CONFERENCE : 2009 Molecular Genetics of Bacteria and Phages Conference to be held August 4-9, 2009

The Molecular Genetics of Bacteria and Phages Conference is the direct descendent of the original 'phage meetings' organized by Delbruck, Luria, Hershey, and colleagues in the 1940s, and thus is the oldest scientific gathering focused on prokaryotic molecular biology. The 2009 Molecular Genetics of Bacteria and Phages Conference will be held at the University of Wisconsin-Madison from August 4-9, 2009. While the focus of the meeting has evolved over the years, it still remains dedicated to the problem-oriented philosophy of the physicists, chemists, and microbiologists who founded the meeting. The conference provides a forum for the presentation and discussion of the latest research findings and technical advances in modern prokaryotic molecular biology. It is the primary scientific meeting for many laboratories working with prokaryotes. A central aspect and major attraction of the meeting is the breadth of the research presented, ranging from basic phage genetics to organismal genomics/proteomics, from atomic-level structure-function analyses to microbial cell biology, and from single-molecule biochemistry to viral self-assembly. The diversity of research areas is mirrored by the diversity of organisms investigated, including model organisms as well as environmental and host-associated bacteria and phages. This award will provide travel grants to encourage and assist graduate students, postdoctoral fellows, and beginning faculty working on various aspects of prokaryotic molecular biology to attend one of the premier meetings in their field.

A key objective of the meeting is to provide a broad educational experience for graduate students, postdoctoral fellows and other young scientists who constitute over half of the attendees of the meeting. Nearly all the graduate students and postdoctoral fellows attending this meeting give a poster or an oral presentation. It is one of the few meetings where the majority of the presentations are given by the people performing the research. In addition, leading senior scientists are invited to present comprehensive introductions to the 10 scientific sessions, and a keynote lecture will be given by a world-renowned scientist. Both the session leaders and keynote speaker remain on site for the entire meeting. As such, scientific experts are always in the audience, which ensures high scientific standards and critical, yet supportive, questioning and commentary at the conclusion of talks. With planned close proximity of graduate students, postdoctoral fellows, and junior and senior faculty, a unique atmosphere is created for scientific interactions which are beneficial for all, but especially for the graduate students and postdoctoral fellows. Many postdoctoral mentors and job candidates are discovered at this meeting. The meeting is also particularly supportive of female and minority scientists. Half of the session chairs and one of the lead organizers are women, providing role models for younger scientists.

In summary, this meeting ensures a unique wide-ranging educational experience, encouraging junior scientists to present their results to senior scientists, as well as to their peers. It provides opportunities for young and senior scientists to interact, stimulating everyone's research and often leading to future training and academic job opportunities, and the development of important career contacts.