Support for an International Symposium: Biological Sciences in the 21st Century: Meeting the Challenges of Sustainability in an Era of Global Change

题为“21世纪的生物科学：在全球变化时代迎接可持续发展的挑战”的研讨会将汇集国际公认的生物学家和环境科学家，探讨现代生物学对可持续发展这一新兴学科的贡献。研讨会询问生物学方面的关键研究进展(如生物复杂性和复杂系统分析；生物信息学和计算生物学；以及分子和基因组学研究)如何帮助应对当前的挑战，如粮食安全、人类健康、可持续能源以及生态系统及其服务的维护。演讲者将介绍新的研究成果，并确定生物学研究的新方法和新需求，这些将共同提供一个框架，促进对可持续发展科学的理解。这次研讨会将是第一次整合生物科学领域正在取得的进展如何应对可持续发展的关键全球挑战。将特别努力激励生物学研究生和博士后学生扩大可持续发展科学的边界。通过一个独特的外展计划，希望这次研讨会将推动许多地方和地区会议，并鼓励世界各地的大学就现代生物学为整个可持续科学研究组合做出贡献的潜力进行进一步讨论。

A symposium entitled "Biological Sciences for the 21st Century: Meeting the Challenges of Sustainable Development in an Era of Global Change" will bring together internationally recognized biologists and environmental scientists to explore the contributions that modern biology can make to the emerging discipline of sustainability science. The symposium asks how key research developments in biology (such as biocomplexity and complex systems analysis; bioinformatics and computational biology; and molecular and genomics research) can help address current challenges such as food security, human health, sustainable energy, and the maintenance of ecosystems and their services. The speakers will present new research findings, and identify new approaches and needs in biological research, that together will provide a framework for advancing understanding of sustainability science. The symposium will be the first to integrate how ongoing advances across the biological sciences can address key global challenges to sustainability. Special effort will be made to motivate graduate and postdoctoral students in biology to expand the boundaries of sustainability science. Through a unique program of outreach, it is hoped that this symposium will catalyze numerous local and regional meetings and encourage further discussions at universities around the world with respect to the potential for modern biology to contribute to the entire sustainability science research portfolio.