Save the Date: International Conference on Boar Semen Preservation

January 12, 2024 — 

The next International Conference on Boar Semen Preservation (the 10th edition!) will be held in Vic (a town in Barcelona province, Spain) between 19 August to 22 August.

The conference venue will be the "Fàbrica del Sucre" (Building of Sugar; https://150elements.mnactec.cat/company/fabrica-de-sucre-de-vic/) which is a nice building in the center of the town. We're still working on the program, but we can advance some information (https://www.boarsemen2024.com/) .

The Conference will start on Monday, 19 August 2023, with the Welcome Reception (Cocktail), but formal inauguration will take place on the 20th. We'll have two full days (20 and 21 Aug), one more focused on basic science (20 Aug), and the other that will have a more practical/technical approach (21 Aug) and that will welcome staff working in AI Centers, companies... This has been planned with the aim of opening the conference to as many people as possible, so that it can be useful to anybody working on boar reproduction/pig production.

We'll cover many relevant topics in boar semen, including the potential challenges of climate change; biomarkers of fertility in sperm, seminal plasma and boars; the immunological defense and the harmful effects of infectious diseases, including the role of semen as a vehicle; the recent advances of applying epigenetics and OMICs to boar semen; new strategies on semen preservation at 5ºC; international trade of semen and sperm cryopreservation; optimization of artificial insemination; animal welfare; new selection methods for AI boars; and boar welfare and nutrition. The idea is covering all the hot topics in the field, with the participation of experienced researchers as invited speakers; we'll also expect to disseminate the research in the field through oral communication and poster presentations. We can also let you know that deadline for Abstract submission will be 29 February 2024 (via www.boarsemen2024.com; the web will open on 1 Feb), and that Abstracts and Review articles coming from plenary lectures will be published in a Special Issue of Animal Reproduction Science (published by Elsevier). Also, we expect to launch the Webpage of the conference in the following two weeks (we'll make this information to circulate). In the Webpage, there will be practical information about how to get the conference venue (which is easy from Barcelona airport; 60 min by car / 90 min by train), as well as different options for accommodation.

We'll also have a social event on the 20th, visiting a local vineyard and having dinner there, and a gala dinner on the 21th offered by Nando Jubany, who runs a restaurant that has one Michelin star and is very popular in the area! (https://canjubany.com/en).

Early registrations (which will include welcome reception, lunches and coffee breaks, but not social events on the evening/night of 20 and 21 Aug) will be priced as follows (Early registration will extend till 31 May 2024):

Delegate: €450
Student (undergraduate, MSc, PhD): €250 (proof required)
One-day registration for technical staff (21/08/23): €250

For more information, visit https://www.boarsemen2024.com/