Overview
The 70th Annual Meeting of the Palaeontological Association will be held at the University of Oxford, UK. The organising committee brings together colleagues from Oxford’s Department of Earth Sciences and Museum of Natural History. It is chaired by Ross Anderson, with Frankie Dunn, Duncan Murdock, Emma Nicholls, Luke Parry, Ricardo Pérez-de la Fuente and Erin Saupe.
Registration is expected to open in the summer. Enquiries regarding the meeting should be addressed to annualmeeting2026@palass.org.
Programme and Venues
The meeting will take place from 8th to 11th December 2026 and will be based primarily at the Mathematical Institute, University of Oxford.
An assortment of workshops (including on quantitative approaches to palaeobiology) as well as tours of the Museum of Natural History collections and the University’s colleges will take place on the morning of 8th December. These will be followed by a themed symposium on “The Deep Time Record of Major Evolutionary Transitions”. The symposium will include a diverse range of researchers at different career stages to showcase how fossil specimens reveal major evolutionary transitions. An ice-breaker reception will be held that evening at the Museum of Natural History, providing the opportunity for delegates to take in the new re-display project in the main court.
The main scientific sessions of talks and posters will be held on 9th and 10th December. The Annual Address will be given in the late afternoon of 9th December and will be followed in the evening by the Annual Dinner at historic Merton College, founded 1264.
Meeting Format
Oral presentations will be held across parallel sessions. There will be dedicated poster sessions each day. All delegates should plan to attend in person; unfortunately, we do not have the facility to allow for virtual attendance at the meeting in Oxford.
The City of Oxford
Oxford is a compact city with excellent transport links and several hotels and areas for eating and drinking within walking distance of the meeting venue. The conference venue, the Mathematical Institute, is on the edge of the vibrant Jericho area of Oxford and neighbours the new Schwartzman Centre for the Humanities. Walton Street and Little Clarendon Street in Jericho host numerous bars, restaurants, and eateries. The nexus of Radcliffe Square, Broad Street, and High Street is around 5 mins walk and, during the meeting, Broad Street will host the city’s annual Christmas market. Blackwells bookshop with its vast Norrington Room is well worth a visit, and the University’s Ashmolean, History of Science, Natural History, and Pitt Rivers museums are all close by and free to enter.
Getting to Oxford
Getting to Oxford by train:
Oxford has a train station with direct links to both London Paddington (Great Western Railway) and London Marylebone (Chiltern Railways) as well as cross-country services.
Getting to Oxford by air:
Oxford is around 1 hr from London Heathrow with a direct coach service, Oxford Airline, regularly connecting the airport to the city centre. The same coach service also serves London Gatwick.
Getting to Oxford by road:
It is best to use the park-and-ride services to access the city centre if coming by car. Parking is available at the Westgate Centre and other central Oxford car parks but there is now a congestion charge.
Accommodation
There are numerous options for accommodation in central Oxford from hotels to college rooms. The organising committee is currently trying to book college rooms and will provide details when registration opens. Accommodation may also be booked through the usual online resources, and delegates are strongly encouraged to book their accommodation as early as possible to avoid disappointment and to get the best rates.