APSS 2025 Planning Well Underway

by Benjamin Geist

With only around 160 days until APSS 2025, organisation of the 36^th annual symposium is going extremely well. We have confirmed 11 world-class invited speakers to join us in Sydney next February, presenting on a diverse range of industry-related topics. The program will also feature up to 40 x short oral presentations, as well as 40-50 posters, sharing recent research outcomes and reviews of poultry science from all around the globe.

Invited Speakers:

• Steve Leeson – University of Guelph, Canada
• Zahave Uni – University of Jerusalem, Israel
• Mike Bedford – AB Vista, UK
• Pairat Srichana – CP, Thailand
• Walter Bottje – University of Arkansas, USA
• Sanna Steensfeldt – Aarhus University, Denmark
• Mike Kogut – USDA, USA
• Sonia Liu – University of Sydney, Australia
• Frank Wong (AAHL) – CSIRO, Australia
• Vitor Arantes – Hyline Global, USA
• Partha Pulido – Mississippi State University, USA

Last month, a group of PRF council members and other interested parties attended a walk-through of the University of Sydney, Abercrombie Business School, Camperdown Campus, which will host APSS 2025. The feedback from all involved was very positive, with the venue offering a much more conducive 500 seat lecture theatre for presentations, as well as larger break-out spaces and a range of private meeting spaces that will be available for our sponsors to coordinate side meetings over the 3 days of the conference.

One of the major successes of APSS 2024, was the introduction of the Student/Early Career Researcher Mentoring Session, coordinated jointly by AgriFutures – Chicken Nutrition, Gut Health & Environment and Poultry Hub Australia. Both organisations are very eager to continue this program in 2025, and more information will be available once registration opens in October.

We are currently two-thirds of the way through our paper submission period, and are calling on all researchers to please work on finalising your papers and getting them submitted sooner rather than later. Every year we have a large number of papers submitted right at the deadline, which puts a great deal of pressure on our reviewers and our editors, so to aid in prompt review, we encourage you to submit your initial paper as soon as possible.
PAPER SUBMISSION PORTAL WILL CLOSE AT 23:59 AEST, 30^TH SEPTEMBER 2024.

Registration for APSS 2025 will officially open on the 1^st October 2024, and our prices will be released very soon. We can confirm that we have secured a preferred hotel, 4 points by Sheraton Sydney, Central Park, which is just a 15-20min walk to the symposium venue. This hotel is available to book via a link on our website and will also be included in our ever-popular package deal rates. There will also be several other recommended hotels nearby, with around 10-12 hotels all within a reasonable walking distance. For those worrying about the distance or for inclement weather, we are also investigating the option for a shuttle bus service to operate each morning and afternoon, to and from our preferred hotels.

Although the symposium will again begin the official scientific program from lunch-time on Monday (10 February 2024), we understand that many delegates still prefer to arrive in on the Sunday afternoon (9 February 2024) to get themselves settled and potentially arrange pre-event meetings. To accommodate those arriving in early, we will introduce an “informal” welcome drinks for APSS 2025. We have reserved the Rooftop Bar at the Abercrombie Hotel (adjacent to the preferred hotel) from 4:30-6:30pm. Those attending will receive a cocktail/mocktail on arrival + a light afternoon snack.

Finally, we would like to extend our sincerest gratitude to our amazing sponsors. Year after year we get overwhelming support from our poultry industry partners when it comes to sponsorship of APSS. Within just 1 week of opening our Sponsorship Portal, we had 18 organisations willing to contribute to this world-renowned event, and it is largely due to their involvement that we are able to run such a successful symposium annually.

As always, we look forward to seeing all of our loyal delegates in Sydney again next February, and we would love nothing more than to see a continuation of our growth trend in 2025, with a target of 350+ delegates, please put the dates in your calendar and spread the word to help us set another new attendance record in 2025.