Welcome to the official website for the 2009 Annual Meeting of the Society for
Molecular Biology
and Evolution (SMBE 2009). We invite you to join us in Iowa City on
the campus of the University of Iowa, June 3-7, 2009 to participate in the premier annual
international meeting on molecular evolutionary biology.
Our 2009 theme Darwin to the Next Generation honors Charles Darwin's
200th birthday and the 150th publication anniversary of
On the Origin of Species and also
recognizes both the human creativity and technological innovations that are revolutionizing our understanding of the evolution of genes, genomes and
organisms.
SMBE 2009 will open on the evening of Wednesday, June 3rd with a welcome reception from 6:00 - 7:30 p.m., followed immediately by the first (of four)
Plenary Lectures. Opening day check-in and registration will be open from 2:00 - 7:30 p.m. Closing day symposia and contributed sessions will take place
from 8:30 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. on Sunday, June 7th.
The SMBE annual meeting has become recognized as a terrific venue for junior and senior scientists alike to present their own research and to learn
about cutting-edge advances in the field. We anticipate attendance of more than 600 participants from around the world; attendees will represent a wide
range of academic achievement, including a strong contingent of young molecular evolutionary biologists.
The Society has a long-standing tradition to identify and reward the achievements of junior scientists. Generous travel awards
will be competitively awarded to graduate students and post docs. The Undergraduate Diversity Mentoring Award will support
undergraduate students from underrepresented groups (including travel, accommodation and registration). Awards will also be given to the
best graduate student and post doc poster presenters. Finally, the premier SMBE student prize is the
Walter M. Fitch Student Award which is awarded to the best talk at a special plenary session featuring the top eight
contributed abstracts from graduate students.
The SMBE 2009 scientific program will include more than 20 topical symposia, featuring 2-3 invited speakers each and highlighting the latest findings
in traditionally-important and newly-emerging research areas. Half of the symposia were developed by members of the
Organizing Committee and the other half were selected by the
Scientific Program Committee from among many proposals submitted from the SMBE community. In sum, the
program will feature ~215 talks; more than half will be contributed talks selected on a competitive basis from submitted abstracts. We anticipate that
300-400 poster contributions will be highlighted in two evening poster sessions.
We have endeavored to make SMBE 2009 both exciting and affordable. However, the total number of participants will be limited by space, so please
register early. Iowa City is an inexpensive destination with easy travel from almost anywhere. During SMBE 2009, Iowa City will be the site of the
Iowa Arts Festival, a free community event that includes artists
displaying and selling artwork and a music festival.
We are committed to reducing the impact of waste generated from SMBE 2009. We will be limiting the amount of paper and other material we use and
encouraging recycling throughout the meeting. When completed, the full program, including conference abstracts, will be provided only as an electronic
document.
We thank the Society for Molecular Biology and Evolution for selecting representatives from the
University of Iowa and Iowa State
University to organize and host SMBE 2009. We hope that you will enjoy visiting Iowa and see for yourself why we think it is such a great place to
live and to do science. We also thank our generous sponsors for their financial support needed to help make SMBE
2009 a reality.
Prepare to meet friends and colleagues, make contacts, and learn what's new and important in molecular evolution research...all the while enjoying the
local charm and easy-going character that makes Iowa City one of the best college towns in the US. We look forward to seeing you in June!
On behalf of the Organizing Committee,
John Logsdon
Lead Organizer | |
