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Reconstructing the human past: using ancient and modern genomics – Course and Conference Office

EMBO | EMBL Symposium

Reconstructing the human past: using ancient and modern genomics

Overview

This conference will take place at EMBL Heidelberg, with the option to attend virtually.

Symposium overview

Combining genome-wide data from ancient and modern populations opens new windows into the past and, importantly, their integration with archaeological evidence and historical records elucidates aspects of human history and cultural evolution of past societies. Population-scale sequencing projects investigating past and present human diversity have already provided us with extraordinary insights into patterns of human variation and mobility through time and space. Moreover, genome-wide data from archaic human remains, such as Neandertals and Denisovans, allows to investigate human evolution in action and to provide direct insights into genetic changes that define our own lineage.

The available dataset of genome-wide data from present-day and archaic humans has risen exponentially since the first EMBO ‘Reconstructing the human past’ meeting in 2019. This has drastically enhanced our ability to carry out further large-scale studies on both global and local scales across deeply sampled time transects, making it now possible to ask and answer questions that were simply impossible to address before, in addition to motivating the development of new analytical methods. Critically, with new frontiers in data generation and analyses, questions on ethical practices in paleogenomics need to be considered.

Furthermore, the reconstruction of ancient pathogen genomes and metagenomic analysis of the oral and gut microbiomes provides us with molecular fossils to study microbial evolution through time. The potential of ancient DNA data to reconstruct genomic variation of human-associated animals and plants to understand the process of domestication and their evolutionary trajectory is equally promising to such studies in humans.

This meeting will involve scientists from population genetics, bioinformatics, microbiology, anthropology, archaeology and history and will strengthen future interactions in this young research field that is already changing the way we think about our past and will shape how we study genetic variation in the future.

Session topics

  • Our closest living and extinct relatives
  • Detecting patterns of selection
  • Reconstructing the genetic history of human populations
  • Ethical considerations and research practices in paleogenomics
  • Integrating genetic and historical evidence
  • Evolution of human pathogens, microbiome, and health
  • New methods and avenues for ancient genomic data analysis

What past participants say about the Symposium

It was a wonderful opportunity to exchange science and get to know fellow researchers.” – Choongwon Jeong, Seoul National University, Seoul

I can’t imagine a more dense and intense conference in the field of genomics of archaic humans. I extremely enjoyed the conference, and would like to give many thanks to the organisers who made it happen!” – Danat Yermakovich, cGEM, Institute of Genomics, University of Tartu, Estonia

Speakers

Keynote speaker

Svante Pääbo

Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology

Germany

Speakers

Mateja Hajdinjak

The Francis Crick Institute /

Max Planck for Evolutionary Anthropology

UK

Ray Tobler

Australian National University

Australia

Christina Warinner

Harvard University

USA

Scientific organisers

Johannes Krause

Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology

Germany

Conference organisers

Luana Ribeiro

EMBL Heidelberg

Germany

Programme

Are you on social media? Post using #EESHuman and don’t forget to tag @EMBLEvents.

