Conferences
Other Events
Conference attendees become acquainted with one another in a game of science speed dating.
Organizers invite participants based on evaluation of abstract submissions. Interested applicants must register online and submit a research abstract relevant to the meeting topic. This fall, participants will have the opportunity to discover novel imaging tools and technologies at the light and EM levels, how specific neuron cell types evolve and how the brain controls movement.
All participants are expected to contribute to the intellectual content of the meeting, including graduate students and postdocs. To achieve these goals, all of the attendees will be active members of the research field and will present their work in a talk or poster format.
Registration for Spring 2012 conferences closed on November 10. Stay tuned for more details on the Fall 2012 conference season, coming soon.
This meeting will focus on recent developments in circadian biology, with an emphasis on mechanisms of circadian clock oscillation, coordination between oscillators, and connections between circadian clocks and physiology.
MEETING AGENDA
Application period for both participation and student scholarships was September 1 to November 10, 2011 at 2pm ET.
Organizers
Erin O’Shea, HHMI/Harvard University
Joe Takahashi, HHMI/University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center
Invited Participants
Joseph Bass, Northwestern University
Deborah Bell-Pedersen, Texas A&M University
Michael Brunner, University of Heidelberg
Michael Do, Harvard Medical Center
Jay Dunlap, Dartmouth Medical Center
Susan Golden, University of California, San Diego
Carla Green, University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center
Michael Hastings, MRC Laboratory of Molecular Biology
Samer Hattar, Johns Hopkins University
John Hogenesch, University of Pennsylvania
Steve Kay, University of California, San Diego
Takao Kondo, Nagoya University
Achim Kramer, Charité - Universitätsmedizin Berlin
Martha Merrow, University of Groningen
Felix Naef, École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne
Michael Nitabach, Yale School of Medicine
John O'Neill, University of Cambridge
Andrew Oates, Max Planck Institute of Molecular Cell Biology & Genetics
David Rand, Warwick Systems Biology Centre
Rama Ranganathan, University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center
Michael Rosbash, HHMI/Brandeis University
Ueli Schibler, University of Geneva
Benjamin Tu, University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center
Hiroki Ueda, RIKEN Brain Science Institute
David Welsh, University of California, San Diego
Brian Zoltowski, Southern Methodist University
Information processing and storage in neuronal dendrites mediate the circuit computations that underlie behavior. There are four interacting aspects: 1) synaptic input is delivered by circuit connectivity, 2) the electrical properties of dendrites, 3) transformation of input into specific patterns of network output, and 4) various forms of plasticity respond to this activity. This meeting will examine these four aspects (connectivity, electrical properties, transformations and plasticity) in the context of circuit computations.
Registration for this meeting is closed.
Application period for both participation and student scholarships was September 1 to November 10, 2011 at 2pm ET.
Organizers
Jeff Magee, Janelia Farm/HHMI
Stephen Williams, University of Queensland
Erin Schuman, Max Planck Institute
Invited Participants
Heinz Beck, University of Bonn Medical Center
Deanna Benson, Mount Sinai Medical Center
Solange Brown, Johns Hopkins School of Medicine
Pico Caroni, Friedrich Miescher Institute for Biomedical Research (FMI)
Fabrizio Gabbiani, Baylor College of Medicine
Kristen Harris, University of Texas at Austin
Michael Hausser, University College London
Fritjof Helmchen, Brain Research Institute, University of Zurich
Dax Hoffman, National Institutes of Health
Lily Jan, HHMI/University of California, San Francisco
Daniel Johnston, University of Texas at Austin
Jinhyun Kim, Korea Institute of Science and Techology, Seoul
Arthur Konnerth, Technical University Munich
Ken Kosik, University of California, Santa Barbara
Matthew Larkum, Humboldt University
Máté Lengyel, Cambridge University
Attila Losonczy, Columbia University
Wolfgang Maass, Technische Universität Graz
Judit Makara, Institute of Experimental Medicine, Hungary
Zoltan Nusser, Institute of Experimental Medicine, Hungary
Wilfrid Rall, National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases/National Institutes of Health
Stefan Remy, German Center for Neurodegenerative Diseases
Jackie Schiller, Technion - Israel Institute of Technology
Terrence Sejnowski, HHMI/Salk Institute for Biological Studies
Gordon Shepherd, Yale School of Medicine
Steven Siegelbaum, HHMI/Columbia University
Nelson Spruston, Janelia Farm Research Campus/HHMI
Greg Stuart, The Australian National University
Gabor Tamas, University of Szeged
Gina Turrigiano, Brandeis University
Sam Wang, Princeton University
Stephen Williams, Queensland Brain Institute
Over the past few years, an increasing number of laboratories have targeted the central complex and nearby regions of the insect brain for anatomical, physiological and behavioral studies. This meeting will bring together a cross-section of such researchers, and others studying related topics in higher sensory processing and sensorimotor integration. The meeting format (short theme-focused talks, chaired panels to end each themed session) is intended to enable focused and specific discussions about the issues of each session, details of which will follow in the weeks to come. We will request that participants whose research touches the central complex try to present their data and ideas in the context of specific, testable hypotheses about the region’s function and attempt to relate their findings to those of others in the field. We believe that this effort, in contrast to the more typical approach of providing a narrative of the lab’s findings, will lead to more productive discussions and help achieve the goal of the meeting, as reflected in its title.
