Conference: 15th International Conference on Arabidopsis Research, to be held in Berlin, Germany, July 2004

本项目将为2004年7月11日至14日在德国柏林埃斯特雷尔会议中心举行的第15届国际拟南芥研究会议提供支持。目的是为国际拟南芥界的研究人员提供一个交流思想的机会。会议将包括发育，细胞生物学，与环境的相互作用（非生物和生物），自然变异和比较基因组学（包括基因组进化和适应），代谢，遗传机制，新工具，技术和资源，建模/虚拟植物/生物信息学，以及非拟南芥（拟南芥模型的局限性）研究。会议的一个重要组成部分是，将从提交的摘要中选出大约36名发言者进行简短的发言。研究生，博士后研究人员，或在他们的职业生涯的早期阶段的主要研究人员将给这些演讲的大部分。这将确保最新成果的展示，并为选定的演讲者提供重要的职业发展。更广泛的影响：拟南芥研究实验室之间协同作用的一个关键组成部分是有机会与来自世界各地的同事会面和分享研究成果。拟南芥研究年会已被证明是实现这一目标的一个非常有效的场所。当然，这次会议也提供了一个媒介，将拟南芥的研究成果传播给更广泛的植物科学家群体，包括那些研究作物物种的科学家。确保来自不同背景的科学家的参与对美国科学的活力至关重要。在过去，该会议在吸引妇女和青年科学家担任会议主席、演讲者和与会者方面取得了良好的成功，并将继续强调这些群体在各级的参与。一个关键目标是增加少数族裔科学家的参与。为了实现这一目标，会议组织者将采取重要的新方法，促进代表性不足的少数民族研究人员和来自为少数民族服务的机构的科学家的参与。

This project will provide support for the 15th International Conference on Arabidopsis Research to be held at the Estrel Convention Center in Berlin, Germany, July 11th to 14th, 2004. The aim is to provide an opportunity for the exchange of ideas among researchers of the international Arabidopsis community. The conference will include sessions on development, cell biology, interaction with the environment (abiotic and biotic), natural variation and comparative genomics (including genome evolution and adaptation), metabolism, genetic mechanisms, novel tools, techniques, and resources, modeling / the virtual plant / bioinformatics, and non-Arabidopsis (limitations of the Arabidopsis model) research. An important component of the conference is that approximately 36 speakers will be chosen from submitted abstracts for short talks. Graduate students, postdoctoral researchers, or principle investigators at early stages of their careers will give the majority of these talks. This will ensure presentation of the latest results and provide important career development for the selected speakers. Broader Impacts: A key component in the synergistic interactions among Arabidopsis research labs has been the opportunity to meet and share research with colleagues from around the world. The Annual Conference on Arabidopsis Research has proven to be a highly effective venue for this purpose. Of course, the meeting also provides a vehicle for dissemination of research performed on Arabidopsis out to the broader community of plant scientists, including those who work with crop species. Ensuring the participation of scientists from diverse backgrounds is critical to the vitality of science in the United States. In the past this conference has had good success in attracting women and young scientists as session chairs, speakers and participants, and will continue to emphasize participation of these groups at all levels. A key goal is to increase participation among minority scientists. To achieve this objective, the conference organizers will undertake significant, new approaches to foster participation of underrepresented minority researchers and scientists from minority-serving institutions.