CONFERENCE: 24th International Conference on Arabidopsis Research to be held June 25-28, 2013 at the Convention and Exhibition Centre in Sydney, Australia

学术价值：第24届国际拟南芥研究会议(ICAR)将于2013年6月25日至28日在澳大利亚悉尼会展中心举行。拟南芥研究的成功在很大程度上得益于社区的开放性和共事性，这一社区通过包括国际农业研究大会在内的多个国际论坛得到促进，该论坛聚集了大约1,000名参与者，交流科学成果并报告该领域的进展情况。会议将涵盖广泛的重要议题，包括进化和自然变异；小RNA、RNA和表观遗传学；跨代遗传；发育；激素；细胞和细胞器生物学；细胞内信号；细胞间通讯；非生物胁迫；生物胁迫/相互作用；能量生物学/代谢；光合作用和水；表型组学；蛋白质和翻译后调节；新兴技术和系统生物学；新兴主题和什么是热点，以及翻译生物学。还将举行一系列关于植物能源生物学、表观遗传学和高通量植物表观组学的卫星会议。会议将特别纪念西蒙·陈，这位才华横溢的早期美国科学家于2012年不幸去世。“Simon Chan研讨会”将在他进行开创性研究的研究领域发表演讲，特别是通过展示“反向育种”在拟南芥中的实际可行性，这是植物育种最寻求的目标之一。更广泛的影响：iCars已被证明是一个非常有效的场所，可以让年轻科学家接触这一领域，并鼓励更年轻和更资深的研究人员之间的互动。除了讲台演讲外，会议还将有36位发言者从提交的摘要中挑选出来，重点放在学生、博士后研究人员和处于职业生涯早期的教职员工的演讲上。还将有社区组织的研讨会，允许更多的演讲者介绍他们的研究。这将确保介绍最新的结果，并为青年科学家提供重要的职业发展。ICars为拟南芥社区的科学家以及其他植物生物学家提供了每年见面和分享最新研究成果的主要机会，是全球拟南芥社区持续成功的关键组成部分。事实证明，iCars是加强信息交流、创建新网络和建立新合作的一个非常有效的场所。ICars还为国际拟南芥信息学联盟、多国拟南芥指导委员会和北美拟南芥指导委员会等组织提供了每年召开会议的场所，对于促进植物研究社区的更高级别的组织也至关重要。通过这些会议，可以讨论国际拟南虫界的现状以及未来计划和研究方向的发展。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。一个关键目标是增加代表不足的少数族裔科学家和职业生涯早期科学家的参与。为此，将支持来自历史上黑人学院和大学、少数族裔服务机构和1890所机构的代表不足的少数族裔科学家和教职员工参加。此外，还将通过旅游奖励培养研究生、博士后学者和初学者参加会议。会议议程和摘要将在会议网站上公开提供，并保存在拟南芥数据库中。

Intellectual Merit: The 24th International Conference on Arabidopsis Research (ICAR) will be held June 25-28, 2013 at the Convention and Exhibition Centre in Sydney, Australia. The success of research on Arabidopsis thaliana has been greatly facilitated by the openness and collegiality of the community, fostered through multiple international forums including ICAR, which brings together approximately 1,000 participants to exchange scientific results and report on progress in the field. The conference will cover a broad range of important topics including Evolution and Natural Variation; Small RNAs, RNA and Epigenetics; Transgenerational Inheritance; Development; Hormones; Cell and Organelle Biology; Intracellular Signaling; Cell to Cell Communication; Abiotic Stress; Biotic Stress/Interactions; Energy Biology/Metabolism; Photosynthesis and Water; Phenomics; Proteins and Posttranslational Regulation; Emerging Technologies and Systems Biology; Emerging Topics and What's Hot, and Translational Biology. There will also be a series of satellite meetings on plant energy biology, epigenetics and high-throughput plant phenomics. The meeting will include a special tribute in memory of Simon Chan, a highly talented early-career U.S. scientist who tragically passed away in 2012. The "Simon Chan Symposium" will feature presentations in the research area in which he performed his groundbreaking studies, notably, by demonstrating the practical feasibility in Arabidopsis of "reverse breeding", one of the most sought goals of plant breeding. Broader Impacts: ICARs have proven to be an extremely effective venue for exposing young scientists to the field and for encouraging interactions between younger and more senior researchers. In addition to platform talks the conference will include 36 speakers chosen from submitted abstracts with an emphasis on presentations by students, postdoctoral researchers, and faculty members at early stages of their careers. There will also be community-organized workshops that allow additional speakers to present their research. This will ensure presentation of the latest results and provide important career development for young scientists. The ICARs, which provide the primary annual opportunity for scientists in the Arabidopsis community, as well as other plant biologists to meet and share the latest research, are a key component in the continuing success of the worldwide Arabidopsis community. ICARs have proven to be a highly effective venue for enhancing information exchange, creating new networks and establishing new collaborations. The ICARs are also critical to facilitate higher-level organization of the plant research community by providing a venue for groups like the International Arabidopsis Informatics Consortium, the Multinational Arabidopsis Steering Committee, and the North American Arabidopsis Steering Committee to convene annually. These meetings allow discussions of the current status of the international Arabidopsis community as well as development of future plans and research directions. Ensuring the participation of scientists from diverse backgrounds is critical to the vitality of science in the U.S. A key goal is to increase participation among under-represented minority scientists and early-career scientists. To this end, participation will be supported for under-represented minority scientists and faculty from Historically Black Colleges and Universities, Minority Serving Institutions, and 1890 Institutions. In addition, participation of graduate students, postdoctoral scholars, and beginning investigators will be fostered through travel awards to attend the conference. The conference program and abstracts will be publicly available on the conference website and archived at the Arabidopsis database.