Registration for this meeting is closed.
Application period for both participation and student scholarships was September 1 to November 10, 2011 at 2pm ET.
Organizers
Eugenia Chiappe, Janelia Farm/HHMI
Stanley Heinze, University of Massachusetts Medical School
Vivek Jayaraman, Janelia Farm/HHMI
Invited Participants
George Boyan, Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München
Catherine Carr, University of Maryland
Ann-Shyn Chiang, National Tsing Hua University
Benjamin de Bivort, Rowland Institute at Harvard
Berthold Hedwig, University of Cambridge
Ralf Heinrich, Institute for Zoology
Uwe Homberg, Philipps-Universität Marburg
Arnim Jenett, Janelia Farm Research Campus/HHMI
Ryohei Kanzaki, University of Tokyo
James Knierim, Johns Hopkins University
Rüdiger Krahe, McGill University
Thomas Labhart, University of Zurich
Stephen Lisberger, HHMI/University of California, San Francisco
Rudolf Loesel, Institut für Biologie II
Michael Mauk, University of Texas, Austin
Michael Reiser, Janelia Farm Research Campus/HHMI
Fred Rieke, HHMI/University of Washington
Roy Ritzmann, Case Western Reserve University
Gabe Sibley, George Washington University
Mandyam Srinivasan, University of Queensland
Barry Stein, Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center
Nicholas Strausfeld, University of Arizona
Roland Strauss, Johannes Gutenberg-Universitaet Mainz
Barbara Webb, University of Edinburgh
Asa Winther, Karolinska Institutet
This meeting will focus on various aspects of circuit assembly including axon guidance, lamina targeting specificity, synapse formation, dendritogenesis, reaction to injury and signaling (including RNA and cytoskeletal regulation in neurites) and activity-dependent processes. This will be a small meeting with some additional speakers and about an equal number of graduate students and postdoctoral fellows. We anticipate that the small size and high quality will encourage discussion. We hope you will be able to accept this invitation and look forward to a stimulating and exciting meeting.
Registration for this meeting is closed.
Application period for both participation and student scholarships was September 1 to November 10, 2011 at 2pm ET.
