This conference has been deferred to 2023 due to the ongoing impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. Please check back soon for the 2023 schedule.
This conference has been deferred to 2023 due to the ongoing impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. Please check back soon for the 2023 schedule.
The Gordon Research Seminar on Microbial Population Biology is a unique forum for graduate students, post-docs, and other scientists with comparable levels of experience and education to present and exchange new data and cutting edge ideas.
Understanding the evolutionary and ecological dynamics that continue to shape the diversity of life is a fundamental motivation of microbial population biology. The body of work that has emerged to tackle this question frequently falls along a spectrum of complexity with two identifiable sides:
On one end, experimentalists use genetically tractable model organisms in controlled systems to engineer and evolve microbes in real time. This “bottom-up” approach can track evolutionary dynamics from the molecular to the community level, and allows an in-depth view into the core processes governing evolution.
On the other end, microbial ecologists go out to the field to sample, sequence, and collect metadata from microbial communities in their native habitats, ranging from human guts to deep sea hydrothermal vents. This “top-down” approach uses a variety of survey-based and computational tools to infer molecular dynamics, community networks, and ecological interactions shaping the evolution of microbes in the wild.
Both approaches complement one another and are crucial to understanding the rules governing evolutionary dynamics at play in microbial ecosystems. This seminar will bring together scientists from across this complexity spectrum to share tools and ideas. By approaching microbial evolution and ecology from an integrative perspective and strategically designing diverse and avant-garde sessions, we aim to stimulate new conversations on the interplay between the two approaches and their impact on core topics in the field, including the structure and function of microbial communities, population genomics, and co-evolutionary dynamics.
Application Instructions
The seminar will feature approximately 10 talks and 2 poster sessions. All attendees are expected to actively participate in the GRS, either by giving an oral presentation or presenting a poster. Therefore, all applications must include an abstract.
The seminar chair will select speakers from abstracts submitted by April 10, 2021. Those applicants who are not chosen for talks and those who apply after the deadline to be considered for an oral presentation will be expected to present a poster. In order to participate, you must submit an application by the date indicated in the Application Information section above.
Program Format
Gordon Research Seminars are 2-day meetings which take place on the Saturday and Sunday just prior to the start of the associated GRC. The GRS opens with a 1-hour introductory session on Saturday afternoon, followed by a poster session, dinner and a 2-hour session in the evening. Sunday morning begins with breakfast and is followed by another 2-hour session, a second poster session, and lunch. A final 1-hour session takes place just after lunch, and the associated GRC begins later that evening.
