Conference: 2024 Cellular and Molecular Fungal Biology Gordon Research Seminar

The award will support early career scientists, including graduate students and post-doctoral researchers, to attend the 2024 Gordon Research Seminar (GRS) on Cellular and Molecular Fungal Biology (Holderness School, New Hampshire). This conference brings together mycologists from diverse backgrounds who bring unique perspectives to fungal biology through the broad scale (molecular to population) and scope (genetics, cell biology, biochemistry, molecular biology, systematics) of their studies. The research advances basic knowledge about fungal biology, ecology, and evolution, with implications for applications in biotechnology, agriculture, and medicine. The GRS is a forum for junior US and international scientists to present unpublished research, exchange ideas, benefit from career mentoring, and build their professional network. The GRS is organized and co-chaired by two peer-elected post-doctoral scholars, which serves as a significant career development experience. The GRS and associated Gordon Research Conference (GRC) will advance research on fungi, integrating classical cell and molecular biology and modern data-rich approaches. The 2024 meeting will focus on how fungi sense, integrate, and manipulate their environment or hosts through biology. Investigators from around the world will have the opportunity to discuss pioneering ideas in the field and potentially launch new collaborations. The GRS, in particular, will facilitate the training and professional development of a diverse group of scientists in fungal biology. This award is co-funded by the Genetic Mechanisms, Cellular Dynamics and Function, and Systems and Synthetic Biology programs in the Division of Molecular and Cellular Biosciences, and the Plant Biotic Interactions program in the Division of Integrative Organismal Systems of the Directorate for Biological Sciences. 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.