The Speciation GRS provides a unique forum for young doctoral and post-doctoral researchers to present their work, discuss new methods, cutting edge ideas, and pre-published data, as well as to build collaborative relationships with their peers. Experienced mentors and trainee moderators will facilitate active participation in scientific discussion to allow all attendees to be engaged participants rather than spectators.
The Speciation Gordon Research Seminar (GRS) brings together early-career researchers from around the world to explore emerging perspectives on how species form, persist, and interact across diverse biological systems. More than a forum for presenting cutting-edge research among PhD students and postdocs, this international meeting is designed to foster community and lasting scientific connections. Through extended discussion periods and peer-mentorship, the Speciation GRS will create space for exchange of ideas and dialogue across disciplines and career stages.This two-day meeting is thematically aligned yet independent to the Gordon Research Conference, which follows the Speciation GRS.The seminar will highlight areas of speciation research where so-called paradigms are actively shifting. A central theme is hybridization, long considered primarily as a breakdown of reproductive isolation. We now ask how predictable is hybridization? Under what conditions is it repeatable? What evolutionary outcomes does it generate? The GRS will also emphasize cryptic mechanisms of reproductive isolation, focusing on barriers that are subtle, difficult to detect, yet evolutionarily consequential. Another key focus is the growing recognition of mismatches between measures of reproductive isolation in the lab and genomic patterns of gene flow in nature. By integrating organismal, theoretical, and genomic perspectives, participants will consider how to reconcile process and pattern in speciation research. Finally, the seminar will explore the outlook of speciation in organisms with complex life cycles, highlighting how alternation of generations, variable reproductive modes, and diverse sex determination systems shape evolutionary trajectories. These systems challenge canonical models and offer opportunities to rethink general principles of speciation.
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 October 18, 2026. 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.
