The breadth and depth of archaeal biology has exponentially increased since the pioneering work of Carl Woese revealed that the Archaea represent a distinct and diverse division of life. No one discipline can alone capture the essence and enormity of archaeal biology; the strength of the community has emerged from the collaborative efforts of environmental, biophysical, cellular, and evolutionary biologists focused on establishing the interconnections underlying archaeal metabolism and molecular biology. The "Archaea: Ecology, Metabolism and Molecular Biology" GRC conference is the foremost multi-disciplinary meeting for all members of the archaeal community to discuss the latest developments in the field. The meeting highlights the newest discoveries in a broad range of topics: new paradigms in the ecology and diversity of archaea; evolution and the latest theories on the "trees of life"; archaeal metabolism, genome function and systems biology; archaeal viruses and cellular defense (including the CRISPR/Cas systems), DNA informational processing (including replication, transcription, repair, and chromatin organization) and translation and post-translational modifications.

This meeting provides an ideal platform for leaders in diverse disciplines to exchange new ideas, collaborate, and tackle important biological questions using complementary approaches. The conference has a long history and a strong reputation for high-quality and cutting edge research, while also providing a friendly and supportive environment for younger scientists to interact with world experts in this field. Tom Santangelo and Nick Robinson look forward to receiving your application and warmly invite you to the 2017 meeting.