This award provides partial support for a symposium entitled "The Past, Present and Future of Plant Biology" to be held on May 27 - 29, 1993 at Washington University. The symposium is organized to celebrate the life-long achievements of Dr. Joseph E. Varner. The program is designed to encompass major past and present achievements in broad areas of plant sciences as well as future research directions in plant biology. Three major sessions include; (1) from structure and function to molecule, (2) from molecules back to structure and function, and (3) on the horizon. Speakers are encouraged to speculate and discuss the implications of their research findings for future directions in plant biology research, which the organizers hope will promote discussions among the participants. The NSF award will specifically support graduate students and postdocs attend this symposium and be exposed to a slightly different kind of discussion from that of traditional research conferences.