Signal Transduction: Receptors, Mediators and Genes 2007 Meeting

The STS Meeting 2007: Signal Transduction - Receptors, Mediators and Genes will be held at the Hilton Hotel Weimar from November 1st to November 3rd, 2007.

The STS Meeting 2007 will take place once again in the Hilton Hotel in Weimar from November 1.-3. The beginning of the scientific program of the meeting is scheduled for Thursday morning at 9.00 a.m. Otherwise, we will stick to our approved concept of the previous years.

Online registration for this year's meeting has been closed due to the approaching meeting. However, you are atill welcome to attend to the meeting. The following on-site registration fees apply and must be paid in cash (no checks, no credit cards):

The conference site is suitable for 300 participants. Due to the development of the society and potentially resulting space limitations, we strongly encourage all STS members to register early. As usual, registration will be handled as first come first serve. Registration and abstract submission is possible online only. The deadline for abstract submission is September 15, 2007. There will be no extension of this deadline.

A cancellation of a meeting registration is possible until four weeks prior to the meeting and only a processing fee of EUR 50,-- will be charged to cover costs for program organization, handling of funds, cups and buttons. The remainder of the registration fee will be refunded. After that date a refund will not be possible.

With regard to lodging throughout the Meeting, we could arrange again a very moderate rate for accomodation at the Hilton Hotel Weimar. As compared to the regular rate at this hotel (190,-- EUR per night), single rooms will be available to the conferees of the STS meeting for 92,-- EUR and double space rooms (which can be shared by two conferees) for 108,-- EUR including the Hilton breakfast buffet! Hotel reservations at these reduced rates have to be made under the keyword 'STS'.

Special Focus 2007:
Imaging technologies – from intravital microscopy to molecular analyses

As in recent years, the keynote talks will be given by invited speakers nominated by STS members.

For the 2007 meeting, we present a number of outstanding scientists as keynote speakers for the individual Workshops and the Special Focus Symposium on "Imaging technologies - from intravital microscopy to molecular analyses".

Currently the following keynote speakers have accepted the invitation:

• Ulrich von Andrian, Boston, MA, USA
• Malcolm Alison, London, UK
• Pidder Jansen-Dürr, Innsbruck, Austria
• Christof von Kalle, Heidelberg, Germany
• Avi Kupfer, Baltimore, MD, USA
• Peter Parker, London, UK
• Lawrence Samelson, Bethesda, MD, USA

As in recent years, the indicated workshops will be co-organized by individual study groups of the DGZ, the GBM and the DGfI, respectively.

Please note that Workshops A-I are scheduled as plenary Workshops with overview talks by invited keynote speakers and oral presentations selected from the submitted abstracts. For reasons of time restriction, only a limited number of about five submitted contributions can be considered for oral presentation. All other accepted abstracts submitted to workshops A-I and all contributions for workshops J-Q have to be displayed as posters. Presenting authors will of course have the opportunity to attract the audience by a short talk in our famous plenary "one minute, one transparency" session just prior to the poster discussion.

Note that depending on the number of abstracts submitted for individual topics, changes in workshops may occur. Due to time restraints caused by the slightly modified structure of the 2007 Meeting, we unfortunately can not accept as many contributions for oral presentation as in recent years. However, we followed the recommendation of STS members expressed at the General Assemblies of our Society and we are confident that the overview presentations will be more than compensatory.

Following the successful introduction during the STS-Meeting 2005, Acris Antibodies together with the STS announce again the Acris Antibodies Award. This scientific award (1000.— EUR) will be given to an outstanding presentation at the STS-Meeting. Applicants must be members of the Signal Transduction Society. The award jury consisting of the STS council, STS advisory board members and the workshop chairpeople will select appropriate candidates. Please send applications to the chairman:

Prof. Dr. Frank Entschladen
Institute of Immunology
Witten/Herdecke University
Stockumer Str. 10
58448 Witten, Germany

Selected candidates will have to present their work both as an oral and as a poster presentation to allow further discussion with members of the jury.

The Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology/Gesellschaft für Biochemie und Molekularbiologie e.V (GBM) announces this year for the first time at the occasion of the STS Joint Meeting Signal Transduction - Receptors, Mediators and Genes 2007 the GBM-Innovation-Award for Young Scientists.

This scientific award (EUR 250,-) will be given to a young scientist (diploma, master, MD or PhD student) who is developing a new innovative method, which might be attractive for all of us.

