This award will support attendance by graduate students and postdoctoral researchers at the 2019 Gordon Research Seminar (GRS) on Nucleic Acids to be held June 1-2, 2019 at the Grand Summit Hotel at Sunday River in Newry, ME just prior to the associated Gordon Research Conference. The topical theme of the GRS meeting is "From organization and regulation to structure and mechanisms". The meeting is organized and co-chaired by two senior graduate students, thus providing them with valuable professional development experience. The format of the meeting will be a combination of talks and posters, aimed at encouraging scientific exchange in both formal and informal settings. Participants will benefit from a dedicated education, career and mentorship session featuring a keynote lecture from an expert in science education and a panel discussion with program directors in Federal funding agencies.
The scientific focus of this meeting and the accompanying Gordon Research Conference will be on multiple aspects of nucleic acids biology including research on both RNA and DNA. Specific topics will include telomeres, mRNA splicing, CRISPR technologies, 3D genome organization/dynamics/repair, translation regulation, RNA and DNA modifications, RNA quality control, and therapeutics. Emphasis on cutting-edge, unpublished research across many biological systems offers participants the opportunity to explore how new findings can be leveraged for their own work. The meeting will provide an excellent forum for junior investigators, including those from underrepresented groups, to network with each other and to have the opportunity to present and receive feedback on their own research.
This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.