Organizers
Tom Jessell, HHMI/Columbia University
Carla Shatz, Stanford University
Larry Zipursky, HHMI/ University of California, Los Angeles
Invited Participants
Silvia Arber, Biozentrum, University of Basel and FMI
Ben Barres, Stanford School of Medicine
Greg Bashaw, University of Pennsylvania
Robert Darnell, HHMI/Rockefeller University
David Feldheim, University of California, Santa Cruz
Daniel Feldman, University of California, Berkeley
Marla Feller, University of California, Berkeley
John Flanagan, Harvard Medical School
Marc Freeman, HHMI/University of Massachusetts Medical School
David Ginty, HHMI/Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine
Michael Greenberg, Harvard Medical School
Wes Grueber, Columbia University
Christine Holt, University of Cambridge
Mark Hubener, Max Planck Institute of Neurobiology, Martinsried
Andrew Huberman, University of California, San Diego
Yuh-Nung Jan, HHMI/University of California, San Francisco
Yishi Jin, HHMI/University of California, San Diego
Alex Kolodkin, HHMI/Johns Hopkins University
Liqun Luo, HHMI/Stanford University
Carol Mason, Columbia University
Samuel Pfaff, HHMI/Salk Institute for Biological Studies
Hitoshi Sakano, University of Tokyo
Iris Salecker, National Institute for Medical Research
Joshua Sanes, Harvard University
Kang Shen, HHMI/Stanford School of Medicine
The size and complexity of neural circuits, and of the experimental datasets collected for their study, motivate neuroscientists to study and foster advances in machine learning and statistical inference. Neuroscientists need both innovative new tools for large-scale data analysis, and a better formal understanding of learning and inference that could illuminate how neural circuits function. This meeting will bring together creative researchers from a broad range of the machine learning and statistical inference community, including many from outside neuroscience, to discuss current research frontiers and perhaps to spark new ideas for applications to problems in neural circuit analysis.
Registration for this meeting is closed.
Application period for both participation and student scholarships was September 1 to November 10, 2011 at 2pm ET.
Organizers
Mitya Chklovskii, Janelia Farm/HHMI
Sean Eddy, Janelia Farm/HHMI
Elena Rivas, Janelia Farm/HHMI
Invited Participants
Kristin Branson, Janelia Farm/HHMI
Aaron Clauset, University of Colorado, Boulder
Sophie Deneve, Ecole Normale Supérieure
Michael Elad, The Technion - Israel Institute of Technology
Brendan Frey, University of Toronto
Stuart Geman, Brown University
Elad Hazan, Technion - Israel Institute of Technology
Viren Jain, Janelia Farm/HHMI
Philip Kegelmeyer, Sandia National Laboratories
Yann LeCun, New York University
Jun Liu, Harvard University
Partha Mitra, Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory
Bruno Olshausen, University of California, Berkeley
Stanley Osher, University of California, Los Angeles
Liam Paninski, Columbia University
Hanchuan Peng, Janelia Farm/HHMI
Fernando Pereira, Google Research
Maneesh Sahani, University College London
Eero Simoncelli, HHMI/New York University
Haim Sompolinsky, The Hebrew University
Mats G.L. Gustafsson became a group leader at Janelia Farm in 2008. In April 2011, he passed away after a courageous battle with brain cancer. Mats was a leader in the field of high resolution light microscopy and pioneered a set of super-resolution methods including structured illumination light microscopy (SIM) and I5M. These allow visualization of cellular components that typically go undetected by light microscopes. This meeting will honor the memory of Mats and his contribution to the field of bioimaging by bringing together people who have worked with him over the years, as well as others who develop and/or apply innovative optical imaging techniques. Through a series of talks, posters and group discussions, we will cover various methods, including SIM, STED, PALM, STORM, adaptive optics, multiplane imaging, and others.
Registration for this meeting is closed.
Application period for both participation and student scholarships was September 1 to November 10, 2011 at 2pm ET.
Organizers
David Agard, HHMI/University of California, San Francisco
Eric Betzig, Janelia Farm/HHMI
Invited Participants
Sara Abrahamsson, University of California, San Francisco
Joerg Bewersdorf, Yale University
Michael Davidson, Florida State University
Reto Fiolka, Janelia Farm Research Campus/HHMI
Alan Greenaway, Heriot Watt University
Rainer Heintzmann, Institute of Phototonic Technology
Stefan Hell, Max Planck Institute for Biophysical Chemistry
Harald Hess, Janelia Farm Research Campus/HHMI
Zvi Kam, Weizmann Institute of Science
Philipp Keller, Janelia Farm Research Campus/HHMI
Tom Kirchhausen, Harvard Medical School
Peter Kner, University of Georgia
Frederick Lanni, Carnegie Mellon University
Timothy Mitchison, Harvard Medical School
Hesper Rego, Harvard School of Public Health/CSIR, South Africa
Markus Sauer, University of Wuerzburg
Lothar Schermelleh, University of Oxford
John Sedat, University of California, San Francisco
Lin Shao, Janelia Farm Research Campus/HHMI
Jason Swedlow, University of Dundee
David Williams, University of Rochester
Tony Wilson, University of Oxford
This is the third meeting devoted to neural circuit reconstruction at the finest and most complete level possible; previous meetings were held in 2007 at Janelia Farm and in 2009 in Berlin. Because of the highly interdisciplinary nature of the field, this meeting will bring together experts in imaging hardware, imaging automation, tissue preparation, image processing, manual tracing, computer vision, and machine learning. Also covered will be examples of neural circuits where knowledge of most connections is likely to be essential to understand the neural computation performed.
