Conference: 54th Annual Maize Genetics Conference to be held March 15-18, 2012 at the Doubletree Hotel and Conference Center in Portland, OR

智力优势。 第54届玉米遗传学年会将于2012年3月15日至18日在俄勒冈州波特兰的Doubletree酒店和会议中心举行。会议为科学界成员提供了一个机会，介绍和讨论他们最新的玉米遗传学和植物生物学研究。广泛的主题调查的结构和功能的基因，途径和性状包括，跨越玉米遗传学的频谱从基因作用的基础研究到数量性状解剖更多的应用主题相关的作物改良。会议将有四位受邀的全体发言人进行45分钟的演讲：里根斯堡大学的托马斯德雷斯尔豪斯;澳大利亚国立大学的珍妮格雷夫斯;威斯康星州-麦迪逊大学的比尔特雷西;加州-戴维斯大学的文卡特桑孙达雷桑。此外，该计划将包括大约35个18分钟的演讲者从提交的摘要中选出，和两个海报会议。更广泛的影响。玉米遗传学会议为研究生和博士后科学家提供了绝佳的机会，可以与该领域的国际科学家聚会并进行互动，在发表演讲或海报的同时讨论他们的研究，并建立科学网络，这将在他们开始职业生涯时非常有价值。将通过外联和招聘努力扩大会议的参与，努力支持来自代表性不足群体的学生、博士后和年轻教师参加会议，他们有兴趣探索玉米遗传学研究的可能性。这些获奖者与经验丰富的玉米研究人员在类似的职业生涯阶段的伙伴关系将促进他们在会议的生产性参与。玉米遗传学会议是独特的，与其他会议相比，其努力支持所有研究生与会者出席。

Intellectual Merit. The 54th Annual Maize Genetics Conference will be held March 15-18, 2012 at the Doubletree Hotel and Conference Center in Portland, OR. The meeting offers members of the scientific community the opportunity to present and discuss their most recent research relevant to maize genetics and plant biology. A wide range of topics investigating the structure and function of genes, pathways, and traits are included, spanning the spectrum of maize genetics from basic studies of gene action to quantitative trait dissection to more applied topics relevant to crop improvement. The meeting will feature 45-minute talks by four invited plenary speakers: Thomas Dresselhaus, University of Regensburg; Jenny Graves, Australian National University; Bill Tracy, University of Wisconsin - Madison; Venkatesan Sundaresan, University of California - Davis. In addition, the program will include approximately 35 18-minute talks by speakers selected from submitted abstracts, and two poster sessions. Broader Impacts. The Maize Genetics Conference provides outstanding opportunities for graduate students and postdoctoral scientists to meet and interact with an international gathering of scientists in the field, to discuss their research while presenting talks or posters, and to establish scientific networks that will be valuable as they embark on their careers. Efforts to broaden participation at the meeting will occur through outreach and recruiting efforts that seek to support Conference attendance by students, postdocs and young faculty from underrepresented groups with an interest in exploring research possibilities in maize genetics. Partnering these awardees with experienced maize researchers at similar career stages will facilitate their productive participation in the Conference. The Maize Genetics Conference is unique compared to other meetings in its efforts to support attendance by all graduate student attendees.