International Travel for Students and Postdocs to attend ISDCI-11 in Prague, June 28-July 4, 2009.

L.Courtney Smith，PI；Martin Flajnik，共同PIIOS-0905197学生和博士后参加布拉格ISDCI-11的国际旅行基金将用于支持学生和博士后在美国实验室参加2009年6月28日至7月4日在捷克共和国布拉格举行的第11届国际发育和比较免疫学学会(ISDCI-11)大会的国际旅行支持。出于几个原因，这些基金将是重要的。1)仅学会前两次会议(2003年和2006年)的预算不足以为学生和博士后提供可观的旅行奖学金。预计布拉格大会的旅行费用将会增加。2)由于在美国很难获得研究资金，预计将有较少数量的学生和博士后获得研究补助金的旅行支持。3)NSF为美国实验室的学生和博士后提供资金，将使该学会能够将部分资金转移到支持其他国家的学生。总体而言，这将帮助所有学生，使更多的人能够参加，这将使学生和博士后受益，并将通过新思想和新成员的涌入使社会受益。过去参加ISDCI会议的学生和博士后在许多重要方面受益。这包括：1)第一次在国际会议上展示他们的数据的经历，2)与在比较免疫学方面有共同兴趣的其他科学家见面和交谈的机会，3)从该领域的领导者那里获得对他们的研究的反馈的机会，4)会见他们未来的导师和合作者的机会，5)体验学会并参与这个合作和支持的科学家社区的机会。这些好处将适用于普拉格的学生和博士后。学生和博士后参加ISDCI会议为社会带来了重大好处。1)通常，学生和博士后在参加ISDCI会议时决定留在比较免疫学领域。这增加了协会的成员人数。2)年轻的科学家往往是那些为学会带来新思想和新方法来解决棘手科学问题的人。这一新成果的注入保持了学会所有成员的积极研究进展。3)学生参加大会为学会的正式成员提供了机会，以确定未来的博士后在他们的实验室工作。4)很有可能，一些支持参加ISDCI-11的学生可能是未来的ISDCI官员。例如，现任ISDCI教育部长(PI)以博士后身份获得资助，参加1991年在波特兰举行的ISDCI第五届大会。

L. Courtney Smith, PI; Martin Flajnik, Co-PIIOS-0905197International Travel for Students and Postdocs to attend ISDCI-11 in PragueFunding will be used to support international travel support for students and postdocs in US laboratories to attend the 11th Congress of the International Society of Developmental and Comparative Immunology (ISDCI-11) to be held in Prague, Czech Republic, from June 28 to July 4, 2009. These funds will be important for several reasons. 1) The budget for the Society alone for the previous two meetings (2003, 2006) was not enough to provide significant travel bursaries for students and postdocs. Travel costs are expected to be increased for the Congress in Prague. 2) Because funding for research in the US is difficult to obtain, it is expected that fewer numbers of students and postdocs will have access to travel support from research grants. 3) NSF funding for students and postdocs in US labs will enable the Society to shift some of their funds to support students from other countries. Overall, this will aid all students and enable more to attend, which will benefit the students and post docs, and will benefit the Society through the influx of new ideas and new members.Students and postdocs who have attended ISDCI meetings in the past have benefited in a number of important ways. These included: 1) the experience of presenting their data at an international meeting for the first time, 2) the opportunity to meet and talk to other scientists with common interests in comparative immunology, 3) the opportunity to receive feedback on their research from leaders in the field, 4) the opportunity to meet their future mentors and collaborators, 5) the opportunity to experience the Society and to participate in this collegial and supportive community of scientists. These benefits will be available to students and postdocs at Prague.The attendance by students and postdocs at the ISDCI meetings brings significant benefits to the Society. 1) Often, students and postdocs decide while at the ISDCI meetings to remain in the field of comparative immunology. This increases the membership in the Society. 2) The younger scientists are often those who bring to the Society new ideas and new approaches for tackling hard scientific problems. This injection of new results maintains vibrant research progress by all members of the Society. 3) Attendance by students at the Congress provides opportunities for the full members of the Society to identify future postdocs to work in their labs. 4) It is quite possible, that some of the students supported to attend ISDCI-11 may be the ISDCI officers of the future. For example, the current ISDCI Secretary of Education (the PI) received funding as a postdoc to attend the 5th ISDCI Congress in Portland OR in 1991.