About the conference

India has made significant contribution in lichenological research in the last six decades and at present more than 100 researchers are engaged in lichenological studies throughout the country. Much of the research is focused on taxonomy, floristic or revisionary studies of lichens while biodeterioration, biomonitoring, climate change and bioprospection aspects of lichens are recently initiated. Lichenological researches in India have a strong base of classical taxonomy and still follows traditional techniques. At the same time it is in verge of transformation into modern lichenology incorporating several advanced aspects. The conference would review the current development in Indian lichenology and through light on the new frontiers.

About Indian Lichenological Society (ILS)

ILS is an association of lichen researchers and enthusiasts established in the year 2014 for the promotion of lichen research in India. The society is registered under Society Registration Act 1860 at Lucknow and has grown up profusely to accommodate the interest of other cryptogam groups in India by initiating a journal entitled ‘Cryptogam Biodiversity and Assessment’ (www.cbaj.in).

Membership of ILS : The society offers membership to any interested cryptogam researcher with ‘Life Membership’ of Rs. 2500 and ‘Ordinary (Annual) Membership’ for Rs. 500. For more information please visit the society’s website - www.indianlichenology.com

About the venue

Lucknow, the capital of Uttar Pradesh state is popularly known as city of Nawabs, well known for its unique tahzeeb (culture), distinguished by nazakat (politeness) and nafasat (refinedness), coupled with its pahle app (you first) hospitality. The city is also popular for 18th century monuments, kababs and chikan cloth. Lucknow a small town during the medieval period, has rapidly developed into a large city today with a number of research organizations and educational institutes such as CSIR, ICAR, DRDO, SGPGI, Lucknow University and BB Ambedkar (Central) University.

Located at the centre of the city CSIR-National Botanical Research Institute is a premier plant based research institute in India which conducts cutting edge research on both basic as well as applied aspect of plants. It is a unique institute where cryptogam research is given prime importance. Lichenology Laboratory of the institute is one of the pioneer organization in India for lichen research. The laboratory has state of the art infrastructure of lichen research. So far the laboratory has produced several skilled human resource for lichen research and published more than 400 articles.

The herbarium of the institute, holds more than 1.5 lakh specimens of lichens and is one of the biggest lichen herbarium (LWG) in south Asia.The conference venue not only offers a great opportunity to meet renowned lichenologists, but also provide access to huge collection of lichen specimens together with rich literature in the institute library.

Themes

The conference would accept all abstracts related to lichenological research. However, some themes are recognized here to help the authors for preparation and presenting their abstract.

• History of lichenology in India
• Revisions, monographs, description of new species and new records
• Molecular taxonomy and phylogenetics
• Floristic aspects and diversity assessment
• Lichenicolous and endolichenic fungi
• Symbiont culture and diversity
• Ecology, phytogeography and conservation
• Physiology and biochemistry
• Biomonitoring for air pollution and climate change
• Biodeterioration and conservation of monuments
• Ethnolichenology, bioprospection and economic importance
• Lichen bioinformatics
• Recent techniques in lichenology

Abstracts submission

The abstracts should be within 3000 characters (including alphabets, numbers and special characters, space) and be typed using ‘Times New Roman’ font. The abstract can be directly typed or copied in the space given in the pdf registration form. Full names of the authors (without using titles such as Mr., Mrs., Ms., Dr. etc.) along with the address of the affiliated institute should be mentioned. In case of two or more authors, the presenting author should marked with an asterisk (*) and his/her email should be mentioned for communication. A maximum of five key words (different from those in the title) should be provided. The filled in PDF form with all the details should be mailed to the organizing secretary on or before 15th December 2017.

Mode of Presentation

The authors can select their preferred mode of presentation, Oral or Poster in the registration form. However, the final decision regarding mode of presentation will be taken by the organizing committee depending upon the nature of work and number of presenters. The oral presentation should be short and concise with a maximum time of 15 minutes (including 12 minutes of presentation and 3 minutes of discussion) which may be modified by the organizers depending upon the number of presenters. The posters can be made of flex or paper printed and the size should not exceed 36 (width) × 48 (length) inches.

Pre-Conference Workshop on ‘Molecular Systematics’

One day workshop on ‘Molecular Systematics of Lichens’ will be conducted on 26th January 2018. This workshop is suitable for the participants who are already engaged in lichen researches or intend to take-up molecular studies in near future. The number of seats for workshop is limited and reserved only for ILS Life Members who are participating in the conference. The participants for the workshop will be selected on the basis of the usefulness of the course to them as expressed in the separate application form. The last date for participants expressing their interest in workshop is 15th November 2017 and only selected candidates will pay the workshop fee. The selected candidates can be benefited with the molecular techniques such as DNA extraction, PCR amplification, DNA sequencing, sequence editing & alignment and various phylogenetic approaches as maximum likelihood, maximum parsimony and Bayesian analysis.

Conference proceeding

Selected papers from the conference would be published in the form of proceeding through reputed publisher. The authors would be contacted to submit full length paper after the conference.

