As mentioned in the last SPS Newsletter, ICAR 2015 (26th International Conference on Arabidopsis Research) will take place in Paris, at the Palais des Congrès, from July 5^th to July 9^th 2015.

ICAR is the largest annual international conference focusing on cutting-edge plant research (about 800-1000 participants each year). Its main purpose is to gather the entire scientific community interested in the model plant Arabidopsis thaliana but also, more widely, in plant biology and its applications for crop breeding. Following the progresses conducted on Arabidopsis represents the essential scientific monitoring of all academic and industrial stakeholders working in translational or applied research.

In 2015, this global scale conference, organized by the laboratories involved in the SPS LabEx and by the French Society of Plant Biology (SFBV), for the first time in France, in Paris, will contribute extensively to increase the visibility and recognition of the work conducted by the research teams in the Paris region, valuing all the efforts made to support plant biology research activities in this area. It will also allow the younger actors of the local and national plant sector to access the latest and most innovative results.

More than 900 participants have already registered for this conference. It promises to be a success by bringing together the leaders in plant biology and genetics, as well as numerous private partners (exhibitors, participants), during 4 plenary sessions, 15 thematic sessions and 10 workshops. The meeting will cover a wide field of topics, ranging from fundamental research on the model plant Arabidopsis thaliana (growth and development, reproduction, nutrition and metabolism, natural variation and evolution) in interaction with its environment (abiotic stress, biotic stress, metabolism and biomass), to areas of application on plants of agronomic interest (translational biology and biotechnology, systems and new approaches).

Satellite events

Moreover, several satellite events will take place before or after ICAR 2015.

SPS Summer School

June 28^th – July 3^rd

This Summer School, named « The Seed Biology Paris Summer School - Next generation seeds: green factories and time capsules », represents a real opportunity for international PhD students or young post-docs to meet world-renowned researchers in the field of seeds and interact with them in a studious but relaxed atmosphere.

European Plant Science Retreat

July 10^th-13^th

This year, the retreat is organized by French PhD students, most of them working in laboratories involved in the SPS LabEx.

http://www.epsr2015.u-psud.fr/

Workshop “Post-transcriptional Gene Regulation in Plants”

July 10^th-11^th

The PGRP workshop, supported by the SPS Labex and with several members of the SPS LabEx in its organization committee, will gather around 150 participants and will address several aspects of post-transcriptional gene regulation, in an atmosphere facilitating exchanges and the development of new collaborations around the disciplines of this major field of gene regulation (informatics, biochemistry, genomics).

http://www.ips2.u-psud.fr/pgrp2015