2012 Gordon Research Conference on Origin of Life
The 2012 Gordon Research Conference on Origin of Life will take place at the Hotel Galvez in Galveston, TX from January 8-13, 2012. This unique interdisciplinary meeting includes chemists, biologists, geologists, astronomers, physicists as well as scientists in related disciplines interested in the origin, and early evolution of Life on Earth and its possible distribution throughout the universe. The 2012 conference will feature recent and cutting-edge results, and sessions will address attempts to fabricate life or life-like systems in the laboratory, the search for extra-solar Earth like planets, recent developments in our understanding of the early history of Earth, Mars, and Titan, prebiotic and organic chemistry on the early Earth and elsewhere in the solar system, and reconstruction of early life forms and genomes, among other exciting topics.
We encourage young scientists, including graduate students and postdoctoral fellows, to attend. Special efforts will be made to promote interactions between invited speakers and junior participants and we expect to be able to provide some financial support to facilitate the latter’s participation. Applications for this meeting must be submitted by December 11, 2011. Please apply early, as we expect the meeting to become oversubscribed (full) before this deadline. More information, including afullconferenceprogram,can be found on the conference website: http://www.grc.org/programs.aspx?year=2012&program=originlife.
Immediately preceding the GRC, on January 7-8, 2011, a Gordon Research Seminar (GRS) will be held for young investigators. The GRS is a unique forum for graduate students, post-docs, and other scientists with comparable levels of experience and education to present and exchange new data and cutting edge ideas.
The meeting 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 Chairs will select speakers from abstracts submitted by October 15, 2011. 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 December 10, 2011.
Funding is being sought to allow partial travel and registration support for both the GRC and the GRS for graduate students and postdoctoral scientists who participate as presenters in the Gordon Research Seminar. For more information, please visit the web site. http://www.grc.org/programs.aspx?year=2012&program=grs_origin