  • Please note that the programme is subject to change. Some speakers may need to join virtually to give their talk.
  • For registered participants, recorded talks will be accessible on demand for 2 weeks after the end of the event, unless indicated otherwise.
Day 1 – Tuesday 17 September 2024
Time (Europe/Berlin)Speaker
12:00 – 13:30Registration and Light Refreshments
13:30 – 13:45Opening Remarks
13:45 – 14:45Keynote Lecture: Archaic genomics
Svante Pääbo – Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Germany
14:45 – 16:15Session 1 – Our closest living and extinct relatives
Chairs:
Johannes Krause – Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Germany
Pontus Skoglund – The Francis Crick Institute, UK
14:45 – 15:15News from the Palaeolithic: ancient genomes and neandertal-human interactions
Mateja Hajdinjak – The Francis Crick Institute, UK / Max Planck for Evolutionary Anthropology, Germany
15:15 – 15:30The Neandertal growth hormone receptor
Hugo Zeberg – Karolinska Institute, Sweden
15:30 – 15:45Simultaneous bidirectional crispr-editing in cortical brain organoids uncovers hierarchical interactions among nearly fixed mutations specific to the sapiens lineage
Cedric Boeckx – Catalan Institute for Advanced Studies and Research, Spain
15:45 – 16:00Uncovering the noncoding variants that shaped human evolution
David Gokhman – Weizmann Institute of Science, Israel
16:00 – 16:15A structured coalescent model reveals deep ancestral structure shared by all modern humans
Trevor Cousins – University of Cambridge, UK
16:15 – 16:45Coffee Break and Meet the Speakers
16:45 – 18:45Session 2 – Detecting patterns of selection
Chairs:
Pontus Skoglund – The Francis Crick Institute, UK
Johannes Krause – Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Germany
16:45 – 17:15The MUC19 gene in denisovans, neanderthals, and modern humans: An evolutionary history of introgression and natural selection
Emilia Huerta-Sanchez – Brown University, USA
17:15 – 17:45Reconstructing the chronology of selection in maize domestication
Jazmin Ramos-Madrigal – University of Copenhagen, Denmark
Not available on demand
17:45 – 18:00Three ancient DNA time transects from the Americas provide evidence for pre-contact selection in Coastal Brazil, the Central Andes, and Mesoamerica
Alison Barton – Harvard University, USA
18:00 – 18:15Recent expansion and evolutionary selection of human-specific NOTCH2NLB allele enhancing cortical neurogenesis
Ikuo Suzuki – The University of Tokyo, Japan
18:15 – 18:45Hundreds of findings of natural selection realize the promise of ancient DNA to elucidate human adaptation
David Reich – Harvard University, USA
18:45 – 19:30Flash Talk Session 1
#45 Marcos Araujo Castro e Silva
#55 Nicolas Brucato
#57 Zehui Chen
#59 Daniel R. Cuesta-Aguirre
#65 Michal Feldman
#73 Lei Huang
#77 Xiaowen Jia
#79 Dilek Koptekin
#85 Zhi Li
19:30 – 21:15Dinner in EMBL Canteen
21:15 – 22:45After dinner drinks with live jazz music in ATC Foyer
Day 2 – Wednesday 18 September 2024
Time (Europe/Berlin)Speaker
09:00 – 14:30Session 3 – Reconstructing the genetic history of human populations
Chairs:
Ida Moltke – University of Copenhagen, Denmark
Pontus Skoglund – The Francis Crick Institute, UK
09:00 – 09:30The genetic history of Southern East Asia
Qiaomei Fu – Chinese Academy of Sciences, China
Not available on demand
09:30 – 10:00Kinship and gender roles in early Neolithic societies: an Anatolian perspective
Mehmet Somel – Middle East Technical University, Turkey
10:00 – 10:15Exploring genetic relationships of ceramic age Caribbean individuals from the Dominican Republic
Judith Ballesteros Villascán – Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Germany
10:15 – 10:30Steppe ancestry in Western Eurasia and the spread of the germanic languages
Hugh McColl – Health Faculty, Globe Institute, Denmark
10:30 – 11:00Coffee Break and Meet the Speakers
11:00 – 11:30Reconstructing the evolution of the mutation rate and spectrum
Kelley Harris – University of Washington, USA
11:30 – 11:45Long-term continuity and genetic insights of the Punan Batu: Understanding hunter-gatherer resilience in Borneo Pradiptajati Kusuma – Laboratory of Genome Diversity and Diseases, Indonesia
11:45 – 12:00First genetic insights into ancient population history in the Highlands of Papua New Guinea
Konstantina Cheshmedzhieva – University of Vienna, Austria
12:00 – 13:30Lunch and Meet the Editors
13:30 – 14:00The future of our microbial past
Christina Warinner – Harvard University, USA
14:00 – 14:15Farming practices reduced generation intervals in post-glacial Western Eurasia
Moisès Coll Macià – Aarhus University, Denmark
14:15 – 14:30Paleogenomic analyses of archaeological remains reveal sex roles and mobility of ancient families in central Mexico
Daniela Orozco – National Laboratory of Genomics for Biodiversity (UGA-LANGEBIO), CINVESTAV, Mexico
14:30 – 15:00Coffee Break and Meet the Speakers
15:00 – 15:30Flash Talk Session 2
#48 Rodrigo Barquera
#49 William Barrie
#50 Owyn Beneker
#93 Santiago Gerardo Medina-Muñoz
#101 Sandra Penske
#107 Adam Ben Rohrlach
#109 Susanna Sawyer
#119 Laura Vilà Valls
#123 Matthew Williams
#125 Wipada Woravatin
15:30 – 17:00Poster Session 1 (odd numbers)
17:00Free Evening
Day 3 – Thursday 19 September 2024
