CONFERENCE: 24th International Conference on Arabidopsis Research to be held June 25-28, 2013 at the Convention and Exhibition Centre in Sydney, Australia

智力优势：第24届拟南芥研究国际会议（ICAR）将于2013年6月25日至28日在澳大利亚悉尼会展中心举行。拟南芥研究的成功极大地促进了社区的开放性和合议性，通过包括ICAR在内的多个国际论坛促进，该论坛汇集了约1，000名参与者，交流科学成果并报告该领域的进展。会议将涵盖广泛的重要主题，包括进化和自然变异;小RNA，RNA和表观遗传学;跨代遗传;发展;激素;细胞和细胞器生物学;细胞内信号传导;细胞与细胞通讯;非生物应激;生物应激/相互作用;能源生物学/代谢;光合作用和水;表型组学;蛋白质和翻译后调节;新兴技术和系统生物学;新兴的主题和什么是热点，和翻译生物学。还将举行一系列关于植物能量生物学、表观遗传学和高通量植物表型组学的卫星会议。会议将包括一个特别的敬意，以纪念西蒙陈，一个非常有才华的早期职业生涯的美国科学家谁不幸去世，在2012年。“Simon Chan Symposium”将在他进行开创性研究的研究领域进行演讲，特别是通过展示“反向育种”在拟南芥中的实际可行性，这是植物育种最受欢迎的目标之一。更广泛的影响：ICAR已被证明是一个非常有效的场所，让年轻的科学家接触该领域，并鼓励年轻和更资深的研究人员之间的互动。除了平台会谈，会议将包括36名演讲者从提交的摘要中选出，重点是学生，博士后研究人员和教职员工在职业生涯早期的演讲。还将举办社区组织的讲习班，让更多的发言者介绍他们的研究。这将确保介绍最新成果，并为年轻科学家提供重要的职业发展机会。 ICAR为拟南芥社区的科学家以及其他植物生物学家提供了主要的年度机会，以满足和分享最新的研究，是全球拟南芥社区持续成功的关键组成部分。事实证明，ICAR是加强信息交流、建立新网络和建立新合作的一个非常有效的场所。ICAR也是促进植物研究界更高层次组织的关键，它为国际拟南芥信息学联盟、多国拟南芥指导委员会和北美拟南芥指导委员会等团体提供了每年召开会议的场所。这些会议允许讨论国际拟南芥社区的现状以及未来计划和研究方向的发展。确保来自不同背景的科学家的参与对美国科学的活力至关重要，一个关键目标是增加代表性不足的少数民族科学家和早期职业科学家的参与。为此，将支持来自历史上黑人学院和大学，少数民族服务机构和1890机构的代表性不足的少数民族科学家和教师的参与。此外，研究生，博士后学者和开始研究人员的参与将通过旅行奖励来参加会议。会议计划和摘要将在会议网站上公开，并在拟南芥数据库中存档。

Intellectual Merit: The 24th International Conference on Arabidopsis Research (ICAR) will be held June 25-28, 2013 at the Convention and Exhibition Centre in Sydney, Australia. The success of research on Arabidopsis thaliana has been greatly facilitated by the openness and collegiality of the community, fostered through multiple international forums including ICAR, which brings together approximately 1,000 participants to exchange scientific results and report on progress in the field. The conference will cover a broad range of important topics including Evolution and Natural Variation; Small RNAs, RNA and Epigenetics; Transgenerational Inheritance; Development; Hormones; Cell and Organelle Biology; Intracellular Signaling; Cell to Cell Communication; Abiotic Stress; Biotic Stress/Interactions; Energy Biology/Metabolism; Photosynthesis and Water; Phenomics; Proteins and Posttranslational Regulation; Emerging Technologies and Systems Biology; Emerging Topics and What's Hot, and Translational Biology. There will also be a series of satellite meetings on plant energy biology, epigenetics and high-throughput plant phenomics. The meeting will include a special tribute in memory of Simon Chan, a highly talented early-career U.S. scientist who tragically passed away in 2012. The "Simon Chan Symposium" will feature presentations in the research area in which he performed his groundbreaking studies, notably, by demonstrating the practical feasibility in Arabidopsis of "reverse breeding", one of the most sought goals of plant breeding. Broader Impacts: ICARs have proven to be an extremely effective venue for exposing young scientists to the field and for encouraging interactions between younger and more senior researchers. In addition to platform talks the conference will include 36 speakers chosen from submitted abstracts with an emphasis on presentations by students, postdoctoral researchers, and faculty members at early stages of their careers. There will also be community-organized workshops that allow additional speakers to present their research. This will ensure presentation of the latest results and provide important career development for young scientists. The ICARs, which provide the primary annual opportunity for scientists in the Arabidopsis community, as well as other plant biologists to meet and share the latest research, are a key component in the continuing success of the worldwide Arabidopsis community. ICARs have proven to be a highly effective venue for enhancing information exchange, creating new networks and establishing new collaborations. The ICARs are also critical to facilitate higher-level organization of the plant research community by providing a venue for groups like the International Arabidopsis Informatics Consortium, the Multinational Arabidopsis Steering Committee, and the North American Arabidopsis Steering Committee to convene annually. These meetings allow discussions of the current status of the international Arabidopsis community as well as development of future plans and research directions. Ensuring the participation of scientists from diverse backgrounds is critical to the vitality of science in the U.S. A key goal is to increase participation among under-represented minority scientists and early-career scientists. To this end, participation will be supported for under-represented minority scientists and faculty from Historically Black Colleges and Universities, Minority Serving Institutions, and 1890 Institutions. In addition, participation of graduate students, postdoctoral scholars, and beginning investigators will be fostered through travel awards to attend the conference. The conference program and abstracts will be publicly available on the conference website and archived at the Arabidopsis database.