Registration for Fall 2011 is now closed.
Organizers
Mitya Chklovskii, Janelia Farm Research Campus
Winfried Denk, Max Planck Institute for Medical Research
Invited Participants
Davi Bock, Janelia Farm Research Campus/HHMI
Kevin Briggman, Max Planck Institute for Medical Research
Albert Cardona, University of Zurich and ETH Zurich
Mark Ellisman, University of California, San Diego
Rainer Friedrich, Friedrich Miescher Institute for Biomedical Research
Fred Hamprecht, University of Heidelberg
Kristen Harris, University of Texas at Austin
Kenneth Hayworth, Harvard University
Moritz Helmstaedter, Max Planck Institute for Medical Research
Harald Hess, Janelia Farm Research Campus/HHMI
Tao Hu, Janelia Farm Research Campus/HHMI
Viren Jain, Janelia Farm Research Campus/HHMI
Graham Knott, École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL)
Yann LeCun, New York University
Jeff Lichtman, Harvard University
Ian Meinertzhagen, Dalhousie University
Clay Reid, Harvard Medical School
Arnd Roth, University College London
Louis Scheffer, Janelia Farm Research Campus/HHMI
Terrence Sejnowski, HHMI/Salk Institute
Sebastian Seung, HHMI/Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Tolga Tasdizen, University of Utah
Anthony Zador, Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory
This meeting is a follow-up to the first one held in spring 2009. With the development of advanced imaging techniques, the number of biological images acquired in digital form is growing rapidly, resulting in large-scale bioimage databases. The systematic and high-throughput analysis and mining of the information in such bioimage databases are vital to the success of a wide spectrum of studies in molecular biology, from intracellular processes to whole-organ cell-resolution models. The goals of this conference are (1) to bring together interdisciplinary researchers to present the latest advances in image data analysis and informatics methods that are, or might be, relevant to such bioimage analysis problems and (2) to provide a forum for an in-depth discussion of the challenges in this area and their possible solutions.
Registration for Fall 2011 is now closed.
Organizers
Michael Hawrylycz, Allen Institute for Brain Science
Gene Myers, Janelia Farm Research Campus/HHMI
Jean-Christophe Olivo-Marin, Institut Pasteur
Hanchuan Peng, Janelia Farm Research Campus/HHMI
Badri Roysam, University of Houston
Invited Participants
Manfred Auer, Lawrence Berkeley National Lab
Gary Banker, Oregon Health & Science University
Anne Carpenter, Broad Institute of Harvard and MIT
Mitya Chklovskii, Janelia Farm Research Campus/HHMI
Andrew Cohen, University of Wisconsin, Milwaukee
Charless Fowlkes, University of California, Irvine
Pascal Fua, École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL)
James Gee, University of Pennsylvania
Justin Haldar, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Charles Kervrann, INRIA Rennes–Bretagne Atlantique
Arno Klein, Columbia University
Yann LeCun, New York University
Maryann Martone, University of California, San Diego
Eric Meijering, Erasmus MC University Medical Center, Rotterdam
Musa Mhlanga, Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR)
Hanspeter Pfister, Harvard University
Kilian Pohl, University of Pennsylvania
Ivo Sbalzarini, Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (ETH), Zurich
William Smith, University of California, Santa Barbara
Jason Swedlow, University of Dundee
Pavel Tomancak, Max Planck Institute of Molecular Cell Biology and Genetics
May Dongmei Wang, Georgia Institute of Technology
Antonio Torralba, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
In this meeting, we will discuss neuron type identity across various model systems. We will focus on the transcriptional mechanisms that define and maintain a particular neuron type identity. We will also explore neuronal lineages and delve into how diverse neuron types are specified during development.
