EBI Affiliated Course - ELLS LearningLAB - Better Biology with Bioinformatics

Course Poster

Course Overview

Scientists today often handle massive volumes of data, for example the output from genome-sequencing experiments. Computational biology, or bioinformatics, makes the job of analysing these large data sets much easier.

The European Bioinformatics Institute (EMBL-EBI) is part of the European Molecular Biology Laboratory, and provides bioinformatics services and training to researchers throughout the world. We are Europe’s main centre of excellence for the processing, storage and analysis of life science data, and host the world’s most comprehensive range of molecular databases.

The purpose of this ELLS LearningLAB is to introduce you to the field of bioinformatics, and to provide an overview of molecular biology data resources. We hope that this will give you and your students an opportunity to use real scientific data and tools to gain a deeper understanding of biological concepts. Our ultimate goal is to help you inspire your students to explore molecular and computational biology.

This 2½-day course will feature talks by computational biologists as well as ‘wet-lab’ scientists working with malaria. Throughout the course, our bioinformatics experts will use malaria as an example in a range of hands-on activities. We hope to:

• introduce you to the different types of biological information that are stored in public databases;
• explore the concept of genetic variation and how it can be used to trace evolutionary relationships between organisms;
• look at human variation and its link with disease;
• try out a range of classroom activities (designed with ages 16-19 in mind) that you can take with you.

Programme

Seminars:

• Dean Madden, National Centre for Biotechnology Education (NCBE), University of Reading, UK
• Julian Raynor, Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute, Hinxton, UK
• Stephanie Blandin, EMBL Heidelberg, Germany
• Stephen Scott and Francesca Gale, Public Engagement Programme, Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute

Activities (EMBL-EBI instructors):

• Genomes and SNPs: Giulietta Spudich and Carvalho-Silva
• Proteins: Phil Jones and Duncan Legge
• Interactions: Jyoti Khadake
• Pathways: Steve Jupe
• Programming: Rafael Jiminez

Scientific organisers

• Mary Todd Bergman, EMBL-EBI, UK
• Julia Willingale-Theune, ELLS programme, EMBL Heidelberg, Germany
• Philipp Gebhardt, ELLS programme, EMBL Heidelberg, Germany

Conference organiser

• Alison Barker, EMBL-EBI, UK

Registration

Confirm your attendance
To accept your place on the course, please register using the details provided by Friday 14th October.

Registration fee: £100 GBP
If you have been accepted for a bursary, you will be reimbursed for the registration fee upon completion of the course. The fee includes single-room accommodation for two nights at the Holiday Inn Express, meals and course materials. You are expected to meet your own travel expenses and any additional accommodation you may require.

Where we are
EMBL-EBI is located on the Wellcome Trust Genome Campus, Hinxton, Cambridgeshire CB10 1SD, United Kingdom. We are 12 km from Cambridge. For instructions on how to get here, please visit www.ebi.ac.uk/Information/Travel/travel.html

Hotel
Holiday Inn Express

Transportation
You will be responsible for arranging your own transportation to and from the airport/train station. For the course, a shuttle bus will take you between the hotel and EMBL-EBI each day.

Meals
Breakfast and dinner are included in the price of the hotel. Some of the instructors will join the group for dinner at the hotel on both nights. Lunch and coffee/tea breaks during the day are included in the price of the course. Please let us know as soon as possible whether you have any food allergies or sensitivities.

Follow-up
The teaching tools we develop in the course will be stored online for easy retrieval. Some of these may also be featured in the magazine Science in Schools, which is published by the European Molecular Biology Laboratory. You can see some of the past ELLS course activities here: http://www.embl.de/training/scienceforschools/teacher_training/teachingbase/index.html

We will also hold a Webinar (a web meeting) in the spring following the course so that you can share with one another how you were able to use some of the tools or information in the classroom. If your colleagues at home are interested in learning more, they will also be welcome to participate.

Contact us
Please do not hesitate to contact us – Mary and Alison – if you have any questions, or if you need help making arrangements.

For course content: Mary Todd Bergman (mary@ebi.ac.uk - +44 1223 494 665)
For logistics (travel, hotel): Alison Barker (alison@ebi.ac.uk - +44 1223 494 604)

EMBL-European Bioinformatics Institute
Wellcome Trust Genome Campus
Hinxton, Cambridgeshire CB10 1SD
United Kingdom
Tel. +44 (0)1223 494 665
Twitter: EMBLEBI
Facebook: /EMBLEBI