2025 Neuroethology: Behavior, Evolution and Neurobiology Gordon Research Conference and Gordon Research Seminar - Project Summary This proposal requests funds to support the 11th Gordon Research Conference (GRC) in Neuroethology, to be held June 29-July 4, 2025, at Renaissance Tuscany Il Ciocco in Lucca, Italy. Our objectives are 1) to organize a meeting that presents exciting, unpublished research illustrating different perspectives on how to study neural control of behavior to catalyze new interdisciplinary collaborations, and 2) to grow the field by welcoming early career scientists as respected members of the community with opportunities to share their work, receive feedback, and build connections. We will accomplish these goals by crafting a program of talks around themes for informative comparisons and by taking full advantage of the GRC structure of poster sessions, shared meals, and social activities as venues to encourage deep discussions. Neuroethology takes a broad view of ways to understand how nervous systems control behavior, a basic science question with medical and societal implications well aligned to the NINDS mission. This conference brings together researchers at different career stages, with different backgrounds, working in different animals, with different techniques, for a small interactive conference that exposes attendees to research they might not have come across at other meetings or in their usual science literature reading. While we are all fascinated by neural control of animal behavior in their environment, we have a lot to learn from each other. The 2025 GRC Neuroethology scientific program will blend powerful historical intellectual traditions with modern experimental approaches to make progress toward our shared goals of understanding how nervous systems produce behaviors and growing a vibrant, diverse scientific community. Session topics include measuring behavior in the lab and in the field, specialized sensors, adaptations for life at environmental extremes, invertebrate cognition, and how behaviors evolve with examples from different levels of analysis. The GRC will be preceded by a two-day Gordon Research Seminar (GRS) organized by a graduate student and postdoctoral fellow along with invited mentors that are leaders in the field. The GRS offers graduate students and postdocs an opportunity to present their current research and to build a sense of community prior to attending the GRC. New ideas, collaborations, and research directions grow when there is time for trainees to interact deeply with established experts. The structure and culture of the GRS/GRC meetings promote these critical interdisciplinary interactions. Funds received from the NIH will enable participation by more scientists by defraying registration and travel costs incurred by students, postdocs, and invited speakers, with preference being given to early career scientists, women, and members of under-represented groups in STEM.
