International Travel for Students and Postdocs to attend ISDCI-11 in Prague, June 28-July 4, 2009.

L.考特尼·史密斯，私家侦探；学生和博士后赴布拉格参加ISDCI-11的国际旅行资助将用于支持美国实验室的学生和博士后参加2009年6月28日至7月4日在捷克共和国布拉格举行的第11届国际发展与比较免疫学学会大会（ISDCI-11）的国际旅行。这些资金之所以重要，有几个原因。1)仅前两次会议（2003年，2006年）的预算不足以为学生和博士后提供大量的旅行奖学金。2)由于在美国的研究经费难以获得，预计将有更少的学生和博士后能够获得研究补助金的旅行支持。3)美国国家科学基金会为美国实验室的学生和博士后提供的资金将使该协会能够将部分资金转移到支持来自其他国家的学生。总的来说，这将帮助所有的学生，使更多的人参加，这将有利于学生和博士后，并将通过新思想和新成员的涌入使社会受益。过去参加ISDCI会议的学生和博士后在许多重要方面都受益。这些包括：1)第一次在国际会议上展示他们的数据的经验，2)有机会与其他对比较免疫学有共同兴趣的科学家见面和交谈，3)有机会从该领域的领导者那里获得关于他们研究的反馈，4)有机会见到他们未来的导师和合作者，5)有机会体验社会并参与这个学院和支持的科学家社区。这些福利将提供给布拉格的学生和博士后。学生和博士后在ISDCI会议上的出席给学会带来了显著的好处。1)通常，学生和博士后在ISDCI会议上决定留在比较免疫学领域。年轻的科学家往往是那些给学会带来解决科学难题的新思想和新方法的人。新成果的注入使学会所有成员保持了活跃的研究进展。3)学生出席大会为学会正式成员提供了机会，以确定未来的博士后在他们的实验室工作。4)很有可能，一些参加ISDCI-11的学生可能会成为未来的ISDCI官员。例如，现任ISDCI教育部长（PI）作为博士后获得资助，参加了1991年在波特兰举行的第五届ISDCI大会。

L. Courtney Smith, PI; Martin Flajnik, Co-PIIOS-0905197International Travel for Students and Postdocs to attend ISDCI-11 in PragueFunding will be used to support international travel support for students and postdocs in US laboratories to attend the 11th Congress of the International Society of Developmental and Comparative Immunology (ISDCI-11) to be held in Prague, Czech Republic, from June 28 to July 4, 2009. These funds will be important for several reasons. 1) The budget for the Society alone for the previous two meetings (2003, 2006) was not enough to provide significant travel bursaries for students and postdocs. Travel costs are expected to be increased for the Congress in Prague. 2) Because funding for research in the US is difficult to obtain, it is expected that fewer numbers of students and postdocs will have access to travel support from research grants. 3) NSF funding for students and postdocs in US labs will enable the Society to shift some of their funds to support students from other countries. Overall, this will aid all students and enable more to attend, which will benefit the students and post docs, and will benefit the Society through the influx of new ideas and new members.Students and postdocs who have attended ISDCI meetings in the past have benefited in a number of important ways. These included: 1) the experience of presenting their data at an international meeting for the first time, 2) the opportunity to meet and talk to other scientists with common interests in comparative immunology, 3) the opportunity to receive feedback on their research from leaders in the field, 4) the opportunity to meet their future mentors and collaborators, 5) the opportunity to experience the Society and to participate in this collegial and supportive community of scientists. These benefits will be available to students and postdocs at Prague.The attendance by students and postdocs at the ISDCI meetings brings significant benefits to the Society. 1) Often, students and postdocs decide while at the ISDCI meetings to remain in the field of comparative immunology. This increases the membership in the Society. 2) The younger scientists are often those who bring to the Society new ideas and new approaches for tackling hard scientific problems. This injection of new results maintains vibrant research progress by all members of the Society. 3) Attendance by students at the Congress provides opportunities for the full members of the Society to identify future postdocs to work in their labs. 4) It is quite possible, that some of the students supported to attend ISDCI-11 may be the ISDCI officers of the future. For example, the current ISDCI Secretary of Education (the PI) received funding as a postdoc to attend the 5th ISDCI Congress in Portland OR in 1991.