Time (Europe/Berlin)Speaker
09:00 – 10:00Session 3 – Reconstructing the genetic history of human populations
Chairs:
Maanasa Raghavan – University of Chicago, USA
Johannes Krause – Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Germany
09:00 – 09:30Reconstructing human migrations from genomic data across Latin America and the Pacific
Andrés Moreno-Estrada – Cinvestav UGA-Langebio, Mexico
09:30 – 09:45Using 858,635 individuals’ haplotype-sharing between British and Danish populations to infer the North Sea migration history
Xiaolei Zhang – EMBL-EBI, UK
09:45 – 10:00The origin and composition of the “forgotten people”: genetic analysis of the sarmatian-period population of the carpathian basin
Oszkar Schutz – University of Szeged, Hungary
10:00 – 10:30Coffee Break and Meet the Speakers
10:30 – 11:30Session 4 – Ethical considerations and research practices in paleogenomics
Chair: Maanasa Raghavan – University of Chicago, USA
10:30 – 11:00Engaged research with indigenous communities in North America: an example from the Central and Southern Plains
Jennifer Raff – University of Kansas, USA
11:00 – 11:30The genetic origins and impacts of historical Papuan migrations into Wallacea
Ray Tobler – Australian National University, Australia
11:30 – 11:45Discussion: “Ethics”
11:45 – 15:00Session 5 – Integrating genetic and historical evidence
Chairs:
Ida Moltke – University of Copenhagen, Denmark
Johannes Krause – Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Germany
11:45 – 12:15Genomic investigations of the Early Medieval Southern Urals: synthesis and future perspectives
Anna Szécsényi-Nagy – Hungarian Academy of Sciences, Hungary
12:15 – 12:30A 4,000-years-old genome from Nuwayrat, Egypt
Adeline Morez – The Francis Crick Institute; Liverpool John Moores University, UK
12:30 – 12:45Unraveling the genomic history of European Jews
Shamam Waldman – Harvard University, USA
12:45 – 14:15Lunch
14:15 – 14:45A genomic history of Rapa Nui and some methodological insights into ancient DNA analysis
Anna Sapfo-Malaspinas – University of Lausanne, Switzerland
14:45 – 15:00Archaeogenetic insights into the biological and cultural connectedness of bronze age Crete
Alissa Mittnik – Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Germany
15:00 – 17:00Session 6 – Evolution of human pathogens, microbiome, and health
Chairs:
Johannes Krause – Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Germany
Pontus Skoglund – The Francis Crick Institute, UK
15:00 – 15:30Ancient genomes and other evidence in the study of the evolution of human pathogens and immune response
Christiana Scheib – University of Tartu, Estonia (Virtual)
Not available on demand
15:30 – 15:45Repeated plague infections across six generations of neolithic farmers
Frederik Seersholm – University of Copenhagen, Denmark
15:45 – 16:15Coffee Break and Meet the Speakers
16:15 – 16:30Deep-sequencing and de novo assembly of microbial sequences through non-invasive sampling of 500-year-old Inca mummies
Michelle Hämmerle – University of Vienna, Austria
16:30 – 16:45Analysis of a 5,500-year-old Treponema pallidum-like genome from Sabana de Bogotá, Colombia
Davide Bozzi – University of Lausanne, Switzerland
16:45 – 17:00Paleogenomic reconstruction of pathogens from the 19th-century epidemic in Tlatelolco, Mexico
Miriam Bravo – International Laboratory for Human Genome Research, Mexico
17:00 – 17:45Flash Talk Session 3
#56 Théo Cavinato
#58 Jérémy Choin
#60 Roslyn Curry
#68 Lucia Franchini
#70 Keith Daniel Harris
#76 Iseult Jackson
#90 Javier Maravall López
#99 Cecilia Padilla Iglesias
#104 Niraj Rai
#106 Iker Rivas-González
#120 Maria Teresa Vizzari
17:45 – 19:15Poster Session 2 (even numbers)
19:15 – 21:00Conference Dinner
21:00 – 23:30Conference Party
Day 4 – Friday 20 September 2024
Time (Europe/Berlin)Speaker
09:30 – 12:00Session 7 – New methods and avenues for ancient genomic data analysis
Chairs:
Pontus Skoglund – The Francis Crick Institute, UK
Ida Moltke – University of Copenhagen, Denmark
09:30 – 10:00Ancient human DNA from archaeological sediment
Diyendo Massilani – Yale School of Medicine, USA
10:00 – 10:15A flexible new admixture dating approach to jointly analyse modern and ancient individuals sampled at different times
Nancy Bird – University College London, UK
10:15 – 10:30An efficient way to infer demographic history from the distribution of distances between heterozygous sites in diploid species
Tommaso Stentella – Max Planck Institute for Molecular Genetics, Germany
10:30 – 11:00Coffee Break and Meet the Speakers
11:00 – 11:15Reconstructing phenotypic differences between ancient individuals
Gili Greenbaum – The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Israel
11:15 – 11:30Accurate and robust inference of the relationship between two individuals using aDNA
Alexandra Strang – Natural History Museum and UCL, UK
11:30 – 11:45Population genetic analysis of Holocene Europeans using sediment nuclear DNA from open-air living spaces
Niall Cooke – Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Germany
11:45 – 12:00High-resolution ancestry reconstruction of early Medieval Europe
Leo Speidel – University College London; Francis Crick Institute, UK
12:00 – 12:15Closing Remarks and Poster Prize Announcements
12:15Packed Lunch and Departure

