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Life at the Periphery: Mechanobiology of the Cell Surface – Course and Conference Office

EMBO | EMBL Symposium

Life at the Periphery: Mechanobiology of the Cell Surface

Overview

EMBO and EMBL are committed to sharing research advances and sustaining scientific interaction throughout the coronavirus pandemic. We are delighted to announce that the symposium is going virtual and invite you to join us online. The virtual symposium includes talks from invited speakers, short talk presenters, digital poster sessions and networking opportunities.

To accommodate a worldwide audience, all talks will be pre-recorded and made available to registered participants 10 days before the start of the conference. Live discussion sessions will be held during the event and each session will be held twice allowing participants to attend the session which best fits their timezone.

Symposium Overview

The cell surface – comprising the plasma membrane, the underlying cortical cytoskeleton and in many cell types a cell wall – is a central integrator of cell form and function. Its physico-chemical properties are rapidly modulated to accommodate or drive changes in shape or behaviour and to exchange matter and information with the environment. This symposium will bring together researchers from different communities interested in processes occurring at the cell surface across kingdoms. It will focus on new technologies that empower studies of cell wall, actin and membrane biology, such as advanced imaging in in vitro and in vivo systems, as well as approaches combining molecular biology with computational and biophysical approaches.

Speakers

Scientific Organisers

Conference Officers

Maria Mercedes Bacadare Goitia

EMBL Heidelberg

Germany

Nathalie Sneider

EMBL Heidelberg

Germany

Programme

Preliminary Programme

Registered participants will receive final details (including information about accessing pre-recorded talks and links to the online platform) 1-2 weeks before the start of the conference.

Got something to say? Tweet it with #EESCellSurface

  • To accommodate a worldwide audience, all talks will be pre-recorded and made available to registered participants 10 days before the start of the conference.
  • Live discussion sessions will be held during the event and each session will be held twice allowing participants to attend the session which best fits their timezone.

The following times are used in the programme below:

  • Central European Time (CET): eg. Berlin, Amsterdam Paris
  • Eastern Standard Time (EST): eg. New York, Quebec
Pre-conference

All talks will be pre-recorded and made available 10 days before the start of the conference. Registered participants are encouraged to view these before Day 1 of the conference. There will be the opportunity to ask questions during the live discussion sessions.

Day 1 – Tuesday 2 March 2021
Time Speaker
10:00 – 10:10 (CET)
04:00 – 04:10 (EST)
 Opening remarks
10:10 – 14:30 (CET)
04:00 – 08:30 (EST)		 Morning Discussion Sessions
10:10 – 10:55 (CET)
04:10 – 04:55 (EST)		 Discussion Session 1 (morning) – Shape adaptation: mechanisms at the cell surface
Moderator: Ewa Paluch – University of Cambridge, UK 

1A: Bénédicte Sanson – University of Cambridge, UK
1A: Cécile Sykes – CNRS, Institut Curie, France

1B: Anne-Cécile Reymann – Institute of Genetics and Molecular and Cellular Biology, France
1B: Nicolas Minc – Institut Jacques Monod, France

Plus 2 pre-recorded short talk speakers:
Bas Jacobs – Wageningen University & Research, The Netherlands
Lara Selvaggi – University of Zurich, Switzerland
10:55 – 11:00 (CET)
04:55 – 05:00 (EST)		 Break
11:00 – 11:45 (CET)
05:00 – 05:45 (EST)		 Discussion Session 2 (morning) – High-resolution mechanics of membrane-shaping proteins
Chair: Alba Diz-Munoz – EMBL Heidelberg, Germany

2A: Andela Šarić – University College London, UK
2A: Pól Martin Bendix – University of Copenhagen, Denmark

2B: Wanda Kukulski – University of Bern, Switzerland
2B: Aurélien Roux – University of Geneva, Switzerland

