Achievement

A truly exceptional "added value" to ISU/NMSU IGERT trainees' educational experiences has been our enthusistic encouragement of students to participate in international research conferences. According to feedback from students, the IGERT support for trainees, including first year students, to attend and actively participate in international scientific conferences has been one of the most strongly positive factors in their research and career development. Again this year, several IGERT students from both ISU and NMSU attended the Annual New Mexico Bioinformatics Symposium (NMBIS 2011), in Santa Fe, NM, enjoying both the cutting-edge science and IGERT-sponsored social activities. Also, ~ 20 IGERT trainees and associates from ISU and NMSU plan to attend the 2011 ACM/BCB Conference in Chicago this year. Vasant Honavar, ISU IGERT Co-PI, and Taner Sen, ISU IGERT faculty, will serve as the ACM/BCB Workshop Program Co-Chairs this year.