Registration

When registering, you will have the option of booking for VIRTUAL or IN-PERSON attendance. Please ensure you book the correct option. Take a look at the information below before registering.

Book here

IN-PERSON DELEGATE – join us in Liverpool

Our Annual Meeting has grown into Europe’s largest and most influential conference dedicated to ecology. We work hard to ensure the cost to delegates is accessible and competitive with other similar conferences around the world.

We are proud to include within the in-person delegate registration fees:

• Access to four plenary lectures by internationally renowned speakers
• Access to parallel sessions covering a diverse range of topics each day
• Lunchtime workshops on Day 1 and Day 2
• Access to an online app, with option to view thematic sessions and plenary sessions on demand
• Lunch and tea and coffee breaks on all 3 days
• Welcome mixer with complimentary drinks
• Two poster sessions, each with complimentary drinks
• Access to a variety of other social events throughout the conference with refreshments provided, including the opportunity to engage with our Special Interest Groups (SIGs)
• Access to a wide range of global exhibitors
• The opportunity to shape the BES via the Annual General Meeting (AGM)

Your registration also includes access to the BES2024 conference app where in-person and virtual attendees come together. Using the virtual hub, you can:

• Schedule individual and group virtual meetings with both virtual and in-person attendees
• Direct message both virtual and in-person attendees
• View the full agenda and add key sessions to your schedule
• View on-demand presentations with Q&A
• View online poster presentations
• Access the thematic and plenary sessions which are live-streamed, recorded and available to view until March 2025

As an in-person delegate, you can add the following to your booking:

• one of four pre-paid pre-conference workshops in the afternoon of 10 December or
• a delegate ticket for the National Environmental Monitoring Conference on 10 December
• Annual Meeting party ticket

You can add these to your booking on the second page of the registration form under “Additional Activities”.

VIRTUAL DELEGATE – access an online programme

For those who are unable to travel to Liverpool and would like to access some in-person content, as well as a pre-recorded programme of online talks and posters, the virtual ticket is an ideal option.

Included within the registration fee:

• Access the live-streamed plenary talks and thematic sessions
• Schedule individual and group virtual meetings with both virtual and in-person attendees
• Direct message both virtual and in-person attendees
• View the full agenda
• View on-demand presentations with Q&A
• View online poster presentations
• Access the thematic and plenary session recordings until March 2025

To register as a VIRTUAL delegate, scroll down the registration page until you see the BES Annual Meeting – Virtual Event ticket options.

Registration fees

Members of the BES can access significantly discounted registration rates to our Annual Meeting, so join today!

• Earlybird registration deadline: 17:00 (GMT), Thursday 31 October
• Standard registration deadline: 17:00 (GMT), Monday 11 November

In-person tickets	Earlybird - up to 17:00 (GMT) 31 October 2024	Standard - from 1 November 2024
BES Member	£410	£480
BES Concession Member*	£195	£260
Non-Member	£580	£710
Day Rate	£210	£280
Accompanying person**	£115	N/A
Discount Parent Registration***	£210	N/A

Please note that registration may close early should the event reach capacity before the standard registration deadline.

Any delegates that require a carer to be present are entitled to bring a helper free of charge.

All presenters must have registered by 17:00 (GMT), Thursday 31 October in order to confirm their place in the programme.

* Concession Member is a BES member-only rate available to students, unemployed or retired members and anyone who is a resident in a low or lower-middle income country.

** Accompanying person –  If you are attending the meeting and have a partner, or other person who does not wish to attend the scientific programme but would like to come along to the social programme, this rate covers all lunches, coffee breaks, poster sessions and the welcome mixer.

*** Discount parent – If you are coming along to the meeting with children and both parents/carers wish to attend the scientific programme, we understand that half of your time as a parent will be spent looking after your child and offer a discounted registration rate for both carers. Similarly, if you are attending as a single carer and will be looking after your child for part of the time, you can register at this rate.

Virtual Conference ticket	Cost
BES Member	£140
BES Concession Member*	£90
Non-Member	£250

You can book for up to 6 people at a time using our online registration platform.

We are only able to offer invoices in exceptional circumstances and no later than 2 weeks before the earlybird registration deadline to ensure payments can be processed in time. Payment via invoice will incur an admin fee of £15.

On-site registration

We will not be offering on-site registration this year.

Workshops – in-person only

During the registration process, you will have the opportunity to add one of the pre-conference workshops to your booking. These include a small fee to cover our costs. You can find out more about the workshops here. https://www.britishecologicalsociety.org/events/bes-annual-meeting-2024/workshops/

On 10 December, the National Environment Monitoring Conference will be taking place at the ACC Liverpool. Organised in conjunction with the UK Centre for Ecology and Hydrology and the UK Environmental Observation Framework, this one-day event will bring together the wide range of communities who either deliver, use or could benefit from information gathered from national monitoring activities across the 4 nations. This event can also be added to your booking. You can find out more about the Conference here

Annual Meeting Party – in-person only

We’ve found a fantastic venue for this year’s party which truly has something for everyone! Join us after supper at PINS Social Club and enjoy a couple of free drinks, live music, DJ and access to a range of activities including ten-pin bowling, shuffle board and pool. There’s also a photobooth and a karaoke bar – all included in your ticket price! So, you can choose the spend the evening on the dance floor, or if you prefer, chatting with colleagues and making new connections. There’s even an outdoor terrace if you fancy braving the December weather.

It’s one not to be missed- so remember to add it to your booking when you register.

Book here

Travel grants

We will be providing grants to support students and postgraduate research assistants from low and lower-middle income countries to attend our Annual Meeting in Liverpool. Grants of up to £1000 will be available for in-person attendance. More details can be found here.

Accommodation

Accommodation is to be booked by delegates independently. We are working with Marketing Liverpool to offer delegates a range of hotel rooms to suit your budget. Discover more here

Liverpool is a very popular destination, especially during the festive period, so we recommend booking well in advance of December.

Invitation VISA letters

We can provide invitation letters to those attending our Annual Meeting and attendance certificates after the meeting. We do not get involved in the VISA process other than providing these letters. VISA applications will only be provided after the following criteria have been satisfied:

• Applicants must provide us with a scan of their valid in-date passport that contains a photo of them.
• Applicants must provide us with an academic CV and the correspondence address for the letter.
• Applicants must provide us with a letter of support from their institute, saying they support the delegate attending the meeting.
• This must be carried out in good time before the meeting, “last minute” requests will not be processed.
• We should forewarn delegates requesting VISA letters that a Skype/phone call MAY be required in some circumstances.
• The general rule is that delegates must have paid for registration and submitted an abstract to get a letter of invitation.

Cancellations

In the event of the conference being cancelled we will offer a full refund to all delegates or the option to switch to a virtual pass if we move to a fully online event.

For all other cancellations the standard cancellation policy applies. These deadlines also apply to those wishing to move from in-person to virtual attendance:

• If cancellation is received before 17:00 (GMT), Thursday 31 October, the full registration fee will be given.
• If cancellation is received after 17:00 (GMT), Thursday 31 October, but before 17:00 (GMT), Monday 11 November, 50% of the registration fee will be refunded.
• No refunds will be given after 17:00 (GMT), Monday 11 November.