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Hands-on flow cytometry: learning by doing! – Course and Conference Office

EMBL Course

Hands-on flow cytometry: learning by doing!

Overview

Proof of COVID-19 vaccination or recovery is required to attend this on-site course. Please see EMBL’s COVID-19 safety policy for on-site events.

Course Overview

Flow Cytometry is one of the most powerful single cell analysis methods used throughout the life sciences and medicine. By utilising Flow Cytometry we can identify and quantify specific cell populations from heterogeneous samples, analyse the cell cycle or proliferation state or simply detect the expression of fluorescent reporters. In line with the suggestions from our course in 2019, we will significantly enhance the number of analysis sessions together with our partners from FlowJo. We will cover the theory of Flow Cytometry and corroborate this information intensively with the practical issues of the most frequent assays as part of our practical course curriculum.

Audience

The course is designed for researchers at any step of their career and will cover the subject from basic principles to complex assays. Prior basic working knowledge of Flow Cytometry, data acquisition or analysis software (DIVA + FlowJo)  is of advantage, but not strictly a must.

Modules/Resources

  • In-depth principles of Flow Cytometry
  • Quality assessment and instrument validation
  • Analysis of cell cycle profiles in fixed and live cells
  • Proliferation and cell division assessment
  • Apoptosis assays
  • Tissue staining of cell surface and intracellular antigens
  • Principles and guidelines for experimental design, especially for multi-colour Flow Cytometry
  • Essential of gating and gating controls
  • Detailed multi-sessions on analysing data from Flow Cytometers in cooperation with FlowJo
  • Guidelines to prepare flow cytometry data for publication 

Learning Outcomes

Our goal for this course is to teach the basic of this technology with a very big emphasis on practical work at the instruments. Nothing is better than learning by doing. We have a great set of experienced trainers in this technology delivering lectures and accompanying you into the lab doing flow on your own. We will have support from FlowJo delivering the basics and some advanced features in multiple sessions. This in-depth five-day course will push your knowledge and skills preparing you for any flow projects ahead on your research path.

What past participants say about this course

“A comprehensive and interactive course that I would recommend to everyone that uses flow cytometry in their work.” Oana Baldasici, The Oncology Institute Prof. Dr.I. Chiricuta, Romania

Speakers and Trainers

Jochen Barths

Jochen Barths

ProSort

France

Michael Bonadonna

Michael Bonadonna

EMBL Heidelberg

Germany

Cora Chadick

Cora Chadick

Amsterdam UMC, location VUmc

The Netherlands

(Virtual Speaker)

Gelo dela Cruz

Gelo dela Cruz

Novo Nordisk Foundation Center for Stem Cell Medicine – reNEW

Denmark

Daniel Gimenes

Daniel Gimenes

EMBL Heidelberg

Germany

Ioannis Panetas

BD

Germany

(Virtual Speaker)

Neda Tafrishi

Neda Tafrishi

Sony Biotechnology Inc.