Plus 2 selected short talk speakers:
Anabel-Lise Le Roux – Institute for Bioengineering of Catalonia, Spain
Wenting Zhao – Nanyang Technological Unviersity, Singapore
11:45 – 12:00 (CET)
05:45 – 06:00 (EST)		 Break
12:00 – 13:00 (CET)
06:00 – 07:00 (EST)		 Virtual Poster Session 1
13:00 – 13:30 (CET)
07:00 – 07:30 (EST)		 Career Development Session (morning)
Moderator: Alba Diz-Munoz – EMBL Heidelberg, Germany

Panelists:
Alba Diz-Munoz – EMBL Heidelberg, Germany
Henrik Jönsson – University of Cambridge, UK
Ewa Paluch – University of Cambridge, UK
Andela Šarić – University College London, UK
13:30 – 14:00 (CET)
07:30 – 08:00 (EST)		 Optional: Virtual Coffee Break
14:00 – 14:30 (CET)
08:00 – 08:30 (EST)		 Discussion Session 3 (morning) – From nanometer-scale organization to micron-scale function: Cell-cell signaling and spindle assembly
Chair: Alba Diz-Munoz – EMBL Heidelberg, Germany

Howard Stone – Princeton University, USA
Daniel A. Fletcher – University of California, Berkeley, USA

Plus 1 selected short talk speaker:
Veneta Gerganova – University of Lausanne, Switzerland
14:30 – 15:00 (CET)
08:30 – 09:00 (EST)		 Break
15:00 – 17:30 (CET)
09:00 – 11:30 (EST)		 Afternoon Discussion Sessions
15:00 – 15:45 (CET)
09:00 – 09:45 (EST)		 Discussion Session 1 (afternoon) – Shape adaptation: mechanisms at the cell surface
Chair: KC Huang – Stanford University, USA

1A: Bénédicte Sanson – University of Cambridge, UK
1A: Cécile Sykes – CNRS, Institut Curie, France

1B: Anne-Cécile Reymann – Institute of Genetics and Molecular and Cellular Biology, France
1B: Nicolas Minc – Institut Jacques Monod, France

Plus 2 selected short talk speakers:
Sergio Lembo – EMBL Heidelberg, Germany
Sven van Teeffelen – University of Montreal, Canada
15:45 – 16:00 (CET)
09:45 – 10:00 (EST)		 Break
16:00 – 16:45 (CET)
10:00 – 10:45 (EST)		 Discussion Session 2 (afternoon) – High-resolution mechanics of membrane-shaping proteins
Chair: Zemer Gitai – Princeton University, USA

2A: Andela Šarić – University College London, UK
2A: Pól Martin Bendix – University of Copenhagen, Denmark

2B: Wanda Kukulski – University of Bern, Switzerland
2B: Aurélien Roux – University of Geneva, Switzerland

Plus 2 selected short talk speakers:
Ankita Jha – National Institutes of Health, USA
James Saenz – B CUBE Center for Molecular Bioengineering / TU Dresden, Germany
16:45 – 17:00 (CET)
10:45 – 11:00 (EST)		 Break
17:00 – 17:30 (CET)
11:00 – 11:30 (EST)		 Discussion Session 3 (afternoon) – From nanometer-scale organization to micron-scale function: Cell-cell signaling and spindle assembly
Chair: Zemer Gitai – Princeton University, USA

Howard Stone – Princeton University, USA
Daniel A. Fletcher – University of California, Berkeley, USA

Plus 1 selected short talk speaker:
Xavier Pierrat – École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne, Switzerland
17:30 – 17:45 (CET)
11:30 – 11:45 (EDT)		 Break
17:45 – 18:15 (CET)
11:45 – 12:15 (EST)		 Career Development Session (afternoon)
Moderator: Zemer Gitai – Princeton University, USA

