The 7th International Polychaete Conference (IPC 7) was hosted in Reykjavík, Iceland, from July 2–6, 2001, at the University of Iceland’s Háskólabíó conference centre. Organized by Elín Sigvaldadóttir, Guðmundur Víðir Helgason, Jörundur Svavarsson, Guðmundur Guðmundsson, and Sigmar A. Steingrímsson, the conference brought together 160 scientists from 29 countries. A rich program—including 52 oral talks and 99 poster presentations—sparked lively discussion across systematics, ecology, cladistics, genetics, and other areas One of the highlights was a spectacular mid-conference excursion to Þórsmörk: attendees crossed glacial rivers and trekked through a dramatic glacial valley. After the conference, many participants toured geological sites across Iceland. A three-week post-conference course in polychaete systematics at Sandgerði Marine Centre, taught by Sigvaldadóttir, Pleijel, and Rouse, engaged fifteen early-career researchers and further enriched the event The peer-reviewed proceedings, which include 37 accepted papers, were published in Volume 496 of Hydrobiologia.