Conference Agenda (PDF)
Registration for Fall 2011 is now closed.
Organizers
Chris Doe, HHMI/University of Oregon
Tzumin Lee, Janelia Farm Research Campus/HHMI
Sally Temple, NY Neural Stem Cell Institute
Jim Truman, Janelia Farm Research Campus/HHMI
Invited Participants
Arturo Alvarez-Buylla, University of California, San Francisco
Stewart Anderson, Weill Cornell Medical College
Siew-Lan Ang, National Institute for Medical Research
Heather Broihier, Case Western Reserve University
Michel Cayouette, Institut de Recherches Cliniques de Montréal
Constance Cepko, HHMI/Harvard Medical School
Claude Desplan, New York University
Wolfgang Driever, University of Freiburg
Susan Dymecki, Harvard Medical School
Alex Gould, National Institute for Medical Research
Martyn Goulding, Salk Institute
Oliver Hobert, HHMI/Columbia University
Josh Huang, Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory
Jeffrey Macklis, Harvard Medical School
Susan McConnell, Stanford University
Sacha Nelson, Brandeis University
Heinrich Reichert, University of Basel
Hongjun Song, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine
Paul Taghert, Washington University School of Medicine
Gerhard Technau, University of Mainz
Stefan Thor, Linkoping University
Marius Wernig, Stanford University School of Medicine
Hynek Wichterle, Columbia University
Single molecule biophysics and systems biology are two contemporary disciplines that rely on physical tools and mathematical modeling to understand underpinnings of biological phenomena. New developments in cellular imaging and absolute quantification at the single molecule level are beginning to bridge the two disciplines, with the potential for facilitating a new quantitative understanding of biological processes. The interface between these two areas holds great promise of fertile interaction and new discovery. In this meeting we look forward to hearing talks on new and innovative tools and technologies, as well as active discussions among field experts.
Conference Agenda (PDF)
Registration for Fall 2011 is now closed.
Organizers
Taekjip Ha, HHMI/ University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Sua Myong, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Arjun Raj, University of Pennsylvania
Sunney Xie, Harvard University
Invited Participants
Howard Berg, Harvard University
Carlos Bustamante, HHMI/University of California, Berkeley
Long Cai, California Institute of Technology
Yann Chemla, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Philippe Cluzel, Harvard University
Aaron Dinner, University of Chicago
Johan Elf, Uppsala University
Ido Golding, Baylor College of Medicine
Jay Groves, HHMI/University of California, Berkeley
Terence Hwa, University of California, San Diego
Harley McAdams, Stanford School of Medicine
W.E. Moerner, Stanford University
Erin O'Shea, HHMI/Harvard University
Hong Qian, University of Washington
Stephen Quake, HHMI/Stanford University
Lucy Shapiro, Stanford University
Robert Singer, Albert Einstein College of Medicine
Alexander van Oudenaarden, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Michelle Wang, HHMI/Cornell University
Jonathan Weissman, HHMI/University of California, San Francisco
Jie Xiao, Johns Hopkins University
Xiaowei Zhuang, HHMI/Harvard University
This meeting will bring together experts in the field of motor control and will encompass both vertebrate and invertebrate (and robotic) systems. Talks and discussions will focus on the neural processes underlying movement, including the characterization of spinal cord neurons, sensorimotor circuits, muscle synergies, motor learning and brain-machine interfaces. We look forward to hearing a historic perspective, as well as the current state of the art in these areas.
Conference Agenda (PDF)
Registration for Fall 2011 is now closed.