Highlights of the conference

• The conference also includes felicitation of Dr. D.K. Upreti, a renowned lichenologist of the country on his 60th birth anniversary. A special volume of the ILS official journal ‘Cryptogam Biodiversity and Assessment’ will be released on the occasion to commemorate the event.
• The conference will also include keynote lectures by Dr. Thorsten Lumbsch (The Field Museum, Chicago, U.S.A) and special lecture by Dr. P. K. Divakar (Complutense University of Madrid, Spain). Drs. Lumbsch and Divakar also lend their expertise in conducting workshop.

Awards/Prizes in the conference

In order to felicitate and boost researchers in the field of lichenology, the following three awards have been constituted:

1. Dr. D. D. Awasthi Memorial Lifetime Achievement Award
This award will be bestowed to a senior Lichenologist for his/her outstanding contribution to lichenology of India. The candidate for the award will be selected by the Executive Council of the ILS. The award includes a memento and citation.
2. Dr. P. G. Patwardhan Award
This award will be given for the best oral presentations among students and delegate categories. One person from each category will be selected based on his/her presentation in the conference by the chairing committee.
3. Dr. Ajay Singh Award
This award will be given to best poster presentations in both students and delegate categories. One person from each category will be selected based on his/her presentation in the conference by the judging committee.

How to register?

There are separate registration forms for conference and workshop which can be downloaded from ILS website. The registration form is ‘pdf filling’ type, read instructions and provide all necessary information.

How to reach the venue?

The participants have to reach the venue or place of their stay on their own. Transportation on payment basis may be provided on request to participants (especially ladies) arriving during night hours. Lucknow city is well connected by rail, air and road networks. Several trains ply in and out of the city connecting to major cities like Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai, Bengaluru, Bhopal, Kolkata, etc. The railway station is about 6-7 km from NBRI and can be reached by pre-paid taxi, autos, shared autos or cab services of Ola/Uber. The Chaudhary Charan Singh International Airport (Amausi), Lucknow has flight connectivity throughout the day to Delhi and some flights to other important cities such as Mumbai, Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Kolkata, Ahmedabad. It is located about 20-24 km from the venue and one can avail cab services. Several buses also ply connecting Lucknow to Delhi and other parts of the state. The guest house of CSIR-NBRI is about 10 minutes walk from the institute. The important locations near the venue include – Hazratganj, Saharaganj, Gomtinagar, Aminabad and Aliganj.

Registration Fee*

Following are the registration fee structures for the conference,

Category of participants	Workshop	Conference Before 15th Dec 2017	Conference After 15th Dec 2017
Delegates* (ILS Life Members)	2000/-	2500/-	3000/-
Delegates* (non-ILS Life Members)	2000/-	3000/-	3500/-
Students# (ILS Life Members)	2000/-	2000/-	2500/-
Students# (non-ILS members)	2000/-	2500/-	3000/-
Accompanying person^	N.A.	2000/-	2000/-

Registration fee includes conference kit, guest house or hostel accommodation, food including breakfast, lunch and dinner.

*Delegates include – Scientists, Professors, Post Docs, Industry people
#Students include – Masters Students, Ph.D. Research Scholars. Candidates should provide their proof of studentship by uploading their valid ID card or letter from their supervisor.

^Accompanying persons will not be given provided conference kit, only accommodation and refreshments will be provided during the conference period.

Fee remittance details

All the financial transaction should be made through online payment/money transfer using RTGS/NEFT/IMPS modes into the following account:

Account No. : 34349534762
Name : Indian Lichenological Society
Bank : State Bank of India
Branch: NBRI Lucknow (10173)
Address : National Botanical Research Institute, Rana Pratap Marg, Luckonw-226001
IFSC Code : SBIN0010173
MICR Code : 226002051
Registration fees in cash will be accepted from the local candidates (residing in Lucknow) only. Besides, cash can be paid for spot registration on the inaugural day of the conference.

Accommodation and food

The delegates would be accommodated in the NBRI Guest House and Youth hostel. As we have limited accommodation, it would be offered on first come first serve basis for delegates/students who have paid their registration fees. The organizing committee reserves the right to allot or modify the accommodation for the participants. The organizers do not guarantee the accommodation to candidates who register late. Accommodation will be provided from 25th evening to 27th January night for participants also attending workshop, and from 26th to 27th night for conference participants only. Similarly, food will be provided from 25th dinner to 28th evening tea for participants attending both conference and workshop, and from 26th dinner to 28th evening tea for conference participants only.

Important Dates

Normal registration : 15th December 2017
Late registration : 16th December 2017 to 27th January 2018
Last date for submission of abstracts : 15th December 2017
Last date for expressing interest in Workshop : 15th November 2017
Notification of mode of presentations : 31st December 2017
Date of the workshop : 26th January 2018
Dates of the conference : 27-28thJanuary 2018

Address for correspondence

Dr. Sanjeeva Nayaka, Organizing Secretary
Indian Lichenological Society
Lichenology Laboratory, Plant Diversity, Systematics and Herbarium Division
CSIR-National Botanical Research Institute (Govt. of India)
Rana Pratap Marg, Lucknow - 226001, U.P., India
Email : indianlichenology@gmail.com
Mobile : +91 8756104655, +91 8004923471
Phone (O) : +91 522 2297856, Fax (O): +91 522 2205836/39

Registered Office of ILS

395/3, Unity City, Bahadurpur, Kursi Road, Lucknow-226021, U.P.