2017 Molecular Mechanisms in Evolution Gordon Research Conference at Stonehill College Easton, MA

本项目将支持研究生、博士后、青年研究者和未被充分代表的群体参加第三届戈登研究会议（GRC）和第一届戈登研究研讨会（GRS）的分子进化机制。GRS和GRC将分别于2017年6月10日至11日和6月11日至16日在马萨诸塞州伊斯顿的斯通希尔学院举行。GRC和GRS将汇集研究人员，他们将展示和讨论关于进化变化的分子基础的最新发现和不同观点。GRS主要由研究生和博士后参加，将以口头和海报展示为特色，并与大约60名与会者进行非正式和正式的讨论。大多数GRS参与者预计将参加GRC。GRC将邀请该领域的顶尖科学家进行演讲，并从摘要中精选出一些简短的演讲，从而为青年科学家提供知名度和思想交流的机会。GRC项目还将包括海报展示以及非正式和正式的讨论。GRC和GRS将促进不同学科的物理学家和生物学家之间的国际和国内合作，以促进生物过程的系统和定量分析，加强理论建设，加深对疾病和基础生物学进化的理解。GRC和GRS将为年轻科学家提供交流机会、灵感和联系，并为处于职业生涯关键阶段的年轻参与者提供前沿新研究的指导和观点。申请的资金将用于支付GRC和GRS的研究生、博士后、新研究者、女性和少数族裔参与者的费用。GRC和GRS的主要目标是为我们对进化生物学基本问题的理解提供重大进展的条件。为了实现这一目标，组织者将汇集来自不同学科的科学家：分子和进化生物学、物理学、数学和医学，以创造一个促进原创思想的智力环境，并启动超越个体群体手段和能力的合作。这也将是有争议观点的研究人员进行富有成效的讨论的地方。理解进化过程为理解地球上生命的历史以及产生其统一性和多样性的机制奠定了基础。GRC和GRS会议涉及广泛的主题：生命的起源，突变和重组率的进化，应力诱导的遗传变异，非遗传变异和遗传，表型噪声，新颖性进化，复杂性进化，癌症，衰老，实验进化和进化偶然性。GRC和GRS的主题被选择来代表该领域的关键问题，并刺激不同科学家群体之间的思想交流。这是非常重要的：如果没有这样一个团体，研究人员可能不知道他们各自科学领域之外的最新重要发现和尖端技术发展。该项目由物理系的生命系统物理学项目和分子与细胞生物科学系的细胞动力学和功能项目共同支持。

This project will support the participation of graduate students, postdocs, young investigator and underrepresented groups in the third Gordon Research Conference (GRC) and the first Gordon Research Seminar (GRS) on Molecular Mechanisms in Evolution. The GRS and GRC will be held at Stonehill College, Easton, MA on June 10-11, and June 11-16, 2017, respectively. The GRC and GRS will bring together researchers who will present and discuss the latest findings and diverse perspectives on the molecular bases of evolutionary change. The GRS, which is primarily attended by graduate students and postdocs, will feature oral and poster presentations accompanied by informal and formal discussions with around 60 attendees. Most of the GRS participants are expected to attend the GRC. The GRC will feature invited talks by the leading scientists in the field, and a selection of short talks from the abstracts, thereby offering young scientists opportunities for visibility and idea exchange. The GRC program will also include poster presentations accompanied by informal and formal discussions. The GRC and GRS will promote international and national collaborations between physicists and biologists of diverse disciplines to promote systematic and quantitative analyses of biological processes, intensified theory building, and deeper understanding of evolution in disease and basic biology. The GRC and GRS will provide networking opportunities, inspiration and connections for young scientists, as well as mentoring and perspectives on cutting-edge new research for young participants at a critical stage in their careers. The requested funds will be used to defray the costs of a diverse group of graduate students, postdocs, new investigators, women, and minority participants in the GRC and GRS.The main objective of the GRC and GRS is to provide conditions for major advancement in our understanding of fundamental questions in evolutionary biology. To reach this goal, the organizers will bring together scientists from different disciplines: molecular and evolutionary biology, physics, mathematics and medicine, in order to create an intellectual environment which catalyses original thought, and to initiate collaborations that go beyond the means and competencies of individual groups. This will also be the place for productive discussions of researchers with controversial viewpoints. Understanding evolutionary processes lays the foundation for comprehending the history of life on earth and of the mechanisms that produce its unity and diversity. The GRC and GRS sessions address a wide range of topics: origins of life, evolution of mutation and recombination rates, stress-inducible genetic variation, non-genetic variation and inheritance, phenotypic noise, evolution of novelty, evolution of complexity, cancer, aging, experimental evolution and evolutionary contingency. The themes of the GRC and GRS have been chosen to represent the key problems in the field and to stimulate the exchange of ideas between diverse groups of scientists. This is of greatest importance: without such a community researchers may be unaware of the important recent discoveries and cutting-edge technological developments outside their respective scientific fields.This project is being jointly supported by the Physics of Living Systems program in the Division of Physics and the Cellular Dynamics and Function Program in the Division of Molecular and Cellular Biosciences.