Length, Format, and Structure

The conference will take place at the venue of the Antiga Audiència, a local historical building in the centre of Tarragona, Spain.

The conference will commence on the afternoon of the 15th of November, with a keynote lecture led by Dr Antonio Rodríguez-Hidalgo. The lecture will be held in Spanish (Castellano), with English translation, and will be open to the public. A drink reception will follow the keynote lecture.

During the following two days, a series of oral presentations will be presented by early-career academics, i.e., master students, PhD and postdoctoral researchers, junior lecturers and assistant researchers.

The interventions will be divided into sessions dedicated to four areas in human evolution: humans and their environment, morphology, molecular anthropology, material culture and behaviour.

Alternated to oral presentations, interactive seminars led by invited speakers will address relevant issues in academia, relating to challenges and opportunities for young researchers such as: how to write grant applications, how to create engaging content, and mentoring in academia.

The evening of the last day is dedicated to poster presentations, with a drink reception. The session will be open to the public, with the possibility for the participants to present in Spanish, Catalan or English.

The two public events hold multiple purposes: to create outreach opportunities for the conference participants, to involve the public in the activities run by the IPHES, to raise interest in the different disciplines of biological anthropology and to promote local cultural heritage.

Preliminar programme

We are trying our best to make the conference plastic and paper-free, where possible. Therefore, most of the content will be provided in digital format only.

Seminars and workshops

During the AHEAD conference, podium presentations from researchers will alternate with a series of seminars delivered by expert international speakers. The seminars will talk about relevant and pressing issues in the context of academic professional development, mental health, academic support and inclusion.

Please find below all the seminars and workshops available:

AHEAD Workshop stepping out academia

Stepping out of Academia

Dr Soledad De Esteban-Trivigno

AHEAD Seminar writing

Writing grants: dos and don’ts

Dr Lorena Tomás Laudo

AHEAD Seminar women in prehistory

Women in prehistory

Dr Marian Berihuete

Participants and thematic areas

The conference is open internationally to all scholars, particularly to students and early career researchers and professionals (i.e.master students, PhD and postdoctoral researchers, junior lecturers and assistant researchers).

Therefore all scholars are invited to participate, and students and early career researchers and professionals are invited to submit poster and podium presentations. Travel grants are available for European and non-European participants  (see the Travel grant section for further details).

AHEAD podium and poster presentations from participants will address thematics relevant to four main areas:

The presenters will introduce novel ideas in methodological approaches to morphological analysis and new findings concerning trends in the phenotypic evolution and biomechanics of humans, primates and fossil hominins as well as advances in forensic anthropology.

Participants will present on the application, technological advancements and new findings in human evolution studies using stable isotopes, ancient DNA and paleoproteomics.

The presenters will address new findings in cultural anthropology, ethnoarchaeology, experimental archaeology,  exploring the distribution, social organisation, technology, cognition and behaviour of modern human populations, primates and hominins.

Participants will present on hominins and their environment: zooarchaeology, paleoecology, and the influence of climate on past human populations, including adaptation and dispersal trends.