Practical information

Registration fees and abstract submission

On-site registration fees include admission, conference materials, meals and coffee breaks. Participants are expected to book and pay their own accommodation and travel expenses.

Virtual registration fees include access to all of the talks (livestreamed and on demand) and facility to submit questions.

On-site Academia€725
On-site PhD Student€625
On-site Industry€925
On-site Journal Editors*€300
Virtual Academia€225
Virtual PhD Student€175
Virtual Industry€275

* Editors from scientific journals are allowed to attend at a reduced rate, but asked to contribute to the conference in return by taking part in ‘meet the editors’ sessions or other planned activities within the programme.

A letter to support your visa application will be issued, on request, once payment of the registration fee is confirmed. We recommend that you book your visa appointment as soon as possible, to avoid any delay with your visa application.

Accredited journalists may be eligible to register for complimentary press registration. Registrants may be required to provide accreditation or equivalent proof of press membership after registration. Please contact Luana Ribeiro for more information. Please note that we do not offer complimentary registrations for editors of scientific journals.

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. If you are added to our waiting list, please consider taking advantage of our offerings to participate virtually.

On-site participants: Types of payments accepted are international bank transfers and credit card payments. 

Virtual participants: We are only able to accept card payments. In exceptional cases we can accept bank transfers. Please contact events@embl.de for details.

Abstract submission

Only participants registering to attend the on-site event are eligible to submit an abstract. Abstracts will not be accepted from virtual participants.

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:

Abstract body: 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.

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

Authors and affiliations: Please fill in the author’s details as requested in the online form. The compulsory fields are: First Name, Last Name, Organisation Name (Affiliation or Company), Country and Email.

