The Asia Pacific C. elegans community is one of the fastest-growing worm research communities and is highly student-centric. The meeting will cover multiple aspects of C. elegans biology with a strong focus on neurobiology, development, aging, physiology, and cell biology. This meeting will function as a smaller version of the bi-annual International Worm Meeting that is typically held in the US and has once been held in the UK.
The countries that are part of the program committee currently include China, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Singapore, South Korea, Japan, Australia, and India. One or two researchers from each of these 8 countries have been invited to speak at the meeting. Apart from invited speakers from this list, 11 international faculties (PIs from the USA, UK, France, and Saudi Arabia) have also been invited to speak at this meeting with a total of 11 women and 10 men represented across all career stages. Talks from participating students/postdocs/early career faculties will also be selected for oral presentations. All C. elegans researchers who do not get selected for a talk will get an option to present posters. The meeting aims to be a fertile ground for nucleating collaborations within the Asia Pacific region.
Overall, participation in this meeting will boost the confidence of students from Indian and Asia Pacific laboratories by allowing them to showcase their research on an international platform. The meeting will also provide the required exposure to young scientists who are looking for postdoc positions or independent positions across Indian research institutions.