Organizers
Silvia Arber, University of Basel
Adam Hantman, Janelia Farm Research Campus/HHMI
Keir Pearson, University of Alberta
Invited Participants
Emilio Bizzi, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Ansgar Büschges, University of Cologne
Rui Costa, National Institutes of Health
Gregoire Courtine, University of Zurich
Chris de Zeeuw, Erasmus University
Michael Dickinson, California Institute of Technology
John Donoghue, Brown University
Trevor Drew, University of Montreal
Abdel El Manira, Karolinska Institutet
Jack Feldman, University of California, Los Angeles
Martyn Goulding, Salk Institute
Binyamin Hochner, Hebrew University
Atsushi Iriki, Riken Brain Science Institute
Thomas Jessell, HHMI/Columbia University
John Kalaska, University of Montreal
Ole Kiehn, Karolinska Institutet
John Krakauer, Johns Hopkins University
William Kristan, University of California, San Diego
Lynn Landmesser, Case Western Reserve University
Roger Lemon, University College London
David Maxwell, University of Glasgow
David McCrea, University of Manitoba
David McLean, Northwestern University
Richard Nichols, Georgia Institute of Technology
Bijan Pesaran, New York University
Carl Petersen, École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL)
Marc Raibert, Boston Dynamics
Roy Ritzmann, Case Western Reserve University
Douglas Stuart, University of Arizona
Karel Svoboda, Janelia Farm Research Campus/HHMI
Kaoro Takakusaki, Asahikawa Medical College
Daniel Wolpert, Cambridge University
Rooms in the guest house look out over a small pond toward a hardwood forest.
They typically run for two and a half days, beginning Sunday evening and ending mid day on Wednesday.
Accommodations
All external participants are housed on-site in our guest house. Units are single queen rooms. A fitness center is available for guests' use.
Size
Janelia conferences range from small workshops for more intimate discussions to larger meetings of up to about 60 people.
Structure
Each conference normally has at least one external and one internal organizer (usually a Janelia lab head). Meetings are announced on the Janelia website each March and September and openly advertised so that interested members of the scientific community may apply online. The conference organizers invite participants based on their research abstract and ability to contribute to the scientific discussion. Presentations may include talks and/or posters.
Cost
HHMI funds the local costs of the meeting, including food and accommodation for all participants. Travel costs are discussed below.
Travel
Travel costs are not normally covered, but Janelia has some funds available to provide travel assistance to a fraction of participants. If you need such assistance in order to attend, please apply in the “travel funds request” field during online registration.
In accordance with our travel policy, travel expenses for approved participants will be reimbursed up to a fixed amount based on the average cost of advanced-purchase, coach class air travel from the participant's geographical region to Janelia Farm. If approved, participants must attend the entire conference to qualify for reimbursement. Download our detailed travel policy for more information.
Abstract Book
To facilitate interactions, all conference participants are asked to provide a short abstract on their research interests, which will be included in an abstract book.
Publication
Presentations at Janelia conferences do not constitute scientific publications, and their scientific content may not be shared outside of the conference without the express permission of the presenter. Permission is required for sharing through tweets, websites, or blogs as well as more traditional means of communication. This has been the standard ethic for dissemination of unpublished results presented in closed scientific meetings, and we feel that this ethic is important to promote the free exchange of unpublished material, which is in the interests of all participants. The advent of new Internet technology does not change the standards for ethical conduct of science.
For these reasons, participants are not permitted to record presentations or posters by electronic or photographic means without the express permission of the presenter. Given these assurances, presenters should speak openly and not allude to any data or experiments that they are not prepared to discuss in full.
The application to participate in a Janelia conference contains the following statement, and each participant must agree to these provisions: "Presentations and posters are not to be recorded by electronic or photographic means, and the scientific content of Janelia conference presentations, posters, and discussions is not to be shared outside of the conference, without the express permission of the presenter. Permission is required for sharing through tweets, websites, or blogs as well as more traditional means of communication. Authors are requested to omit references to the scientific content of Janelia conferences from any publication."
Internal Web-Casting
We record platform talks and broadcast them within Janelia’s laboratory building via the intranet ONLY for the convenience of our resident and visiting scientists. We hold these recordings for seven days after the talk and then delete them from our systems. All participants must agree to this recording.
Child Care
We have child care available for children between the ages of six weeks and five years (space permitting, see http://centers.brighthorizons.com/learninglab/). The hours are 7:30 am to 6:30 pm. Participants must pay for child care and the cost varies depending on the child's age. Some paperwork is required in advance (vaccination certificates, etc.). Please contact the child care director at (571) 209-4025 for more information.
