"Bioinformatics and Population Genomics"

June 17-22, 2012, ADELBODEN

Organizer

SIB PhD Training Network and Doctoral Program Population Genomics

Motivation and Format

Population Genomics and Bioinformatics share many common interests at the interface of modern integrative biology, which may generate enormous quantities of complex data, often through multiple sources. Efficient and accurate analysis of such data can only be accomplished through appropriate computational methods.
Working together, bioinformaticians and population genomics scientists develop advanced approaches to study biological variation. This collaboration is imperative to establish new hypotheses and models to strike a new path towards the understanding of biology at the population level.

In order to give PhD students access to the state-of-the-art bioinformatics techniques and the biological questions that population genomics has prompted, the interdisciplinary Doctoral Program in Population Genomics and the SIB are organizing a joint Summer School simply entitled “Bioinformatics and Population Genomics".
The objective of this course is to teach PhD students how to integrate, manage, and analyse experimental genomics data using advanced bioinformatics tools.

Theoretical approaches and their practical application covered during the week by renowned speakers will be of interest to both population genomics and bioinformatics PhD students from Switzerland or abroad.

The summer school will take place in Adelboden, a charming, small village in the Bernese Oberland (Swiss Alps). The beautiful and remote setting, along with the challenging program, were chosen to promote and enhance the communication and interaction amongst teachers and students. Lectures and hands-on sessions will provide the necessary environment to generate lively and informative discussions and initiate new synergies among the young investigators.

Program

Jun 17 – Arrival and welcome dinner

Jun 18 – Ant genomics: challenges and rewards

DeWayne Shoemaker (USDA-ARS Center for Medical, Agricultural, and Veterinary Entomology) - confirmed

Yannick Wurm (Queen Mary University London, UK) - A Y-like social chromosome causes alternative colony organization in fire ants

The practical/hands-on with computers will use the Ant data all week, under the supervision of Yannick Wurm.

Jun 19 – Human population genomics

Gil McVean (University of Oxford, UK) - Studying recombination and DNA repair from patterns of human genetic variation

Laurent Excoffier (University of Bern and SIB, Switzerland) - Demographic inference from the site frequency spectrum with ascertainment bias

Jeffrey D. Jensen (EPFL, Switzerland) - On characterizing the mode and tempo of adaptation: statistical advancements and recent insights from the field, lab & clinic

Jun 20 – Dedicated to socialising and networking: hike in the mountains or any other suitable alternatives if bad weather.

Jun 21 – Gene expression variation

Luis Barreiro (University of Montreal, Canada) - Deciphering the genetic architecture of immune responses to infection

Paul Hohenlohe (University of Idaho, USA) - RAD sequencing for evolutionary and conservation biology

Jun 22 – Plants, rodents and other sweet little organisms

Andrew Clark (Cornell University, USA) - Systems genomics of obesity in Drosophila

General information

Date: June 17-22, 2012
Time: all day event
Location: Adelboden, Switzerland
Number of participants: max. 30

Registration

CLOSED

This is a joint activity of the SIB PhD Training Network and the ProDoc Population Genomics. Therefore, priority is given to PhD students enroled in one of these doctoral programs until March 20, 2012. After this deadline, applicants will be selected based on the evaluation of the information given at the registration. The course is limited to 30 participants.

Contact

Dr. Ute Friedrich
Coordinator Population Genomics Program
Le Biophore, UNIL-Sorge
University of Lausanne
1015 Lausanne
Phone: +41 (0)21 692 4207

Dr. Patricia Palagi
SIB PhD Training Network Coordinator
CMU - 1, rue Michel Servet
1211 Geneva 4
Phone +41 (0)22 379 58 31