The 9th International Congress of Neuroethology (ICN) will be held on August 2-7, 2010, in Salamanca, Spain. The ICN is the scientific meeting of the International Society for Neuroethology (ISN) that has been held since 1986. This meeting brings together diverse neuroscientists who investigate the neural basis of behavior across a broad spectrum of animals. It is an outstanding venue to bring together international scientists with a broad range of perspectives, but who all focus on common basic-science questions that have important implications for neural function. Topics include sensory and motor processing, central integrative processes, development, synaptic plasticity and learning, regeneration, and systems-level approaches to understanding plasticity and behavior. In addition some sessions focus on emerging technologies. Neuroethology aims to explain natural behaviors in terms of the activity of individual neurons and networks, and to explore developmental and evolutionary aspects of behavior. Neuroethologists use a comparative approach to seek common solutions to common problems. This involves an understanding of evolutionary principles as they apply to nervous systems and the generation of adaptive behaviors. Evolutionarily informed comparisons of equivalent behaviors in different species can help to identify the common principles that guide the generation of behavior in all species, including humans. The broader impacts of this meeting are to promote engagement in this area for junior investigators, and in particular women and minority scientists, and to stimulate cross-fertilization of ideas among the participants. Support will be directed to fund travel and registration for student, postdoctoral and junior investigators. The benefits to American scientists in general, and to young investigators in particular, will be the opportunity for exposure to cutting-edge research and techniques from around the world.
The 9th Congress of the International Society for Neuroethology (ISN) was held in Salamanca, Spain from August 2-7, 2010. It was a very successful meeting with 610 attendees North and South America, Europe, and Asia. One of the overriding aims of this meeting was to assemble a program with as much diversity as possible and one that emphasized the young talent in our field. There were 22 symposia. These included speakers who were graduate students, postdocs, new faculty members s well as well known investigators. Additionally, four young scientists were chosen by an ISN committee (independent of the program committee) to receive a Young Investigator Award; they were highlighted in a single symposium. We also invited plenary speakers who were chosen not only from the ranks of well-known accomplished investigators, but were also up-and-coming young assistant and associate professors. Finally, there were poster sessions for everyone who wished to present his/her work. NSF funding was critical for the success of this event. NSF funding was used for airfare, registration costs, and/or housing costs for students and postdocs who participated in the Young Investigator Symposium and who were awarded Heiligenberg Student Travel Awards. The discussion following seminars was stimulating; the poster sessions were abuzz with excitement. Clearly, this meeting contributed to the exchange of information by researchers from many laboratories, and collaborations were arranged. Thus, the educational mission was well served. Particularly valuable, for young American students and postdocs, this meeting provided an opportunity to meet and interact with colleagues from other nations whose work they knew only from publications. As a final "deliverable" of the meetings, an abstract book (on a flashdrive) was available to all attendees. One other important outcome from the meeting was a special Frontiers in Behavioral Neuroscience collection of articles with many good reviews and some original articles of major research areas in Neuroethology.
