Workshop Summary and Goals

A midway progress meeting addressing the solicitation “Surpassing Evolution:  Transformative Approaches to Enhance the Efficiency of Photosynthesis” (NSF 10-559) will be held for two and a half days in Arlington Virginia at the Gateway Westin, February 8-10 and will commence on Friday evening with a Welcome and Poster session and continue through late Sunday afternoon.

The solicitation “Surpassing Evolution: Transformative Approaches to Enhance the Efficiency of Photosynthesis” (NSF 10-559) resulted in the funding of five projects with eleven principal investigators from the US in the US-UK international collaborative teams.  In addition, BBSRC funded several related projects independently, while NSF funded one EAGER proposal (Protein engineering of the carboxysome shell MCB1160614) inspired by the Surpassing Evolution Ideas Lab.

The Ideas Lab process itself was experimental, and the resulting projects were highly creative and intentionally high risk/high return. Importantly, they bring together researchers who very likely would otherwise not have interacted. Each team has since developed its own methods, culture and scientific directions. Much is likely to be learned, both at the scientific and programmatic levels, by assessing the progress and directions of the projects.  February 2013 will mark the approximate chronological midway point of the grants; the groups are now established with, in many cases, significant progress, and in others, changes of plans and foci.

The goals of this workshop are to:

1)    Assess the progress of the ideas lab projects, both successes and redirections;

2)    Augment collaborations especially between research teams not currently working together, based on emerging discoveries and needs;

3)    Allow in-person interactions among the US and UK teams;

4)    Facilitate postdoctoral and graduate student networking to gain exposure and exchange ideas;

5)    Build a sense of community for all groups involved in the Surpassing Evolution project;

6)    Based on groundwork completed at a pre-meeting with selected members from the groups, develop a detailed proposal for continuing funding, inspired by the Surpassing Evolution projects, including a SAVI proposal. The groundwork for these proposals will be put in place in a pre-meeting between selected members ofSurpassing Evolution teams in September. This will focus continued electronic discussions within and among groups, enabling the meeting to be as productive as possible.