The Important dates are

• Start of abstracts acceptance 2014 August 15th
• Dead line for abstract submission 2014 December 31st
• Dead line for short full papers submission 2015 March 1st

Almaty, Kazakhstan: facilities and climate

Almaty, formerly known as Alma-Ata, which means “city of apples” is the largest city in Kazakhstan, and was the country's capital until 1997. Despite losing its status as the capital to Astana, Almaty remains the major commercial and cultural centre of Kazakhstan, as well as its largest population center. The city is located in the mountainous area of southern Kazakhstan.

The conference will be hold in Almaty city, in the most important University of the republic, Al-Farabi National University created in 1934. The new General Plan of Almaty for 2030 was developed in 1998 and aims at creating ecologically safe, secure, and socially comfortable living conditions in the city. The main objective is to promote Almaty’s image as a garden-city.

The climate in Almaty is a humid continental climate with hot summers and cold winters. It is characterized by the influence of mountain-valley circulation, which is especially evident in the northern part of the city, located directly in the transition zone of the mountain slopes to the plains.In June, the weather is generally charming with a mean temperature between 16 and 28°C with low rainfall (57mm on average in the month). However, due to the proximity of the high mountains (more than 4000m altitude), sudden changes in the climate could occur.

Conference venue

The conference will be held at the scientific library of Al-Farabi Kazakh National University, Almaty. The main conference hall for plenary sessions has 400 seats and 3 smaller rooms are available for the parallel sessions.

Currency and credit cards

The local currency is the Tenge (KZT). In August 2014, the exchange rate was:

1 USD = 184 KZT

1 € = 252 KZT

There are exchange offices everywhere in the city showing the exchange rates, and credit cards are accepted in most of the cases. Bankomats are available everywhere.

Accommodation

The nearest hotels of the conference hall are the following.

• Hotel InterContinental Almaty ***** ($480-3250, 2 km)
• BEST WESTERN PLUS ATAKENT PARK HOTEL **** ($160-250, 1 km)
• Hotel Holiday Inn**** (from $150-190, 5 km)
• Hotel Astana **** ($110-220, 3 km)
• Hotel Zyliha ** (from $40-150, 3 km)
• Hotel ТERRA *** ($40-120, 8 km)
• Hotel Astana *** ($40-100, 5 km)
• Hotel Almaty Sapar **** (from $30-100, 5 km)
• Hotel Alia ** ($30-90, 5 km)
• Other hotels are available. Flat rent for a week is possible.

Contacts and website

E-Mail: isocard2015@gmail.com

Website: www.isocard2015.kz

Post-conference tours

Post-conference social program could be organized with tourist agency on place easily. Some travel agencies will be present at the hall of the conference. Some of usually proposed tours for 1 day are:

• Charyn canyon visit,
• Big Almaty lake/Issyk lake,
• Turgen valley.
• Otherwise 2-3 days tours available also, as Koulsai lake, Altyn Yemel National Park etc. Cost of tours start from 30 USD/person/tour.

Charyn canyon	Turgen valley

Visa procedure

List of countries where Embassy of Kazakhstan is present: Afghanistan, Armenia, Austria, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Belgium, Brazil, Bulgaria, Canada, China, Croatia, Cuba, Czech Republic, Egypt, Estonia, Finland, France, Georgia, Germany, Greece, Hungary, India, Indonesia, Iran, Iraq, Israel, Italy, Japan, Jordan, Kyrgyzstan, Latvia, Lebanon, Libya, Lithuania, Malaysia, Mongolia, Netherlands, Norway, Oman, Pakistan, Palestine, Poland, Qatar, Romania, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Serbia, Singapore, Slovakia, South Korea, South Africa, Sovereign Order of Malta, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Tajikistan, Thailand, Turkey, Turkmenistan, UAE, Ukraine, UK, USA, Uzbekistan (http://mfa.gov.kz/index.php/en/map).

All not mentioned countries need to get the pre-visa procedure 3 months before conference, to be able to get all necessary papers for the entry. The pre-visa could be prepared by the Organizing committee if the participants send all information in time

The pre-visa procedure need to be full-fill following table by participant and send back with scan of valid passport. Then we will start pre-visa procedure

Since July 2014, citizens from following countries don’t need visa to Kazakhstan, if they will stay less than 15 days: USA, UK, Germany, France, Italy, Malaysia, Netherland, UAE, Korea, Japan.

Registration fees

For all ISOCARD members, triennial fees to society can be paid during the conference at June 2015. As usual for all participants it is USD 100 and for students it is USD 50.

Registration fees include following services: editing of special issue of co-edition “Journal of Camelid Science” and “Veterinariya” with all full papers of key-note speakers, oral presentations and abstracts; all coffee-breaks, lunch’s and tour of Almaty.For participants unable to attempt the conference, but asking for publishing their communication, a fee of USD50 only, will be required for including their abstracts in the whole proceeding.

These fees should be sending before 01/03/2015 to the bank account of ISOCARD-Kazakhstan society.Early registration – before 01/03/2015 – for the conference will be available for all participants of 4th ISOCARD conference. After 01/03/2015 all payment will be available as mentioned in table below during registration of the conference.