Germany

Scientific Organisers

Malte Paulsen

Malte Paulsen

Novo Nordisk Foundation Center for Stem Cell Medicine – reNEW

Denmark

Steffen Schmitt

German Cancer Research Center

Germany

Course Organisers

Maria Mercedes Bacadare Goitia

Course and Conference Team Lead

EMBL Heidelberg

Germany

Yvonne Yeboah

Yvonne Yeboah

Training Laboratory Manager

EMBL Heidelberg

Germany

Programme

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  • Some pre-course work (such as watching pre-recordings, protocol reading and computational exercises) with estimated time 0-10 hours will be required and will be shared in advance of the course.
  • Some speakers may need to join virtually to give their lecture or Q&A, and the programme is subject to change.
  • All times in the programme below are shown as the time in Europe/Berlin.
Day 1 – Monday 2 May 2022
TimeSpeakerLocation
08:40 – 09:00Bus from ISG to EMBLHotel entrance
09:00 – 10:00Welcome, Introduction and Safety briefingCourtyard Room A & B
10:00 – 10:45Participants flash talksCourtyard Room A & B
10:45 – 11:15Coffee Break Flex Lab A & B
11:15 – 12:00Lecture: Fluidics and optics
Gelo dela Cruz – Novo Nordisk Foundation Center for Stem Cell Medicine – reNEW, Denmark
Courtyard Room A & B
12:00 – 13:30LunchEMBL Canteen
13:30 – 14:15Lecture: Fluorescence and PMTs detectors, data generation and data display
Steffen Schmitt – German Cancer Research Center, Germany
Courtyard Room A & B
14:15 – 14:45Coffee Break Flex Lab A & B
14:45 – 15:30Lecture: Data generation and data display
Gelo dela Cruz – Novo Nordisk Foundation Center for Stem Cell Medicine – reNEW, Denmark
Courtyard Room A & B
15:30 – 17:15Practical 1: Practical Session I: Assessing instrument performanceTraining Lab A & B
17:15 – 17:45Coffee break Flex Lab A & B
17:45 – 19:30Practical Session 2: Absolute counting and proliferationTraining Lab A & B
19:30 – 21:00DinnerEMBL Canteen
21:00 – 21:15Departure to HotelATC Entrance
Day 2 – Tuesday 3 May 2022
TimeSpeakerLocation
08:40 – 09:00 Bus from ISG to EMBL Hotel entrance
09:00 – 10:00Lecture: Fluorescence spillover and compensation
Cora Chadick
Amsterdam UMC, location VUmc, The Netherlands (Virtual Speaker)
Courtyard Room A & B
10:00 – 10:30Coffee BreakFlex Lab A & B
10:30 – 11:15Lecture: Experimental design for multi-color flow
Diana Ordonez – EMBL Heidelberg, Germany
Courtyard Room A & B
11:15 – 12:00Lecture: Spectral Flow Cytometry
Neda Tafrishi – Sony Biotechnology Inc., Germany
Courtyard Room A & B
12:00 – 13:30LunchEMBL Canteen
13:30 – 15:30Practical: Multi- color staining (Group 1)
Practical: Data analysis with FlowJo (Group 2)
Group 1: Training Lab A & B
Group 2: Courtyard Room A & B
15:30 – 16:00Coffee Break
16:00 – 18:00Practical: Data analysis with FlowJo (Group 1)
Practical: Multi- color staining (Group 2)
Group 1: Courtyard Room A & B
Group 2: Training Lab A & B
18:00 – 19:00Lecture: Tips and tricks for intracellular staining
Diana Ordonez – EMBL Heidelberg, Germany
Courtyard Room A & B
19:00 – 19:15Departure to RestaurantATC Entrance
19:15 – 21:30DinnerRestaurant
Day 3 – Wednesday 4 May 2022
Time SpeakerLocation
08:40 – 09:00 Bus from ISG to EMBL Hotel entrance
09:00 – 10:00Lecture: The Essentials of gating, FMO and gating controls
Daniel Gimenes – EMBL Heidelberg, Germany
Courtyard Room A & B
10:00 – 10:30Coffee Break Flex Lab A & B
10:30 – 12:00Lecture: Cell Cycle
Diana Ordonez – EMBL Heidelberg, Germany
Courtyard Room A & B
12:00 – 13:30LunchEMBL Canteen
13:30 – 13:40Group Picture
13:40 – 15:40Practical: Measuring cell cycle samples (Group 1)
Practical: Data analysis with FlowJo (Group 2)
Group 1: Training Lab A & B
Group 2: Courtyard Room A & B
15:40 – 16:10Coffee BreakFlex Lab A & B
16:10 – 18:10Practical: Data analysis with FlowJo (Group 1)
Practical: Measuring cell cycle samples (Group 2)
Group 1: Courtyard Room A & B
Group 2: Training Lab A & B
18:10 – 18:40Q&A SessionCourtyard Room A & B
18:40 – 20:00DinnerEMBL Canteen
20:00Departure to HotelATC Entrance
Day 4 – Thursday 5 May 2022
TimeSpeakerLocation
08:40 – 09:00 Bus from ISG to EMBL Hotel entrance
09:00 – 10:00Practical: Data analysis cell cycle- FlowJoCourtyard Room A & B
10:00 – 10:30Coffee BreakFlex Lab A & B
10:30 – 12:00Practical: Data analysis with FlowJo (Users’ data)Courtyard Room A & B
12:00 – 13:30LunchEMBL Canteen
13:30 – 14:30Lecture: Assessing cell death
Steffen Schmitt – German Cancer Research Center, Germany
Courtyard Room A & B
14:30 – 16:00Practical: Measuring apoptosis labellingTraining Lab A & B
16:00 – 16:30Coffee BreakFlex Lab A & B
16:30 – 18:40Practical: Data analysis with FlowJoCourtyard Room A & B
18:40 Departure to HotelATC Entrance
19:00Social Activity and DinnerISG Hotel
Day 5 – Friday 6 May 2022
TimeSpeakerLocation
08:40 – 09:00 Bus from ISG to EMBL Hotel entrance
09:00 – 10:00Lecture: Basics of cell sorting
Jochen Barths – ProSort, France
Courtyard Room A & B
10:00 – 10:30Coffee BreakFlex Lab A & B
10:30 – 12:30Practical: Cell sorting and reanalysis of sorted cellsTraining Lab A & B
12:30 – 14:00LunchEMBL Canteen
14:00 – 15:00Lecture: High-dimensional data analysis with FlowJo
Ioannis Panetas – BD, Germany (Virtual Speaker)
Courtyard Room A & B
15:00 – 15:30Feedback and GoodbyeCourtyard Room A & B
15:30 – 16:00Departure to Hotel / Heidelberg Train StationATC Entrance