Panelists:
Zemer Gitai – Princeton University, USA
KC Huang – Stanford University, USA
Henrik Jönsson – University of Cambridge, UK
Anna Marie Sokac – University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, USA
18:15 – 19:15 (CET)
12:15 – 13:15 (EST)		 Virtual Poster Session 2
19:15 – 19:45 (CET)
13:15 – 13:45 (EST)		 Optional: Virtual Speed Networking
19:45 (CET)
13:45 (EST)		 End of Day 1 – continued access to digital posters, pre-recorded talks and virtual networking and discussions
Day 2 – Wednesday 3 March 2020
Time Speaker
Continued access to digital posters, pre-recorded talks and virtual networking and discussions
10:00 – 10:45 (CET)
04:00 – 04:45 (EST)		 Discussion Session 4 (morning) –  Elucidating multicellular morphology and signaling using live imaging and mechanical modeling
Chair: Ewa Paluch – University of Cambridge, UK4A: Henrik Jönsson – University of Cambridge, UK
4A: Anne-Marie Krachler – The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston, USA

4B: Lisa Manning – The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston, USA
4B: Marcus J. Taylor – Max Planck Institute for Infection Biology, Germany

Plus 2 selected short talk speakers:
Timothy Saunders – National University of Singapore, Singapore
Guilherme Ventura – University of Copenhagen, Denmark
10:45 – 11:00 (CET)
04:45 – 05:00 (EST)		 Break
11:00 – 11:45 (CET)
05:00 – 05:45 (EST)		 Discussion Session 5 (morning) – Finding the underlying principles of cell surface mechanics through inter-kingdom comparisons
Chair: Alba Diz-Munoz – EMBL Heidelberg, Germany5A: Anna Marie Sokac – University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, USA
5A: Olivier Hamant – École Normale Supérieure de Lyon, France

5B: Raymond E. Goldstein – University of Cambridge, UK
5B: Zev Gartner – University of California, San Francisco, USA

Plus 2 selected short talk speakers:
Nicolas Jolivert – INRS – Institut Armand-Frappier, Canada
Chloé Roffay – University of Geneva, Switzerland
11:45 – 12:00 (CET)
05:45 – 06:00 (EST)		 Break
12:00 – 12:30 (CET)
06:00 – 06:30 (EST)		 Meet the Editor
Moderator: Alba Diz-Munoz – EMBL Heidelberg, Germany

Ines Alvarez-Garcia – PLoS Bio
Abi Klopper – Nature Physics
Dominique Morneau – Nature Reviews
Martina Rembold – EMBO
12:30 – 13:00 (CET)
06:30 – 07:00 (EST)		 Optional: Virtual Coffee Break
13:00 – 14:00 (CET)
07:00 – 08:00 (EST)		 Break
14:00 – 15:00 (CET)
08:00 – 09:00 (EST)		 Virtual Poster Session 3
15:00 – 15:45 (CET)
09:00 – 09:45 (EST)		 Discussion Session 4 (afternoon) – Elucidating multicellular morphology and signaling using live imaging and mechanical modeling
Chair: KC Huang – Stanford University, USA4A: Henrik Jönsson – University of Cambridge, UK
4A: Anne-Marie Krachler – The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston, USA

4B: Lisa Manning – The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston, USA
4B: Marcus J. Taylor – Max Planck Institute for Infection Biology, Germany

Plus 2 selected short talk speakers:
Effie Bastounis – University of Washington, USA
Gerardo Ceada – Institute for Bioengineering of Catalonia, Spain
15:45 – 16:00 (CET)
09:45 – 10:00 (EST)		 Break
16:00 – 16:45 (CET)
10:00 – 10:45 (EST)		 Discussion Session 5 (afternoon) – Finding the underlying principles of cell surface mechanics through inter-kingdom comparisons
Chair: Zemer Gitai – Princeton University, USA5A: Anna Marie Sokac – University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, USA
5A: Olivier Hamant – École Normale Supérieure de Lyon, France

5B: Raymond E. Goldstein – University of Cambridge, UK
5B: Zev Gartner – University of California, San Francisco, USA

Plus 2 selected short talk speakers:
Benjamin Bratton – Princeton University, USA
Shiladtitya Banerjee – Carnegie Mellon University, USA
16:45 – 17:00 (CET)
10:45 – 11:00 (EST)		 Break
17:00 – 17:30 (CET)
11:00 – 11:30 (EST)		 Meet the Editor
Moderator: Alba Diz-Munoz – EMBL Heidelberg, Germany

