PROJECT SUMMARY This grant application seeks funding for the 2024 Santa Cruz Developmental Biology Meeting, which will be held on the campus of University of California at Santa Cruz from August 23-27, 2024. This meeting is a biennial, grass-roots meeting organized by and for the scientific community working at the cutting edge of developmental biology. The Santa Cruz meeting, which has run continuously since 1992, oc- cupies a unique niche by combining international reputation with a relatively small size (~150 attendees) and a wholly new line-up of invited speakers at each gathering. As detailed in our application, we have planned for considerable participation by graduate students and postdocs by including short talks, posters, two work- shops aimed at career issues, and a career-perspective talk from a prominent scientist whose storied career pathway epitomizes the multi-disciplinary nature of developmental biology. The meeting format is based around single-platform sessions and three non-overlapping poster sessions so that all participants are engaged with the same topic and activity for the entirety of the meeting. The theme for 2024, “Unifying Principles of Organismal Development”, seeks to highlight common themes as well as top challenges facing the field, both conceptual and technical, as we seek fresh insights into the complex mechanisms underlying organismal development, tissue renewal, and the evolution of new forms. One chief goal of this meeting will be to bring together diverse researchers in an informal setting to highlight work across a broad spectrum of relevant systems, fostering cross-interaction between research fields and synthesis of new ideas. A second major goal will be to provide a forum for a diverse group of undergraduates, graduate students, and postdoctoral fellows to engage with and present their work to leaders in the field through talks, poster sessions, and informal discussions fostered by an isolated and relaxed campus setting. Along with a distinguished panel of four senior keynote speakers, the seven platform sessions will feature scientists working with a wide range of model organisms to address fundamental and emerging questions that form the basis for modern developmental research. Topics include: Cell-cell Communication, Theory and Modeling in Development, Active Matter and Mechanics, Convergent and Divergent Morphogenesis, Cellular Transitions and Plasticity, Information Processing & Gene Regulatory Networks, and New Technologies and Synthetic Approaches. The discussion that will ensue among the conferees will enhance our inclusive, multidisciplinary developmental biology community, stimulate new ideas, and accelerate basic developmental research and progress toward clinically relevant applications.