topic to the programme organiser.
Contact the organisersSponsorships
Support for African arachnologists
Limited part or full sponsorships are available. To qualify, the applicant must:
- Be a resident of an African country.
- Conduct studies on arachnids (non-acarine) with an African component.
- Present a poster or oral presentation at the colloquium.
Complete the application form and upload a brief motivation (maximum one page), a CV, and a letter of support from a researcher at a recognised scientific institution (PDF only, maximum 10 MB). Upload your abstract for an oral or poster presentation separately on the abstract platform.
The organising committee reserves the right to change the conditions, depending on the applications received.
Sponsorship application formAfter the colloquium · 18-20 January 2027
Post-colloquium curation workshop
An informal, hands-on workshop on the curation of arachnids (non-acarine), held at the museum and fully sponsored by it. It suits delegates who want to learn the basics of arachnid specimen curation.
Broad topics
- Specimen preservation and labelling
- Collection management and organisation
- Documentation and data management
- Loans
- Dates
- 18-20 January 2027
- Where
- DITSONG: National Museum of Natural History, Pretoria
- Sponsorship covers
- Accommodation (sharing), Meals, Transport, if required
Interested? Let the organisers know when you register, or contact Tharina Bird.
Key dates
Dates and deadlines
| Abstract submission opensPassed | 1 August 2026 |
|---|---|
| Registration opensPassed | 17 August 2026 |
| Abstract submission closes | 2 November 2026 |
| Outcome sent to authors | 9 November 2026 |
| Registration closes | 7 December 2026 |
| Provisional programme | 11 December 2026 |
| Colloquium | 10-15 January 2027 |
| Curation workshop, Pretoria | 18-20 January 2027 |