This grant is to help defray the costs of ten students and/or postdoctoral researchers in attending the workshop: "Bacterial spores: Challenges for Biodefense" will be held November 14-16, 2004 at Argonne National Laboratories in Argonne, IL. The purpose of the meeting is to address cutting edge topics in bacterial spore biological research, to build contacts between academic scientists and government researchers, and to sharpen the focus of these two complementary components of the research community with regard to biodefense. Participation by academics will allow their knowledge of the basic biology of spores to enhance ongoing biodefense efforts and provide insights into directions for future research. Because of the unusual mix of academics and government scientists, this meeting will provide a unique opportunity for researchers from a wide variety of institutions to meet, exchange ideas, identify colleagues with specialized knowledge and initiate novel collaborations. Specific efforts have been made in recruiting women and minorities to attend the workshop. This event will also serve to introduce young scientists to the biodefense community, to help ensure that integration between academia and government laboratories continues in the long term.
