Please join us for the International Conference Frontiers in Systems and Synthetic Biology ’13 (FSSB’13).  We will celebrate the rapid progress in the computational analysis and manipulation of biological systems and highlight as one of the cross-cutting themes the role, advancements and applications of Biochemical Systems Theory as one of the contributors to this progress.

FSSB’13 will be held in a single-track fashion and allow plenty of discussion among all participants. The program will consist of invited and contributed presentations, poster sessions, an interactive session on education, and a panel discussion. These activities will be organized in four topical areas:

Topic 1: Novel Methods of Systems Biology
     Model design and identification
     Simulation systems
     Design and operating principles

Topic 2: Novel Methods of Synthetic Biology
    Computational and experimental methods
     Gene circuits
     Molecular dynamics

Topic 3: Applications of Systems and Synthetic Biology
     Microbial systems
     Metapopulations from the microbiome to terrestrial and oceanic biosystems
     Metabolic engineering
     Applications in higher organisms

Topic 4: Education and Science Communication
     Undergraduate education
     Graduate education
     What do postdocs in systems and synthetic biology need to know?

Two special events will be the following:

    The educational session will be organized in an interacting fashion that will highlight how knowledge in systems and synthetic biology can be acquired by young scientists and newcomers with diverse backgrounds and how it can be communicated effectively.

    Toward the end of the conference, we will hold a panel discussion addressing the following questions:
        Do large-scale simulations help us understand how a biological system functions?
        Do we need to understand design principles to succeed in systems and synthetic biology?
        What needs to be done to move systems biology forward and how can it inform synthetic biology and metabolic engineering

To initiate this discussion, three leading experts will give brief presentations. Afterwards, the audience is requested to contribute to the discussion. It is hoped that the frank discussion of these types of probing questions will enable students and junior researchers to put the conference presentations into perspective and to align their own niches within this exciting new field of biology.

Organizing Committee
     Jeff Caimano
     Sepideh Dolatshahi
     Jessica Forness
     Melissa Kemp
     Linda Kippner
     Wendy Newstetter
     Manu Platt
     Jeffrey Skolnick
     Eberhard Voit (Chair)
     Joshua Weitz

For complete information, visit the conference website here.