Conference: Microbial Community Dynamics: Cooperation and Competition - Workshop November 5-7, 2012 in St. Louis, MO

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The Workshop on Microbial Community Dynamics: Cooperation and Competition to be held in the fall of 2012 in St. Louis, Missouri, USA, is an initiative of the Environmental Biotechnology Working Group of the EU-US Taskforce on Biotechnology Research, a cooperative program between the European Commission and the United States of America. The activities of the Environmental Biotechnology Working Group have as their goals to provide a forum for early career scientists from the US and EU to meet, to learn cutting edge research in the area of microbial biotechnology from world experts and to set the groundwork for future transatlantic cooperation and collaboration. Workshop presentations (20 min talks with 10 min questions) will address fundamental physiology and genetics of microbial communities that will contribute to advances in bioremediation, human health protection and treatments, bioenergy conversion and carbon sequestration. Senior scientist participants (10 EU and 10 US) will be world renowned experts who will present the current status of their fields and forecast research challenges and opportunities. Each will be responsible for identifying a promising early career scientist to participate in the workshop and present their research results in poster format. A new feature of this workshop will be a "Mentoring Hour", an opportunity for mentoring of the early career scientists by the senior scientists on an individual basis. The workshop will also provide time for all attendees to engage in open discussion to identify areas where scientific advancement is needed and plan the steps necessary for realizing future research collaborations. Finally, a report summarizing the major scientific opportunities, visions and challenges revealed through the presentations and discussions will be prepared for publication.Specific Objectives:Objective 1. To provide a forum for early career scientists from the US and EU to meet, to learn cutting edge research in the area of microbial biotechnology from world experts and to set the groundwork for future cooperation and collaboration.Objective 2. To address fundamental physiology and genetics of microbial communities and biofilms that will contribute to advances in human health, bioremediation of toxins, bioenergy conversion and carbon sequestration.Objective 3. To provide a mentoring opportunity for early career scientists to discuss their career goals in ain one-on-one setting with an established expert in the microbial interactions and environmental microbiology.Objective 4. To generate a report of the meeting for publication that will summarize future research directions discussed at the workshop and to contribute to the prevention of unnecessary research duplication and generate synergy among scientists.