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Gordon Research Conferences are a group of prestigious international scientific conferences organized by a non-profit organization of the same name. The conference topics cover frontier research in the biological, chemical, and physical sciences, and their related technologies. The conferences have been held since 1931, and have expanded to almost 200 conferences per year. Conference locations are chosen partly for their scenic and often isolated nature, to encourage an informal community atmosphere. Contributions are "off-record" to encourage free discussion, often of unpublished research. Conferences were extended to cover science education in 1991. The conference topics are regularly publicised in the journal Science: 2015, 2010, 2009, 2008, 2007, and 2006.
History
The forerunner of the Gordon Conferences was the summer sessions held at the chemistry department of Johns Hopkins University in the late 1920s. By 1931 this had evolved into a graduate seminar that was also attended by external participants. The Gordon Research Conferences were initiated by Prof. Neil Gordon while at the Johns Hopkins University.