Archaea, one of three evolutionary lineages of life, is a diverse group of microbes with deep roots overlapping those of eukaryotes. The focus of the "Archaea: Ecology Metabolism and Molecular Biology" GRC conference expands on a number of emerging topics highlighting new paradigms in archaeal metabolism, genome function and systems biology; information processing; evolution and the tree of life; the ecology and diversity of archaea; archaeal viruses and cellular defense. The strength of this conference lies in its ability to couple a field with a rich history in high quality research with new scientific findings in an atmosphere of stimulating exchange. This conference remains an excellent opportunity for younger scientists to interact with world experts in this field. This is the 30th anniversary of the Gordon conference on Archaea (originally called "Molecular Aspects of Methanogenesis"). The conference will acknowledge this anniversary by a special keynote address. The conference brings together leading scientists, students and post-docs to present recent unpublished developments in fundamental aspects of Archaea.