9725106 Pikaard The National Science Foundation is providing funding for the travel of graduate students and postdoctoral fellows in the United States to attend an international symposium entitled "The Ribosome: Its Nucleolar Synthesis and Structure." This meeting will be held in Noordwijkerhout, the Netherlands, August 16-20, 1997. This conference will be the fourth incarnation of a meeting that has previously been held at Cold Spring Harbor (1988, 1991, 1994). The study of ribosome biosynthesis encompasses the sub-disciplines of biochemistry, biophysics, genetics, cell biology, developmental biology and physiology. Numerous prokaryotic and eukaryotic species are model systems including E. coli, yeast, Acanthamoeba, trypanosomes, plants, Drosophila, and mammals. Ribosome synthesis meetings bring together research laboratories from around the world, all unified by a single topic. The breadth of expertise of the scientists assembled for this meeting facilitates interdisciplinary interactions and the development of new insights. This meeting presents students with the larger context in which their research figures and often introduces them for the first time to sophisticated research in disciplines distinct from their own. Ribosomes are composed of multiple rRNAs and approximately 80 proteins whose synthesis and assembly must be precisely coordinated. In eukaryotes, all three nuclear RNA polymerases are required to express the requisite genes. Cellular trafficking of rRNAs and ribosomal proteins is also a major logistical problem for the cell. Control in both prokaryotes and eukaryotes occurs at multiple steps including transcription initiation, RNA processing, RNA turnover, post-transcriptional modification, transcription termination and protein turnover. Assembly of the proteins and rRNAs into a functional ribosome is a problem that also attracts structural biologists to this field. To encourage US students to seek out international experience in their education, the meeting will provide a mechanism by which students interested in postdoctoral experience abroad can meet with laboratory directors (mostly in Europe) who anticipate openings in their laboratories. In this way, the organizers hope to facilitate international research training and experience for American students, consistent with one of the many educational missions of the National Science Foundation. Ribosomes are responsible for protein synthesis in all organisms. Scientists specializing in the study of these essential cellular "machines" will gather from all over the world in the Netherlands for the meeting entitled "The Ribosome: Its Nucleolar Synthesis and Structure." The meeting provides scientists having a wide range of expertise the opportunity to share information and insights into this field. Funding from the National Science Foundation will enable United States graduate students and postdoctoral fellows to attend the meeting and will provide them with the opportunity to arrange international collaborations. ***