Janelia Conference Scholarships for Students from Disadvantaged Backgrounds
Conference scholarships that cover the cost of travel and specified associated out-of-pocket expenses (for example, poster printing) are offered by Janelia Farm to graduate students who would otherwise be unable to participate in our meetings. These scholarships will allow graduate students who are members of a group underrepresented in the sciences, who come from disadvantaged backgrounds, or who are actively involved in promoting diversity in the sciences to attend conferences at Janelia. They will function to increase access of these students to leading scientists and to enrich the possible recruiting pool for Janelia Farm. One scholarship will be awarded per conference.
Eligibility
Any matriculated graduate student may apply. To be eligible for consideration, an applicant must self-identify as a member of a group underrepresented in the sciences, as having come from a disadvantaged background, or as being interested in promoting diversity in the sciences.
A student is considered to come from a disadvantaged background if he or she comes from an environment that may have hindered him or her from obtaining the knowledge, skills, and ability required to enroll in an undergraduate institution. For example, students from very-low-income families (such as those eligible for food stamps or public housing) or whose parents did not go to college are considered to come from a disadvantaged background.
Application
The application deadline has passed. Applicants were asked to:
- Specify which conference they wish to attend
- Explain why they will both benefit and contribute scientifically in attending
- Explain how they believe they meet the eligibility requirements
- Provide a CV
- Provide a reference from their academic advisor
- Register online for the conference of choice
Applications will be assessed by the Janelia Farm Conference Program administrator in conjunction with the conference organizers.
Logistics
Scholarship applicants must also formally register for their conference of choice at http://conference.janelia.org/cms. Scholarship applications cannot be considered if the conference registration process is not completed.
Why do I have to submit an abstract and what should I write?
Abstracts for JFRC conferences serve several purposes: they help the organizers plan the meeting agenda, act as a scientific introduction for the attending participants who may not know your research well, and allow you to state your future research goals, which may elicit useful assistance or suggestions. We ask that all participants submit an abstract, even if it is short.
How can I confirm that my abstract submission is complete?
Upon completion of the required items, which are the presentation title, author(s), abstract, and key words, you will receive an e-mail confirmation with a summary of all of the information entered in our online registration. Because this notification will be sent to your e-mail address, please avoid entering confidential information during registration.
Make sure you have saved all abstract information before the submission deadline for the conference. Once the submission deadline has passed, you will be able to view your abstract information.
If you have any questions regarding accommodations, meals, or transportation/parking, please contact the Campus Services department at reservations@janelia.hhmi.org. If you have technical problems or have any other questions about the Janelia conference program, please send an email to Conference Management at conference@janelia.hhmi.org.
How can I ensure that an assistant or alternate contact is included in all conference e-mail correspondence?
You can specify an assistant/alternate e-mail address on the "Contact Info" tab in the registration system. All conference notifications are sent to both the primary e-mail address and the assistant/alternate e-mail address for your account.
When will I find out if I have been accepted to participate in the conference?
Approximately four months before the date your conference begins, you should be notified of your status. However, this may vary. We will inform you as soon as the organizers have made their decisions.
What if I need to make changes to my abstract or personal information after the registration website has closed?
Because the conference organizers require your abstract for creating the final agenda, we ask that you please complete all registration information in advance of the deadline. However, if you do need to make modifications, please send an e-mail to conference@janelia.hhmi.org.
Is there a registration fee to attend Janelia Farm conferences?
There is no registration fee for our conferences, and we cover the cost of food and housing.
How do I get to Janelia Farm Research Campus?
Directions to Janelia Farm can be found at http://www.janelia.org/campus-community/janelia-farm-campus. We recommend you use Washington Dulles International Airport when traveling, as it is a short cab ride from campus. Directions from Dulles Airport will be emailed one to two weeks prior to the start of the meeting. We suggest that you print all directions and have them on hand when using ground transportation to ensure that you do not get lost. If you need additional assistance getting to campus, please call our main line at 571-209-4000 to reach the reception desk.
JFRC does not offer transportation to campus, but does offer a shuttle service to Washington Dulles International at the close of each meeting. You may sign-up to use this service at check-in.
