The Microbial Population Biology GRS provides a unique forum for young doctoral and post-doctoral researchers to present their work, discuss new methods, cutting edge ideas, and pre-published data, as well as to build collaborative relationships with their peers. Experienced mentors and trainee moderators will facilitate active participation in scientific discussion to allow all attendees to be engaged participants rather than spectators.
Natural communities of microbes are highly diverse, containing an incredible variety of genotypes, species, and genetic elements in all known habitats. Despite the important functional roles of microbial diversity in the environment and in association with eukaryotic hosts, microbiologists struggle to provide a convincing mechanistic account for how diversity evolves, is maintained, and the effects it has. The problem stems in large part because explanations have been sought from opposite ends of a spectrum of complexity: ‘top-down’ approaches at one extreme that seek to capture the full taxonomic and functional diversity of microbial communities in situ and the ‘bottom-up’ approaches of experimental evolution, at the other, that track the origins and fate of diversity in highly simplified, defined environments in the laboratory. Often missing is the middle ground between the two. Our conference will address this knowledge gap directly by bringing together leading researchers from both the ‘top-down’ and ‘bottom-up’ approaches in many topics, including coevolution, evolutionary predictability, antimicrobial resistance, plasmid and virus (co)evolution and ecology, maintenance and outcomes of community diversity, spatial and temporal heterogeneity, evolution of novelty, facilitation and cooperation, new technologies, interactions with eukaryotic hosts, and more. Together we will work towards a more complete understanding of microbial diversity that goes beyond taxonomic description and natural history, on the one hand, and adds more complexity to the over-simplified systems studied in laboratory test tubes on the other.
Notes from the 2025 Chairs:
Applications for this meeting should be submitted by January 20, 2025, even though they are able to be submitted until a later date. This meeting is nearly always oversubscribed (full), so please apply by January 20. Applications submitted after January 20 may only be considered by the seminar chairs if more seats become available due to cancellations. This applies for applicants who wish to be considered for an oral presentation as well as those only wishing to present a poster.
Please fill out the application completely, including Scientific Activities and an Abstract, as they serve as the basis for all application decisions.
In your Scientific Activities please include at least the following information (in addition to the other information requested by the prompt):
- What year of graduate school or your postdoc you are in
- If you are a graduate student, whether you are in a Masters or PhD program
- Your advisor's name
All applicants should also apply to the Microbial Population Biology GRC. Acceptance to the GRS will guarantee acceptance to the GRC, and all GRS attendees are expected to also attend the GRC.
Application Instructions
The seminar will feature approximately 10 talks and 2 poster sessions. All attendees are expected to actively participate in the GRS, either by giving an oral presentation or presenting a poster. Therefore, all applications must include an abstract.
The seminar chair will select speakers from abstracts submitted by March 30, 2025. Those applicants who are not chosen for talks and those who apply after the deadline to be considered for an oral presentation will be expected to present a poster. In order to participate, you must submit an application by the date indicated in the Application Information section above.
Program Format
Gordon Research Seminars are 2-day meetings which take place on the Saturday and Sunday just prior to the start of the associated GRC. The GRS opens with a 1-hour introductory session on Saturday afternoon, followed by a poster session, dinner and a 2-hour session in the evening. Sunday morning begins with breakfast and is followed by another 2-hour session, a second poster session, and lunch. A final 1-hour session takes place just after lunch, and the associated GRC begins later that evening.