Kindly mark only one author in the role of First Author and please don’t forget to indicate who will be the Presenter.

Please enter your co-authors correctly via the system by adding accounts together with their organisation/institute. Do not copy-paste them into the body of the abstract text, as they will not be indexed in the abstract book.

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.

For detailed instructions on how to submit a conference abstract, follow the instructions provided in this video.

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

Financial assistance

Financial assistance

Limited financial assistance is provided by the EMBL Advanced Training Centre Corporate Partnership Programme and EMBO in the form of registration fee waivers, travel grants, and childcare grants.

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 to an on-site event (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 Conference or EMBO|EMBL Symposium from within Europe.

–up to €1000 for participants travelling to an EMBL Conference or EMBO|EMBL Symposium from outside Europe.

–up to €500 for any participant travelling to an EMBO Workshop.

–up to €1000 for any participant working in Chile, India, Singapore or Taiwan travelling to an EMBO Workshop.

–up to €700 for any participant working in Croatia, Czech Republic, Estonia, Greece, Hungary, Italy, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Poland, Slovenia, and Turkey travelling to an EMBO Workshop.

*Registration fees are only covered for 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.

Childcare grant

There is the possibility to apply for a childcare grant to offset child care costs incurred by participants, speakers, and organisers when attending a conference.

Eligible costs include (but are not limited to) fees for a baby-sitter or child-care facility, and travel costs for a caregiver. Please note that priority will be given to early stage researchers. In order to apply for this grant, you must be registered by the abstract submission deadline. There is a limited amount of funding available for the childcare grants and funds will be distributed amongst eligible applicants.

Application

On-site participants

You may apply for financial assistance when submitting your abstract. 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.

Virtual participants

If you are attending virtually, you can apply for financial assistance in the submission portal by the abstract deadline. Read the instructions on how to apply for financial assistance. Only submissions for financial assistance will be accepted. Presentation abstracts cannot be submitted here and will be declined. 

In your application you will be asked to summarise your current work,  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.

Selection

The scientific organisers will select the recipients of registration fee waivers and travel grants 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 for registration fee waivers and travel grants is based on scientific merit, your current work or study location, the reasons for needing financial support, and the impact this event will have on your career.

Childcare grants will be allocated in the same timeframe (6-8 weeks before the event start date). Please note that priority will be given to early-stage researchers.

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 travel

Accommodation is not included in the conference registration fee.

The hotels below have rooms on hold for participants until 20 August 2024, in some cases at special rates. Please email the hotel directly, quoting the booking code EES24-09 to confirm the exact price of the room.

Hotel AnlageHotel ibis Heidelberg
B&B HotelStaycity Aparthotel Heidelberg
Hilton Heidelberg

Travel information

For travel information, please see here.

If you are travelling to the conference within Germany then you are eligible for the Deutsche Bahn ‘Event Ticket’ (called the ‘Veranstaltungsticket’ in German). This will result in a lower ticket price if your travel distance to Heidelberg is more than 100 km. You need to provide proof of your event attendance when purchasing the ticket.

For more information in English see here or in German see here.

You can book your ticket here.

Conference shuttle buses

Conference shuttle buses are free of charge for participants, and depart from designated bus stops near the hotels to EMBL and back, mornings and evenings.

Please find the conference shuttle bus schedule here.

The bus stops for this conference are:

  • Staycity Aparthotel (Speyerer Str. 7)
  • Kurfürsten-Anlage (Opposite Main Train Station)
  • Premier Inn (Kurfürsten-Anlage 23)
  • Leonardo Hotel Heidelberg City Center (Bergheimer Str. 63)
  • Neckarmünzplatz (Heidelberg Tourist Information)
  • Peterskirche (Bus stop)
  • Hans-Böckler-Straße (Bus stop)
  • ISG Hotel (Im Eichwald 19)

View Conference shuttle bus stops and hotels in a larger map. Please note that not every bus stop will be used for every event.

Further details

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

For more information about accommodation and travel, please refer to the FAQ page.

