Abstract

The 2019 Gordon Research Conference on Speciation is the world-s largest conference on speciation research. It continues a tradition of international conferences on speciation research that was initiated by the European Research Networking Programme Frontiers of Speciation Research (FroSpects). The four conferences held thus far, in 2010, 2013, 2015, and 2017, have facilitated bridge-building between diverse approaches to speciation research and attracted hundreds of international participants from all facets of speciation research. The first two conferences were organized by FroSpects, and the latter two were sponsored and organized through Gordon Research Conferences (GRC). Two key factors set the 2019 Speciation GRC apart from other conferences in the field. First, as for all GRCs, the conference strongly emphasizes presentation of unpublished results and ample time for discussion and networking. To help participants place the recent progress into context, each session will start with an easily accessible introduction by the discussion leader. Second, building on the heritage from five years of FroSpects, the conference aims to integrate, synthesize, and build bridges between directions and approaches in modern speciation research. This aim permeates the selection of speakers in all sessions and is the explicit goal set for the opening and closing sessions. Finally, an explicit goal of the conference is to attract as broad and diverse group of researchers as possible; thus, we will offer a series of sessions given by emerging and established leaders in the field that are focused on integrating recent results obtained using a diversity of systems and approaches. Providing further opportunities for young researchers, the conference will be directly preceded by a two-day Gordon Research Seminar (GRS), co-chaired by Martin Garlovsky and Sheela Turbek, that allows early-career scientists the chance to get involved at the forefronts of modern speciation research. Participants of the GRS will engage in scientific discussions on salient topics of interest, thereby gaining knowledge and confidence for their participation in the associated GRC. In addition to the direct benefit for young researchers, the GRS also helps ensure that the conference will be attended by speciation researchers from all career stages, from PhD students to leading international experts on speciation research.