Project Summary/Abstract The 2020 Gordon Research Conference (GRC) on Neural Development will bring together senior and junior scientists from all over the world who work on the mechanisms of neural developmental using modern molecular, cellular and organismal approaches. They study neurogenesis and fate specification, neural diversity and the lineages of neural stem cells, genetic and epigenetic regulation, brain evolution, as well as the assembly of neural circuits and the essential contribution of glia to neural development. Their state-of-the art approaches include: iPS and ES cells, in vitro reprogramming and in vivo trans-differentiation; molecular genetic techniques and genomic approaches such as genomic profiling or epigenetic analyses, single cell mRNA sequencing as well as CRISPR-based DNA scarring for high throughput lineage analyses; and live- imaging of brain development and high-resolution light and EM microscopy. These topics will all be covered at the 2020 meeting.Thus, the meeting is also designed to highlight recent technical advances that have rapidly propelled the field forward, including a diversity of experimental approaches and model systems, from C. elegans to mammals. Highly conserved mechanisms exist to generate neural diversity and to guide neurons to form circuits. Defects in these basic developmental processes can cause neurodevelopmental and neurodegenerative diseases including autism, Parkinson disease, retinal degeneration or schizophrenia. In the recent years, technological Researchers can take advantage of a variety of organisms from classical model organisms such as worms, flies, fish and mice to more diverse species including reptiles and non-human primates. This allows them to address unique questions as well as the evolution of developmental processes. They are also using organoids and human tissues to study neurodevelopment as a model system to study developmental brain diseases and find cures for neurological diseases such autism, schizophrenia, medulloblastoma and Parkinson. advances have allowed the field to leap forward at an unprecedented speed. The meeting will aim to promote extensive exchanges between scientists at different stages of their career and with very different backgrounds, with the goal of promoting diversity. The GRC will also bring together an international group of scientists that have made breakthroughs in our understanding of nervous system Every opportunity will be taken to encourage interactions amongst all scientists as well as with invited journal editors and officers of funding agencies that support research in this field. A GRS reserved for PhD students and postdocs will precede the meeting, organized and run by trainees, and will include sessions on related topics. It will emphasize the need for extensive interactions among rising scientists to build successful programs. development.