Ines Alvarez-Garcia – PLoS Bio
Stella Hurtley
Abi Klopper – Nature Physics
17:30 – 18:30 (CET)

11.30 – 12.30 (EST)

 Virtual Bar Mixer with live jazz – all speakers and participants are invited to join!
(The link will be shared in the conference platform)Enjoy a drink and chat with other conference participants in randomly assigned Zoom breakout rooms. Live jazz will start and finish the session.
18:30 – 18:40 (CET)

12.30- 12.40 (EST)

 Closing
18:40 (CET)

12.40 (EST)

 End of conference – access to digital posters, pre-recorded talks and virtual networking and discussions will continue to be available for 14 days.

 

Practical information

Registration Fees and Abstract Submission

To accommodate a worldwide audience, all talks will be pre-recorded and made available to registered participants 10 days before the start of the conference. Live discussion sessions will be held during the event and each session will be held twice allowing participants to attend the session which best fits their timezone.

Registration Fees (include access to all of the talks, online group discussions, and help us cover our costs to run the event):

Academia190 Euro
PhD Student140 Euro
Industry240 Euro
EMBL StaffIntranet access

Accredited journalists may be eligible to register for a reduced press rate or in some cases for complimentary registration. Registrants may be required to provide accreditation or equivalent proof of press membership after registration. Please contact Nathalie Sneider for more information.

Confirmation and Payment

Registration will be on a first-come first-served basis. Your place can only be confirmed after payment of the registration fee.
Types of payments accepted are international bank transfers (only up to 8 weeks before event) and credit card payments.

Abstract submission

Only registered participants are eligible to submit an abstract. We only accept online abstract submissions. 

After registration you can submit your abstract via a separate link that will be provided in the email confirmation. Alternatively, you can access the link on the confirmation page directly after registering. The same login credentials are used for both processes.

Please note:

Title: The title should not exceed 20 words. Only the first word of the title should start with a capital letter and the rest of the title should be in lowercase.

Authors and Affiliations: Please fill in the author’s details as requested in the online form. The compulsory details are: First Name, Last Name, Organisation Name (Affiliation or Company), Country and Email. Mark only one author as the role of First author and please don’t forget to indicate who will be presenting. The order of the authors will be listed as follows: First Author, Co-First Author (alphabetically if multiple), co-author(s) (in the order added by the submitter).

Presentation Types: When submitting your abstract, you can apply for an oral or poster presentation. A selection process will take place with the results announced 2-3 weeks after the abstract submission deadline.

Please check our FAQs pages for further information on how to submit an abstract.

Financial Assistance

Financial Assistance

Registration Fee Waivers

All academic and student registrants are invited to apply for a registration fee waiver, provided by the EMBL Advanced Training Centre Corporate Partnership Programme and EMBO. The registration fee waiver covers the registration sum that you have paid to attend the meeting. Conference participants are not required to pre-pay the registration fee to be selected for a fee waiver for a virtual meeting. If you have already paid the registration fee and are awarded a fee waiver, it will be reimbursed after the meeting. Course participants are required to pay the course fee in advance, which will then be reimbursed after the course to the fee waiver recipients.

Childcare Grants
For participants with children, there is the possibility to apply for a childcare grant provided by the EMBL Advanced Training Centre Corporate Partnership Programme, to offset childcare costs incurred by participants or speakers when participating at a virtual event. Eligible costs include fees for a babysitter or childcare facility or travel costs for a care giver. Please note that priority will be given to early stage researchers. A maximum amount of 500 EUR can be awarded per participant selected for the virtual childcare grant. Costs will be reimbursed after the meeting only once a reimbursement form and original receipts have been received. In order to apply for this grant, you must be registered by the abstract submission deadline.

Application

Registration Fee Waivers

You may apply for financial assistance when submitting your abstract for this conference. In your application you will be asked to answer questions regarding your motivation for applying, reasons why your lab cannot fund your attendance and how your attendance will make a difference to your career. Application for financial support will not affect the outcome of your registration application.