Please note JFRC is a secure campus and you will not be allowed access prior to your scheduled arrival date.
Does Janelia Farm pay for my travel expenses?
Conference organizers are allotted funds to provide travel scholarships to a fraction of participants. In accordance with our travel policy, travel expenses for these participants will be reimbursed up to a fixed amount based on the average cost of advanced-purchase, coach class air travel from the participant’s geographical region to Janelia Farm. Unless otherwise approved, you must attend the entire conference in order to receive your reimbursement. Click HERE to download our detailed travel policy.
Can I drive to the meeting and park my car on campus?
Yes, but please let us know ahead of time so that we can arrange this with campus security.
How do I reach Janelia Farm from Washington Dulles International Airport?
You will need to take a cab from the airport to Janelia Farm. It is about a 15-minute, $30 ride.
How do I get back to Washington Dulles International Airport after the conference?
We provide free shuttle service from Janelia farm back to Dulles Airport. Three shuttles will leave at staggered times to accommodate all travelers. The trip takes approximately 15 - 20 minutes. You can sign up for a shuttle at the reception desk any time during your conference. If the shuttle times are not amenable to your flight schedule, you can request a cab by filling out the appropriate form at the reception desk. The cab ride to Dulles Airport is about $30.
How far in advance do I need to arrive at the airport for my return flight?
It is recommended that you arrive at the airport three hours in advance for international flights and two hours in advance for domestic flights. However, this time-frame is largely dependent on the day/time of your travel and whether you are checking baggage. We do provide a kiosk for printing your boarding pass before leaving Janelia Farm.
When can I arrive and check-in for my Janelia Conference?
We typically expect check-ins to occur after 3 pm on the first day of the conference, which is normally a Sunday. However, if your travel plans call for you to arrive earlier, we will do what we can to accommodate you. Our reception area is staffed 24 hours a day; however, if you have any questions regarding the conference, you must wait until the designated registration period to speak with a conference coordinator.
If you arrive early and would like to purchase refreshments, you may use the credit allotted on your room key. This credit is available to you throughout your stay and is intended for use in Bob's, our campus Pub.
What happens during check-in?
At check-in you will receive your room key, which also has credit applied to it for your use at Bob’s Pub. You will also receive your conference abstract book and an updated agenda if any changes have been made. At this time, or any time during the conference, you can sign up for a shuttle or cab service back to Dulles Airport.
Where will I stay when I attend a Janelia Conference?
You will receive your room key to the guest house and conference materials at the registration desk upon your arrival. If you live locally and do not need accommodations, please notify conference management on the travel page of the registration process.
What will I eat while at Janelia Farm?
We will provide you with breakfast, lunch, and dinner. For snacks and other options, feel free to use the credit applied to your room key at Bob's Pub, which is open all day.
What if I have special needs regarding meals or accommodations?
Please notify us of any special needs you may have in the "special needs" section during the online registration. You may also e-mail Campus Services at reservations@janelia.hhmi.org.
When will I receive the meeting agenda?
Those who are invited or who apply and are chosen to participate will receive a provisional agenda following registration, when it is available. A more current agenda will be sent along with directions from Washington Dulles International Airport about one week prior to the meeting. The agenda will also be posted on our web site.
How big are the poster boards?
Our poster board size is approximately 45 inches tall by 45 inches wide (1.14 meters x 1.14 meters).
Do I need to bring my own laptop?
No. We have both PCs and MACs available for your use, but feel free to bring your own if you wish. You can bring your presentation on a disc or other portable hard drive. Keep in mind that our optimal screen resolution is 1024 x 768.
Do I have to attend the whole meeting?
Yes. By agreeing to participate in a Janelia conference, you agree to stay for the entirety of the meeting. Only in rare instances do we permit participants to arrive late or leave early.
What should I do if I am unable to attend the conference?
We are sorry you will not be joining us. Once you are logged into the Web system, under the "Conference Info" section you will find "Decline Registration." Please click the "Decline Registration" button. Once you have declined registration, we will note that you will not be attending and you will no longer receive any notifications regarding the conference.
Am I expected to present my work at the conference?
We do expect everyone to be an active participant, by presenting either a talk or a poster.