The award jury consisting of the speakers of the GBM Study Groups "Biochemical Pharmacology and Toxicology" and "Receptors and Signal Transduction" will select appropriate candidates. If you think your method is exciting and innovative, then do not hesitate to send your abstract together with a brief comment of your supervisor including a statement for the reason for your application until the 22nd of September to:

The STS council decided to once again to distribute STS stipends for a total amount of 2,500,-- EUR. The favourable financial situation of the STS enables the Society to support up to 10 young STS members (diploma or doctoral students) by a travel grant of 250,-- EUR each.

According to the stipend guidelines it should be noted that the acceptance of this STS stipend requires a STS membership which should sustain at least 3 more years. Applicants must currently be diploma- or doctoral-students, a letter of confirmation from the head of the department and a copy of immatriculation certificate is required. Applications must be accompanied a curriculum vitae, a description of the current project (no more than two pages) and an abstract to be presented at the meeting.

The application deadline for STS-stipends expires on September 15, 2007. The successful applicants will be notified and personally awarded during the STS Meeting in Weimar. Please send applications to the chairman:

PD Dr. rer. nat. Gaby-Fleur Böl
Bundesinstitut für Risikobewertung (BfR)
Abt. Risikokommunikation
Thielallee 88 - 92
14195 Berlin
gaby-fleur.boel@bfr.bund.de

Poster presentations will be again particularly attractive in 2007. First of all, there will be ample space for all posters to remain mounted throughout the conference in conjunction with the sponsors exhibition. Second, all posters may be introduced to the plenum in the famous "one minute - one transparency (no slide)" session and third, five poster prizes will be awarded (first prize: 250,-- EUR, second prize: 200,-- EUR, third prize: 150,-- EUR, fourth prize: 100,-- EUR and fifth prize: 50,-- EUR. Since it is the policy of the STS to particularly encourage and support young scientists, the council decided that chairpeople and heads of departments or institutes are not eligible for a poster award.

Upon sufficient demand, the STS council will produce a Meeting CD that will include the program and all abstracts, the list of meeting participants, the General Assembly agenda, as well as pictures and video-clips taken at the meeting. The CD will also contain Powerpoint presentations of talks and pdf's of posters (of course only of those for which explicit permission was provided along with submission). The CD can be ordered in advance with your registration and will be distributed shortly after the meeting.

The industrial exhibition of sponsoring companies will take place in an approximately 400 square meter area together with the poster exhibition in order to concentrate and to facilitate interactions between the conference participants and the industry.

Sponsoring companies of this years STS anniversary meeting as well as companies who would like to support alternative activities such as organization of a dinner tutorial, sponsoring of scientific awards, banner commercials, etc. are kindly requested to contact Ralf Hass for further information.

AAll presentations will be given as plenary overview lectures/short presentations in the main conference hall. Most sessions will be opened by an introductory overview of 25 minutes plus 5 minutes of discussion. Thus, in 2007, the STS will again attract and invite Overview-Speakers who significantly contributed to the development of specific areas of signal transduction research. Further speakers will be selected by the chairpeople of a session and the program committee.

Due to time constraints, only a limited number of abstracts will be selected for oral presentations of 10 minutes plus 5 minutes of discussion. The oral presentations should thematically be related to the Workshop Topics. They will be selected according to the author's indicated preferences by the Workshop chairpeople on the basis of scientific quality and consistency with the program.

The Sponsoring Companies of the STS meeting as usual will have the opportunity in the 2007 STS meeting for a plenary lecture. Thus, the Workshop sessions will include presentations of 10 minutes by sponsoring companies on innovative products for signal transduction research. These presentations will conclude each session to allow further discussions with the company's representatives during the following breaks.

A workshop entitled 'Bench to Business' is also planned for presenting companies. We shall provide this platform for planned projects, new startup companies, and for developing and established companies to discuss their aims and possible future strategies about combining academia and business. We hope that once again we will attract representatives from many companies that find their basis or their costumers in signal transduction research. For further information on special rates for contribitors to this event, please contact Ralf Hass (applicable to company representatives only).

All accepted poster contributions will be mounted throughout the whole meeting in an area directly connected to the conference hall together with the sponsors' exhibition. This comfortable area will also be the major get-together site during the coffee and beer breaks. Poster viewing and discussion is scheduled for Thursday and Friday. In addition, posters may be presented to the plenum in a separate Poster Workshop as a 'one-minute presentation' (one minute - one (A4) transparency - no slide).

Poster Size: The format for posters is DIN A0 in portrait orientation (width: 841 mm, height: 1189 mm)

For detailed information in German about traveling by plane or by car and the location of the Conference Venue please refer to the Hilton Hotel Weimar. For special inquiries about local peculiarities, contact Karlheinz Friedrich.