Conference: 7th International Volvox Conference

第七届国际Volvox会议将于2023年6月11日至14日在马里兰州巴尔的摩市的马里兰大学校园内举行。本次会议将由本科生、研究生、博士后以及高级研究人员参加，讨论和推进我们对光合绿藻Volvox及其近亲的生物学各方面的理解，其中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、多细胞生物的进化、繁殖、游泳附属物和光反应以及这些生物的DNA和RNA的会议。研究这些生物的新技术的应用也将被提出和讨论。来自不同教育机构的各级教师的互动将增加对这些生物的理解，他们与各级学生的互动将增加未来研究这种生物的科学家的数量，这对理解藻类的功能很重要，包括它通过对光的行为反应增加光合作用输出的能力。这种参与将通过两次海报会议来促进高级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，以允许参与者在其职业生涯的早期阶段参加会议，特别是对于在该领域历史上代表性不足的群体的成员。在第7届国际团藻会议上展示的科学将涵盖生物化学、基因组学和转录组学，以及一个物种的细胞生物学，这是理解从单细胞绿藻到多细胞生物进化的基础。会议将包括关于这些生物（从单细胞到未分化的多细胞再到分化的多细胞）的发育和繁殖、它们的行为光反应以及它们的基因组和转录组分析的讲座和海报会议。受邀演讲者、研究生和研究生所代表的学科多样性将为所有会议参与者提供丰富的互动机会，并有望激发对多细胞生物进化机制、纤毛功能和行为响应变化的光水平作为优化光合作用输出的手段的创新思维。广泛的研究生和博士后教育将增加未来研究这些生物的独立研究者的临界质量，这对理解藻类生长功能、光合作用和纤毛功能至关重要。该奖项反映了美国国家科学基金会的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的知识价值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.