Practical Information

Registration Fees and Motivation Letter

The course is limited to 12 participants. For selection purposes, please note that your application will not be considered without a letter of motivation.

Registration

Registration Fees include admission, course materials, COVID-19 safety measures, meals and coffee breaks.

Participants are expected to book and pay their own accommodation and travel expenses. 

Academia€600
PhD Student€600
Industry€1100

Confirmation and Payment

The registration fee should be paid only after acceptance to the course. The results will be announced approximately 2-3 weeks after the application deadline.

Motivation Letter Submission

After you have logged in and successfully registered, you will receive an email asking you to submit your motivation letter. Click on the link provided and enter your motivation letter in the text box provided. Alternatively you can submit your motivation letter by clicking on the link on the confirmation page directly after registering.

Instructions

  1. Include your relevant skills, experience and qualifications showing why you would be suitable for the course.
  2. Explain why you would like to attend, including what you can contribute and how you think you will benefit from the course.

Please note:

  • The limit of 2000 characters refers to manually typed text and excludes spaces. If an error occurs try using a different web browser (preferably Google Chrome or Mozilla Firefox).
  • If you copy-paste the text into the form, hidden formatting might still be included which may cause the text to exceed the 2,000 character limit resulting in an error message. We recommend you clear all formatting before pasting in the text.
  • If you have special symbols in your text, make sure you are using Unicode characters, otherwise these will not be recognised.

For more detailed information, follow the instructions provided in our video on how to submit a course motivation letter.

Further Details

For further information about registration and motivation letter submission please refer to the FAQ page.

Financial Assistance

Limited financial assistance is provided by the EMBL Advanced Training Centre Corporate Partnership Programme and EMBO in the form of both registration fee waivers and travel grants. Availability is limited to participants attending on-site events in Heidelberg and will be indicated during the abstract or motivation letter submission process.

Your place in the meeting is only confirmed by paying the registration fee, which is mandatory even when receiving a fee waiver.

Registration Fee Waiver

The fee waiver will cover the registration sum that you have paid to attend the course or conference.

Travel Grant

The travel grant will cover the cost of travel (airfare, train, bus, taxi, accommodation, visa, and/or registration fees*) and is provided up to specified caps which are normally as follows:

– up to €400 for participants travelling to an EMBL Course, EMBL Conference or EMBO|EMBL Symposium from within Europe.
– up to €1000 for participants travelling to an EMBL Course, EMBL Conference or EMBO|EMBL Symposium from outside Europe.
– up to €500 for any participant travelling to an EMBO Practical Course or EMBO Workshop.
– up to €1000 for any participant working in Chile, India, Singapore or Taiwan travelling to an EMBO Practical Course or EMBO Workshop.