Childcare Grants

Participants registered by the abstract deadline will be emailed information about the childcare grants. You should apply for the grant by the deadline specified in the email.

Selection

The scientific organisers will select the recipients of registration fee waivers during the abstract selection process. Results will be announced approximately 3 – 4 weeks before the event start date. Selection results do not impact your admission to the meeting. Registration fee waiver selection is based on your current work or study location, your motivation for applying, the reasons for needing financial support and the impact this event will have on your career. Childcare grants are allocated based on career stage, with priority given to early stage researchers.

Further details

For further information about financial assistance please refer to the FAQ page.

Virtual Participation Guidelines

Guidelines

Please do:

  • Use the event-specific hashtag as communicated during the event for any related tweets
  • Tweet unless the speaker specifically says otherwise
  • Be mindful of unpublished data
  • Be respectful in tone and content

Please don’t:

  • Share Slack, live stream or poster session links with others
  • Broadcast the conference to unregistered participants
  • Capture, transmit or redistribute data presented at the meeting unless presenter gives explicit consent
  • Use offensive language in your posts
  • Engage in rudeness or personal attacks

Additional information can be found in our Code of Conduct.

Health and well-being

It is important to stay healthy and move around, especially when you are attending an event virtually. We have put together a few coffee break stretches and yoga videos in the events Slack workspace for you to enjoy during the event.

How to ask questions

Questions during and after the talks can be asked in live streaming platform. The chair moderates the questions and shares them with the speaker. If time runs out or you think of a question later, you can use Slack to ask your questions in the dedicated session channels or via direct message.

Time zone

The programme is planned based on Central European Summer Time (CEST), unless otherwise stated. As many virtual participants are attending from around the world, we do our best to accomodate as many timezones as possible when creating the programme. Please take your time zone into consideration when planning your attendance.

Virtual event platforms

Slack: This platform will be used to collaborate, communicate and network with all of the attendees of this event. All participants will receive information on how to join shortly before the conference.

To get the most out of Slack, see our useful guide.

Zoom: Access to all live streamed talks will be through this platform and Media Site (below). We suggest you download the Zoom App https://zoom.us/download as it is more reliable and stable than the web browser. Zoom will also be used be the networking aspects of the programme.

EMBL Media Site: Recorded talks will be available on demand through Media Site. A link and individualised login information will be sent shortly before the conference. Recorded talks will be saved here until Saturday 5 September 2020. Please use the preferred browser Chrome.

iPosters – virtual Poster Gallery for Poster Sessions: The digital posters will be held on a web-based platform from iPosterSessions. The company will contact the submitter of the abstract with login information and instructions on how to create and present a digital poster. The platform offers different poster layouts to choose from, with the ability to upload images and videos to make your digital poster presentation more engaging. There is a chat functionality within the website and there will be a poster session Q&A during the session in Slack. Here are some guidelines for using iPosters. 

Sponsors

Sponsorship Opportunities

We offer a variety of event sponsoring possibilities, with the flexibility to select a set sponsorship package or combine individual sponsorship options to suit your event budget. Discounts are available for companies sponsoring multiple events at EMBL Heidelberg. View other conferences, or contact sponsorship@embl.de for further information.

If you are interested in becoming a media partner of this event, please visit our media partnerships webpage.

About

EMBO | EMBL Symposia promote scientific communication and collaboration in the European research area. They provide scientists with a platform to discuss and exchange ideas on forward-looking topics and new developments in the life sciences.

Topics emphasise upcoming developments and the interdisciplinary nature of related fields. Jointly funded and organised by EMBO and EMBL – and complementary to their respective courses, workshops, and conference programmes – the symposia promote scientific communication and collaboration.

All symposia are held in the EMBL Advanced Training Centre (ATC) in Heidelberg, Germany, or virtually.

Date: 2 - 3 Mar 2021

Location: Virtual

Deadline(s):

Abstract submission: Closed

Closed

Contact: Nathalie Sneider

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