This award is for the partial support of the International Conference on 2015 Physical Virology Gordon research conference (GRC) and Gordon research seminar (GRS) to be held January 2015 in Ventura Beach, California. This major international meeting will provide a single forum for discussion of the latest developments in physical virology and recent advances in virus-enabled materials synthesis. Regular meetings of the key researchers in this field are necessary for the exchange of ideas, information, and state-of-the-art technologies, in order to enable and accelerate advances and breakthroughs the fields of virology and nanotechnology. This international conference is a key mechanism for linking basic science with engineering towards the development of nano-enabled products, which are of significant importance to the US and world economies. This conference offers a forum for the open exchange of new and previously unpublished scientific ideas. The conference includes presentations, free exchange of ideas, and extended discussions and interactions among international participants. This forum has been instrumental in the generation and incubation of breakthrough and transformative ideas in many areas of nanotechnology.
This award will partially support the participation of junior participants, including graduate students, postdoctoral fellows, and early career faculty members. The funds will support the attendance at the conference of a total of 12 participants.
The Gordon Research Conference on PHYSICAL VIROLOGY was held at the Ventura Beach Marriott, Ventura, California, January 25-30th, 2015 The Conference was well-attended with 133 participants (attendees list attached). The attendees represented the spectrum of endeavor in this field coming from academia, industry, and government laboratories, both U.S. and foreign scientists, senior researchers, young investigators, and students. Of the 133 attendees, 66 voluntarily responded to a general inquiry regarding ethnicity which appears on our registration forms. Of the 66 respondents, 28% were Minorities – 5% Hispanic, 21% Asian and 2% African American. Approximately 34% of the participants at the 2015 meeting were women. The Gordon Research Seminar on PHYSICAL VIROLOGY was held at the Ventura Beach Marriott, Ventura, California, January 24-25th, 2015 The Conference was well-attended with 53 participants (attendees list attached). The attendees represented the spectrum of endeavor in this field coming from academia, industry, and government laboratories, both U.S. and foreign scientists, senior researchers, young investigators, and students. Of the 53 attendees, 25 voluntarily responded to a general inquiry regarding ethnicity which appears on our registration forms. Of the 25 respondents, 40% were Minorities – 8% Hispanic, 28% Asian and 4% African American. Approximately 49% of the participants at the 2015 meeting were women. In designing the formal speakers program, emphasis was placed on current unpublished research and discussion of the future target areas in this field. There was a conscious effort to stimulate lively discussion about the key issues in the field today. Time for formal presentations was limited in the interest of group discussions. In order that more scientists could communicate their most recent results, poster presentation time was scheduled. Attached is a copy of the formal schedule and speaker program and the poster program. In addition to these formal interactions, "free time" was scheduled to allow informal discussions. Such discussions are fostering new collaborations and joint efforts in the field.