*Registration fees are only covered for EMBO Practical Courses or EMBO Workshops

The organisers may reduce the grant cap to accommodate more participants. Recipients will be notified of their travel cap amount when they are informed of the outcome of their application. Original receipts must be provided with your signature for all costs incurred within two months of completion of travel. Scanned copies cannot be accepted.

Boehringer Ingelheim Fonds Travel Grant

Applies to selected courses only. Availability will be indicated during the abstract or motivation letter submission process.

This grant covers costs related to your attendance to the course (registration, travel and accommodation costs). The grant is restricted to PhD students and postdocs who conduct basic biomedical research.
Whether you are eligible to apply for a travel grant, depends on when you received your university entrance qualification (e.g. Abitur, A-Levels, High School Diploma, Final State Examination):

– for PhD and MD students, as well as graduates, the university entrance qualification must not have been obtained more than 11 years ago at the time of the envisaged course
– for postdocs, the university entrance qualification must not have been obtained more than 13 years ago at the time of the envisaged course

Application

You may apply for financial assistance when submitting your motivation letter for courses, and abstract for conferences. In your application you will be asked to answer questions regarding 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.

For the Boehringer Ingelheim Fonds Travel Grant, there is a pre-application question during the motivation letter submission process, and if selected you will be requested to complete a standard form and documentation consisting of your travel expense estimation.

Selection

The scientific organisers will select the recipients of all financial assistance during the motivation letter or abstract selection process. Results will be announced approximately 6-8 weeks before the event start date, however for some events this may be delayed. Selection results do not impact your admission to the meeting. Selection is based on your current work or study location, the reasons for needing financial support and the impact this event will have on your career.

Reimbursement

Costs will be reimbursed after the meeting only once a reimbursement form and original receipts (from travel costs) have been received.

Further details

View our list of external funding opportunities and information on attending a conference as an event reporter.

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

Accommodation and Shuttles

Single rooms have been reserved for 6 nights (1 – 6 May 2022) at the ISG Hotel. After the selection process, selected participants should contact the hotel directly to make a booking (booking code CYT22-01). We recommend that all course participants stay at the ISG Hotel which is the dedicated hotel for the course.

Local transport

Shuttle buses will go from the ISG Hotel to EMBL and back, mornings and evenings. A bus schedule and location of the bus stops will be made available prior to the meeting.

Further Details

Address: EMBL Heidelberg, Meyerhofstraße 1, 69117 Heidelberg, Germany

For further information on getting to EMBL Heidelberg visit our Travel Information page.

For enquiries about accommodation and local transportation please refer to the FAQ page.

Technical Requirements and Event Software

Technical Requirements

Below you will find the software and technical requirements for this course.

  • Participants need to bring their own laptops, which will be used to remotely access EMBL virtual machines with pre-installed software.
  • You will need admin rights to install the software required to access the virtual machines. If you do not have admin rights, please contact your technical support team in advance to make sure the software can be installed.
  • If you have a non-standard HDMI port (other than type A), you need to bring an adaptor.
  • Keyboard and PC mouse are available for use with a standard USB port. If you have a different port type, such as USB-C, you will need to bring your own.

Event Software

The EMBL eCampus learning platform will be used to collaborate, communicate and network with all of the course participants. All participants will receive information on how to join shortly before the course. We recommend using Chrome, Safari or Mozilla Firefox browsers for eCampus. 

Additional Information

Please find additional information including FAQs, terms and conditions, COVID-19 safety policy and travelling to EMBL on our Information for Participants page.

COVID-19 Related Questions

COVID-19 information for onsite events at EMBL Heidelberg can be found in our COVID-19 FAQs.

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.

Date: 2 - 6 May 2022

Location: EMBL Heidelberg


Deadline(s):

Application: Closed


Organisers:

  • Andrew Filby
    Newcastle University, UK
    • Diana Ordonez
      EMBL Heidelberg, Germany

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