Zigong Dinosaur Museum at the 31st Academic Conference of the PSC

From 24 to 27 November 2023, the 13th National Congress and the 31st Academic Conference of the Palaeontological Society of China (PSC) were successfully held in Lishui, Nanjing City. This year's conferences were sponsored by the PSC, organised by the Nanjing Institute of Geology and Palaeontology, Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), and co-organised by the Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology (IVPP), Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) and other organisations. There was an impressive attendance of more than 900 representatives from over 180 domestic organisations including scientific research institutions. Academicians of the CAS Rong Jiayu, Xie Shucheng, Zhang Shuichang and Xu Xing were among the participants. In addition to domestic participants, there were also more than 20 experts and scholars in palaeontology from 10 countries including Japan, South Korea, the United Kingdom, and Russia. Besides, researchers Ye Yong, Jiang Shan, and Li Yi of Zigong Dinosaur Museum attended the conferences.

Opening Ceremony of the 13th National Congress and the 31st Academic Conference of the PSC

During the conferences, a series of academic exchanges were carried out on the theme of "Integrating national major needs with international scientific and technological frontiers: Palaeontology towards a new era," with fruitful academic results being achieved. In addition, eight academic reports were specially arranged, 30 thematic forums and 40-plus sessions were set up, and 420 oral lectures, 71 keynote lectures, and 78 panel lectures were organised.  The paper "New Discovery and Research on Dinosaur Tracks in Sichuan Basin" written by Ye Yong was included in the Abstract Collection of the conferences. Jiang Shan was invited to be the moderator of the session on "Fossil Conservation and Ecotourism" and made a report titled "Fossil Conservation Helps Develop Ecotourism—Taking Zigong as an Example" which was highly praised by the participants.

Researcher Jiang Shan gives an academic report

At the conferences, the thirteenth General Council of the PSC was decided and Ye Yong was elected as a council member. At the Closing Ceremony, the Science Popularisation Working Committee of the PSC released the results of the "2022 Top Ten Progresses in Chinese Geology and Palaeontology Popularisation" and the "International Symposium on the 50th Anniversary of the Discovery of Dashanpu Dinosaur Fossil Site" of the Zigong Dinosaur Museum was on the list. The "Top Ten Progresses in Chinese Geology and Palaeontology Popularisation" is an annual selection campaign hosted by the Science Popularisation Working Committee and is an aggregate of the important advancements made by science popularisation education bases on palaeontology in a year. As the largest academic event in the fields of geology and palaeontology in China in 2022, the "International Symposium on the 50th Anniversary of the Discovery of Dashanpu Dinosaur Fossil Site" has boosted exchanges and cooperation in the fields among museums, universities, and scientific research institutes and taken the protection, research and science popularisation of paleontological fossils in China to a new level, garnering it widespread praise and great influence.

Scene of the prize presentation of the 2022 "Top Ten Progresses in Chinese Geology and Palaeontology Popularisation"

At the Closing Ceremony, the Award Ceremony of the 3rd "Fossils Around Me" Science Popularisation Creation Competition was held. The literary work titled "The Rise and Fall of Agilisaurus Louderbacki" by Li Yi from the Zigong Dinosaur Museum won the second prize of the adult group (the highest prize in the literary category). Around the theme of "Fossils around Me," the Competition received more than 1,000 pieces of work from the whole country. Of them, 203 made it to the national finals and 52 won a prize.

Scene of the Award Ceremony of the 3rd "Fossils Around Me" Science Popularisation Creation Competition