October 2019 Washington Update – Prepared by Lewis-Burke Associates, LLC for the American Society of Plant Biologists
Following their Town Halls in September, the National Science Foundation’s (NSF) Reintegrating Biology Initiative has announced the next phase of the process. Reintegrating Biology will convene four “Jumpstarts”, two and a half-day workshops to “develop new and innovative ideas for future exploration.” Jumpstart meetings will bring together “diverse set of researchers representing the breadth of the biological subdisciplines” with the goal of drafting recommendations around the following questions:
- What is the unexplored potential in biological evolution?
- How do biological traits and phenotypes scale across life?
- How do biological entities interact and communicate through life?
- How do biological species and systems achieve resilience and robustness?
- How do we predict structure and function in biology?
- How could we manipulate biological systems to further understand the rules of life?
In addition to a virtual meeting, Jumpstarts will take place in San Diego, Austin, and Atlanta on December 4-6, 2019. To attend, interested researchers should apply by 5 PM (EDT) on October 21, 2019. Note: The application is a “competitive process designed to maximize a diverse set of expertise for each event location.” The application and more information can be found at https://reintegratingbiology.org/jumpstarts/.
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