Aberystwyth University was established as the University College of Wales in 1872 with twenty-six students. Based in an old hotel in the seafront it offered a variety of courses including chemistry. In 1884, the first female student was enrolled; in 1891 the Department of Agriculture was established, followed by the Department of Dairy Science in 1901; in 1918 after university authorities refused funding the Chair of Zoology R.D. Laurie and his colleagues built their own Zoology Department. In the 1960’s the University built the Penglais Campus where this meeting is being held.

There is a long history of parasitology research at Aberystwyth University (AU). Professor Gwendoline Rees, started researching helminthology at AU in 1930. She was a founding member of the BSP, BSP President from 1974 to 1976, and the first Welsh woman to become a Fellow of the Royal Society. In 1973, Professor John Barrett started working on helminth biochemistry at AU. He was awarded the C. A. Wright in 1985, became the BSP president from 2006 to 2008, and inspired the Barret Centre for Helminth Control (BCHC), established in 2016.

Today we have a large and vibrant Parasitology and Epidemiology (PE) research group at the Institute of Biological, Environmental & Rural Sciences (IBERS), leading the way in AU’s new era of collaborative, interdisciplinary research efforts going forward into the 21st century.