Dear Colleagues,

It looks as though the 2009 AOGS meeting will be the second largest ever, with over 1430 active abstracts submitted until now.

A number of Conveners have requested that the abstract submission portal in MARS remain open due to special circumstances. These include the recent death of a Convener, changes in funding policy for some nations, and a number of other issues.

Rather than restrict this opportunity to specific sessions we have decided it is fairer to allow late submission of abstracts to all sessions, with associated applications for registration fee waivers, until 30 March. Earlier is much better than later, however, since Conveners have already started accepting abstracts and the Financial Support Committee will shortly start processing applications.

Looking forward to seeing you in Singapore for a very successful AOGS 2009,

Iver Cairns
(Secretary General, AOGS)