Provisory agenda

Guidelines for authors

All abstracts of participants should be uploaded onto web-site www.isocard2015.kz according to the guidelines below. The Scientific Committee of the Conference will revise every abstract. According to the conclusion reached by the Scientific Committee every participant will receive the final decision for participation. The short full-papers (2 pages) will then be required for oral presentations, according to the guideline below.

• All abstract should be not more 200 words
• All full-paper (in case of oral communications) maximum 2 pages

The guidelines for the authors are those of Journal of Camelid Sciences: The guidelines for the authors are those of Journal of Camelid Sciences.pdf

Poster session

Posters should measure 100*150 cm maximum. The poster should be:

• Simple, informative, visually appealing and attractive
• Easy to read and understand with relevant legend
• Contain text and illustrative material harmoniously combined to produce effective presentation
• Tell the complete story

Organizing committee

Chairman - Professor G. Mutanov, rector of the Al-Farabi University (KazNU)

• N. Akhmetsadykov (KazNAU),
• G. Konuspayeva (KazNU/FAO),
• A. Baubekova (Antigen Co. Ltd),
• T. Ramazanov (KazNU)
• T. Shalakhmetova (KazNU)
• N. Yem (KazNU)
• Z. Bolatkhan (KazNU)
• G. Shabdarbayeva (KazNAU)
• A. Serikbayeva (KazNAU),
• G. Absatirov (ZKATU),
• M. Narmuratova (KazNU),
• A. Meldebekova (KazNU),
• M. Akhmetsadykova (Antigen Co. Ltd),
• Sh. Akhmetsadykova (Antigen Co. Ltd)
• G. Raiymbek (KazNU),
• M. Nurseitova (KazNU),
• K. Khamzin (National Institute for sheep breeding)
• Z. Akhmetova (National Institute for sheep breeding)
• D. Tynbayev (Antigen Co. Ltd)
• A. Nurgazina (Antigen Co. Ltd)
• M. Akhmetzhanova (Antigen Co. Ltd)
• Sh. Kanayat (Antigen Co. Ltd),
• A. Saparov (Antigen Co. Ltd)
• Ye. Amirgaziev (Antigen Co. Ltd)
• Zh. Amirgazieva (Antigen Co. Ltd)
• Ye. Salamatov (Antigen Co. Ltd)
• B. Kenessov (KazNU)
• G. Narmuratova (Antigen Co. Ltd)

Scientific Committee

Chairman: G. Konuspayeva (FAO/KazNU, Kazakhstan)

• K. Mukhanov (Kazakhstan)
• A. Ivaschenko (Kazakhstan)
• B. Faye (France/KSA)
• P. Nagy (UAE/Hungary)
• M. Bengoumi (Tunisia/Morocco)
• X. Zhao (China)
• P. Burger (Austria)
• M. El-Harak (Morocco)
• T. Gahlot (India)
• E. Ciani (Italy)
• M. Hammadi (Tunisia)
• L. Meile (Switzerland)
• S. Basmaeil (KSA)
• R. Al-Jassim (Australia)
• A. Khalafalla (Sudan)
• I. Kadim (Oman)
• A. Aljoobori (UAE)
• K. Raziq (Pakistan)
• A. Abunikhaila (Sudan) 

SECOND ANNOUNCEMENT FOR THE

4th Conference of ISOCARD“SILK ROAD CAMEL: THE CAMELIDS, MAIN STAKES FOR SUSTANABLE DEVELOPMENT”

June 8-12, 2015 Almaty, Kazakhstan

Dear colleagues,

We invite you to participate at the 4th conference of International Society of Camelids Research and Development entitled “Silk Road Camel: The Camelids, Main Stakes for Sustainable Development” on 8-12th June 2015 at Almaty, Kazakhstan in Al-Farabi Kazakh National University. The 4th Conference of ISOCARD is ready to welcome all participants from over the world.

We would be pleased to see you all at Almaty, Kazakhstan!

Contact: isocard2015@gmail.com

The main topics:

• Camelids between tradition and modernity: the challenges for sustainable development
• The biology of camelids: new questions, advanced answers
• The productions and products of camelids for the well-being of humanity: state of the art
• Camelids and health: emerging diseases and permanent problems to be solved
• Camelids and their environment: Impact of the climatic changes
• Camelid economy: from local to international market
• Place of camelids in the socio-cultural context and in history

Sessions of the conference

The Conference will be organized in 5 main sessions:

Special workshop session on camel genomic

A special workshop session managed by P. Burger (University of Vienna, Austria), E. Ciani (University of Bari, Italy) and F. Almathen (King Faisal University, Saudi Arabia) on the camel genomic will be organized the last conference day including

• (i) a general “genetics” session, 
• (ii) a specific genomics round-table and discussion and 
• (iii) an advanced training on genomic data management and analysis.

Proceeding

The proceedings will be co-edited by Journal of Camelid Sciences (ISOCARD) and Veterinariya (Kazakhstan)

The abstracts will be translated into Kazakh and Russian.

Poster competitions

A poster session will be organized every day. Two poster competitions are organized:

• According to the tradition of ISOCARD – “The ISOCARD prize” for the best poster prepared by doctorates will be elected by EC members of ISOCARD. An award will be present during the closing ceremony.
• There will also be awards for the five best posters decided by all participants (special evaluation form will be given to theparticipants at the poster session)