The Biopolymers Gordon Research Conference (GRC) will focus on the fundamental physico-chemical properties of biopolymers, including structure, folding dynamics, stability, and interactions. The goal of the meeting is to convene leaders in the field with students, postdocs and juniors scientist in a five day conference that will discuss current state and future directions of research efforts in biopolymers. The conference will advance our understanding of the fundamental properties of biopolymers as related to their biological function and will foster connections between physics, chemistry, chemical engineering, computer science and biology. The 2012 Biopolymers GRC will specifically support the participation of minorities and women.
June 3-8, 2012. The Conference was well-attended with 124 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 124 attendees, 65 voluntarily responded to a general inquiry regarding ethnicity which appears on our registration forms. Of the 65 respondents, 19% were Minorities – 8% Hispanic, 11% Asian and 0% African American. Approximately 27% of the participants at the 2012 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 In designing the formal speakers program, emphasis was placed on current unpublished research and discussion of the future target areas in this field.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. Thank you for your support of this Conference. As you know, in the interest of promoting the presentation of unpublished and frontier-breaking research, Gordon Research Conferences does not permit publication of meeting proceedings.
