The goal of this workshop is to bring together established investigators and students at graduate and post-graduate levels that have a common research interest in fundamental and applied aspects that can be defined broadly as comparative immunity, and that can have relevance to pathology, infectious diseases, ecology, development, evolution, and conservation biology. The objectives of this workshop are to: (1) establish and maintain an active scientific, educational and professional network among laboratories working in the diverse areas of comparative immunology; (2) provide better and updated information of the scientific activities of the different laboratories; (3) connect students with potential laboratories that have postdoctoral position available; (4) develop collaborations among various laboratories; and (5) improve and diversify student education and training in comparative immunology. The scientific program will include 30-minute keynote presentations by selected leading investigators who will provide an overview and update of their particular area of research. Other talks of 10-12 minutes will be selected based on abstracts and delivered by an equal number of established investigators and trainees. To provide further opportunity for discussion and interaction among investigators and students, a poster session including both established investigators and students is also planned. This workshop is strongly focused on education, training, connectivity and career building for graduate and post-graduate students. To this end, the organizers will ensure an equal number of presentations by students and established investigators Further, the attendance will be kept modest (50 to 70 participants), and there will be no parallel sessions. To encourage excellence in research and presentation, an award will be given for the best oral and the best poster presentation by a student. To enhance the educational component of the workshop, written feedback from evaluators will be provided for each student presenter
The goal of this workshop was to bring together established investigators and students at graduate and post-graduate levels that have a common research interest in fundamental and applied aspects that can be defined broadly as comparative immunity, and that can have relevance to pathology, infectious diseases, ecology, development, evolution, and conservation biology. The objectives of this workshop were to: (1) establish and maintain an active scientific, educational and professional network among laboratories working in the diverse areas of comparative immunology; (2) provide better and updated information of the scientific activities of the different laboratories; (3) connect students with potential laboratories that have postdoctoral position available; (4) develop collaborations among various laboratories; and (5) improve and diversify student education and training in comparative immunology. The workshop was attended by 50 participants of USA and Cananda and was really successful. The scientific program included 30 minutes keynote presentations by six leading investigators who provided an overview and update of their particular area of research. Thirty other talks of 10-12 minutes were selected based on abstracts and were delivered by an equal number of established investigators and trainees. A poster session was also included to provide further opportunity for discussion and interaction among investigators and students. The landmark of this workshop was its strong focus on education, training, connectivity and career building for graduate and post-graduate students. As mentioned, the organizers ensured an equal number of oral presentations by students and established investigators.
