Abstract

The GRS is a meeting organized by early-career scientists for early-career scientists, which brings together an interdisciplinary and international team of junior researchers from the areas of biology, microbiology, ecology, medicine, and chemistry. Postdoctoral researchers, graduate students, and others with comparable levels of expertise studying symbioses will have the opportunity to present and discuss their research through both poster and oral contributions. We welcome diverse contributions from across the field pertaining to animal-microbe symbioses. The meeting will feature a stimulating and welcoming environment, ideal for fostering collaborations, conceiving new research directions, and networking with peers and mentors before the start of the larger GRC meeting. This is the 2nd time the GRC will be accompanied by a GRS. We strive for a diverse group of participants and encourage applicants to take advantage of the possibility to apply for fellowships to cover expenses and facilities for childcare on site, as detailed in the links below. Symbiotic interactions are fundamental to life as we know it, and range across a spectrum from parasitism to mutualism. Animals rely on microbes for nutrient acquisition, immune system regulation and protection, while microbial parasites challenge fitness. The line between who is a mutualist and who is a parasite may depend on small variations in the environment, such as resources and the presence of additional symbionts. Technological advances, in e.g. sequencing and imaging, facilitates the study of symbioses at an increasingly finer scale. This allows for answering key questions in the animal-microbe symbioses field - the who-s who of interacting partners, which resources and services are being exchanged within an interaction network, and at what cost. Naturally these insights open up new research avenues.