Conference: 7th International Volvox Conference

第七届国际Volvox大会将于2023年6月11日至14日在马里兰州巴尔的摩市巴尔的摩县马里兰大学校园举行。本科生、研究生和博士后研究员以及高级研究人员将出席这次会议，讨论和增进我们对光合作用绿藻Volvox及其近亲生物学的方方面面的理解，这些近亲包括单细胞物种和作为一个单位游泳的殖民地形式。会议将包括关于发育、具有多个细胞的生物体的进化、繁殖、游泳附肢和对光的反应以及这些生物体的DNA和RNA的会议。还将介绍和讨论研究这些生物的新技术的应用。来自不同教育机构的各级教职员工的互动将增加对这些有机体的了解，他们与各级学生的接触将增加未来研究这种有机体的科学家的数量，这对了解藻类的功能非常重要，包括通过对光的行为反应增加其光合作用输出的能力。这种参与将通过两个海报会议来促进，以允许高级科学家和初级科学家之间的互动。NSF的支持将用于支付注册费和/或旅费，以允许职业生涯早期的参与者出席，特别是对该领域历史上代表性不足的群体的成员。在第7届国际Volvox会议上提交的科学将涵盖该物种的生物化学、基因组学和转录组学，以及细胞生物学，这是理解多细胞生物从单细胞绿藻进化的基础。会议将包括演讲和海报会议，内容包括这些生物的发育和繁殖(从单细胞到未分化的多细胞到分化的多细胞)，它们的行为光反应，以及它们的基因组和转录本的分析。受邀演讲者以及研究生和研究生所代表的学科的多样性将为所有与会者之间的互动提供丰富的机会，并有望激发关于多细胞生物体的进化机制、纤毛功能和行为的创新思维，以此作为优化光合作用输出的一种手段。对广泛的研究生和博士后研究员的教育将增加研究这些生物的未来独立调查人员的临界数量，这些生物对于了解藻类生长功能、光合作用和纤毛功能至关重要。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的智力优势和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

The 7th International Volvox Conference will be held in Baltimore, MD on the campus of the University of Maryland, Baltimore County, from June 11-14, 2023. This meeting will be attended by undergraduate and graduate students and postdoctoral fellows, as well as senior researchers to discuss and advance our understanding of all aspects of the biology of the photosynthetic green alga Volvox and its close relatives, which include single-celled species and colonial forms that swim as a unit. The conference will contain sessions on development, the evolution of organisms with more than one cell, reproduction, swimming appendages and responses to light, and the DNA and RNA of these organisms. The application of novel techniques for studying these creatures will also be presented and discussed. The interactions of faculty members at all levels and from a diversity of educational institutions will increase understanding of these organisms, and their engagement with students at all levels, will increase the number of future scientists working on this organism important for understanding algal function, including its ability to increase its photosynthetic output through behavioral responses to light. This engagement will be facilitated by two poster sessions to allow interactions between senior and junior scientists. NSF support will be used to defray registration fees and/or travel costs to allow attendance of participants from early stages of their careers, especially for members of groups historically under-represented in this field.The science presented at the 7th International Volvox Conference will cover the biochemistry, genomics and transcriptomics, and cell biology of a species fundamental to understanding the evolution of multicellular organisms from single-celled green algae. The meeting will include talks and poster sessions on the development and reproduction of these creatures (which span the range from unicellular to undifferentiated multicellular to differentiated multicellular), their behavioral photoresponses, and analyses of their genomes and transcriptomes. The diversity of disciplines represented among invited speakers and graduate and post-graduate students will offer abundant opportunities for interactions among all conference participants, and is expected to inspire innovative thinking about mechanisms of evolution of multicellular organisms, ciliary function, and behavior in response to changing light levels as a means to optimize photosynthetic output. Education of a wide range of graduate students and postdoctoral fellows will increase the critical mass of future independent investigators studying these organisms, which are critical to understanding algal growth function, photosynthesis, and ciliary function.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.