The Gordon Conference on Molecular and Cellular Neurobiology is a broad conference designed to promote interactions between neuroscientists from all over the world. The conference will feature diverse areas of modern neuroscience from molecules and cells to circuits, behavior, neurodegeneration and regeneration after injury. Speakers at the conference will describe recent progress in studies important for understanding afflictions that include autism, mental retardation, addiction, mental illness, and neurodegenerative diseases. The topics of the upcoming conference focus on recent progress in molecular, cellular and developmental neurobiology. A total of 9 themes have been selected for the formal conference sessions: Synaptic transmission, Molecular and Cellular Basis of Behavior, Cellular Plasticity mechanisms, Neural circuit assembly and function, Neuronal Polarity, Synapse development, Axon and dendrite development, Molecular Basis of Neurological Diseases, and Circuit Plasticity Mechanisms. In addition, two keynote lectures have been planned. Dr. Joshua Sanes will speak on “Formation and function of retinal circuitry” and Dr. Cori Bargmann will deliver her lecture entitled “Genes, behavior, and the Sense of smell: using a fixed circuit to generate flexible behaviors”. The conference venue will provide an opportunity for interactions between scientists of many nationalities at early stages of their careers who otherwise have few opportunities for exchange of ideas and establishment of collaborations. Several short talks selected based upon abstract submissions will provide speaking opportunities for young scientists.