Conference: Rustbelt RNA Meeting 2023-2025

锈带RNA会议（RRM）是一个一年一度的会议，汇集了来自中西部工业和周边地区的科学家，介绍和讨论RNA相关研究的新进展。此奖助金将支持2023年（第25届年会）、2024年和2025年的会议。RRM的一个独特特点是强调通过正式和非正式机制促进青年科学家的专业发展。会议为多个平台和海报会议以及社交互动提供了充足的机会，但时间足够短（大约周五下午1点至周六下午2点），以方便。学生和博士后学者通常占与会者的70%以上，并提供了90%以上的演讲和大部分海报。为了扩大参与范围，并进一步鼓励来自STEM历史上代表性不足群体的本科生和学员参加，我们将颁发奖学金，以支付他们的注册费。RRM旨在让学员（通常是第一次）接触到一个令人兴奋的会议，在这个会议上，研究的广度和质量可以与国家会议相媲美，但气氛是欢迎和支持的。NSF的资金将主要用于RRM的参与者支持，重点是学员，并允许免费提供住宿。2023年RRM将于2023年10月27日至28日在密歇根州东兰辛举行。这是会议第一年将在密歇根州举行，密歇根州是锈带与会者的主要家乡之一，并为该州许多较小的公立和文科学校提供了机会。2023年的会议将聚集具有不同背景和兴趣的RNA科学研究人员，并通过可选的研讨会促进新兴技术和职业规划方面的新学习经验。2023年RRM项目将包括约150张海报和21份学生和博士后学员的口头报告，为参与者提供高水平的跨学科体验。2023年的会议还将邀请Jeffrey Kieft博士（纽约结构生物学中心主任）进行主题演讲，他是该领域的一位成就卓著且备受尊敬的领导者，他为我们理解rna的结构和折叠做出了许多重要贡献，特别是病毒rna。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 Rustbelt RNA Meeting (RRM) is an annual conference that brings together scientists from the industrial Midwest and surrounding regions to present and discuss new developments in RNA-related research. This grant will support the 2023 (25th annual meeting), 2024, and 2025 meetings. A unique feature of the RRM is its emphasis on fostering the professional development of young scientists through both formal and informal mechanisms. The meeting provides ample opportunities for multiple platform and poster sessions as well as social interactions, yet is short enough (roughly 1:00 p.m. Friday to 2:00 p.m. Saturday) to be convenient. Students and postdoctoral scholars typically comprise over 70% of attendees and deliver over 90% of the talks as well as the majority of the posters. To broaden participation and further encourage attendance by undergraduates and trainees from groups historically underrepresented in STEM, scholarships will be awarded to cover their registration fees. The RRM serves to expose trainees (often for the first time) to an exciting meeting where the breadth and quality of the research presented rivals that at national meetings, yet the atmosphere is welcoming and supportive. NSF funding will be used predominantly for participant support at the RRM, focused on trainees, and will allow their accommodations to be provided free of charge.The 2023 RRM will be held in East Lansing, Michigan, October 27-28, 2023. This represents the first year the conference will be held in Michigan, one of the major home states of Rustbelt attendees, and provides opportunities for outreach to numerous smaller public and liberal-arts schools in the state. The 2023 meeting will assemble researchers with diverse backgrounds and interests in RNA science and facilitate new learning experiences in emerging technology and career planning via optional workshops. The 2023 RRM program will include approximately 150 poster and 21 oral presentations by student and post-doctoral trainees, providing a high-caliber interdisciplinary experience for participants. The 2023 meeting will also feature a keynote lecture by Dr. Jeffrey Kieft (Director, New York Structural Biology Center), an accomplished and highly respected leader in the field, who has made numerous important contributions to our understanding of the structure and folding of RNAs, particularly viral RNAs.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.