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

第24届拟南芥研究国际会议（ICAR）将于2013年6月25日至28日在澳大利亚悉尼会议展览中心举行。包括ICAR在内的多个国际论坛促进了社区的开放和合作，极大地促进了拟南芥研究的成功，ICAR汇集了大约1000名参与者，交流科学成果并报告该领域的进展。会议将涵盖广泛的重要议题，包括进化和自然变异；小RNA、RNA与表观遗传学；继代遗传;发展;激素;细胞与细胞器生物学；胞内信号;细胞间通讯；非生物压力;生物应力/交互;能源生物/代谢;光合作用与水；Phenomics;蛋白质与翻译后调控；新兴技术与系统生物学；新兴话题和热点，以及转化生物学。还将举行一系列关于植物能量生物学、表观遗传学和高通量植物表型组学的卫星会议。会议将包括纪念西蒙·陈（Simon Chan）的特别纪念活动，这位才华横溢的美国早期科学家于2012年不幸去世。“陈世文研讨会”将重点介绍他进行开创性研究的研究领域，特别是通过展示拟南芥“反向育种”的实际可行性，这是植物育种最追求的目标之一。更广泛的影响：ICARs已被证明是一个非常有效的场所，使年轻科学家接触该领域，并鼓励年轻和更资深的研究人员之间的互动。除了平台演讲，会议还将包括从提交的摘要中选择的36位演讲者，重点是学生、博士后研究人员和处于职业生涯早期阶段的教职员工的演讲。还将有社区组织的研讨会，允许其他演讲者介绍他们的研究。这将确保最新成果的展示，并为年轻科学家提供重要的职业发展。ICARs为拟南芥界的科学家以及其他植物生物学家提供了主要的年度机会，以会面和分享最新的研究成果，是全球拟南芥界持续成功的关键组成部分。ICARs已被证明是加强信息交流、建立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、跨国拟南芥指导委员会和北美拟南芥指导委员会等团体提供了一个每年召开一次会议的场所，对促进植物研究界的高层组织也至关重要。这些会议允许讨论国际拟南芥社区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性不足的少数族裔科学家和早期职业科学家的参与。为此，将支持来自传统黑人学院和大学、少数民族服务机构和1890年机构的代表性不足的少数民族科学家和教师的参与。此外，研究生、博士后学者和刚开始的研究者将通过旅行奖励来参加会议。会议日程和摘要将在会议网站上公开，并在拟南芥数据库中存档。

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.