On-site information

Catering

All meals and coffee breaks are included in the registration fee. Our catering staff will prepare a wide variety of vegetarian meals, meat and fish dishes, soups, pasta, fresh fruit and vegetables, as well as a variety of desserts.

Please wear your badge at all times when serving yourself.

No food or drinks are allowed in the auditorium.

Charging lockers

There are lockers available next to the stairs leading down into the Auditorium. You will find some of those equipped with sockets to charge your smartphone/tablet etc.

Electricity and charging station

In most places the electricity is 220 volts AC (50 cycles). An adaptor and a plug that fits the German socket may be needed for your appliances/laptop (i.e. American, Japanese, etc.). A USB charging station for electronic devices is available at the registration desk.

EMBL merchandise

If you are interested in purchasing EMBL merchandise (products presented in the glass display in the registration area), please email the EMBL shop to place an order or get in contact with your Course Organiser.

Kindly note the EMBL shop is only open upon request and all purchases must be made in cash (Euros only).

Health and safety notes

Please read EMBL’s COVID-19 safety policy for on-site events.
Do not smoke in any EMBL building.
Eating and drinking is prohibited in the Auditorium and all laboratories.
Do not enter any restricted areas or the laboratories unless instructed to do so.

If first aid is required …

  • The first aid room is located next to the ATC Registration Desk (room 10- 205).
  • Dial the Emergency number 222 from any EMBL internal phone only.
  • Where is the accident? What happened? How many injured?
  • Emergency number 06221-387 7821 from mobile phones.
  • Please report all accidents to the conference officer at the registration desk.

In case of fire …

  • Press the nearest fire alarm button or the Emergency number 222 from any internal phone.
  • A loud fire alarm will go off if an evacuation is required. On hearing the alarm leave the building immediately following the escape route and fire wardens and head to one of the meeting points
  • Do not use the lifts.

Beyond first aid…

Please remember to bring your own medication, if needed, to the conference. Note that the next pharmacy is a 4-minute drive from the EMBL, but for many medications you will be required to see a doctor to get a prescription.

Ensure in advance that your medical insurance will cover you during your visit in the event that you do need to see a doctor while in Heidelberg. In any case, the EMBL Course and Conference Office will assist you to get to the pharmacy and a doctor of your choice if necessary.

Internet

Wi-Fi is available on campus using the EMBL-Events network and the event specific password, which will be provided on site. The eduroam network (secure, worldwide roaming access service developed for the international research and education community) is also available.

Lost and found

‘’Lost and Found’’ items are kept at the registration desk until the end of the conference.

Luggage

There are lockers available on-site to store your luggage, which require a 2 EURO coin to operate. There is another luggage room on level E0, which is free to use but remains unlocked during the conference.

Nursing room

There is a nursing room available in the ATC Rooftop Lounge on level A29.

Photography

During the conference, an EMBL Photographer may be taking photos. If you would not like to appear in these, please inform the photographer or a member of the Course and Conference Office.

Printing

We can help to print your boarding pass/train ticket. Please send it to events@embl.de and collect your print-outs at the registration desk.

Room for prayer, yoga and meditation

There is a room for prayer, meditation and yoga located on level E0 behind the Auditorium. Please be respectful of others using the room.

Sightseeing

A variety of activities in Heidelberg can be found on the website of Heidelberg Marketing.

Travel to and from the venue

During the event, we provide conference shuttle buses to and from EMBL. In addition, there is the public bus 39A that serves the EMBL campus and taxis can be easily booked at any time. Information on the conference shuttle buses can be found on the individual event website and more detailed information on travelling to EMBL can be found on our Travel Information page.

Useful German expressions

HelloHallo
GoodbyeAuf Wiedersehen (formal)
Tschüss (informal)
Good morningGuten Morgen
Good afternoonGuten Tag
Good eveningGuten Abend
Good nightGute Nacht
I’m sorryEs tut mir leid
Excuse me…Entschuldigen Sie
How are you?Wie gehts?
I’m fine thanks. And you?Mir geht es gut , danke. Und Dir/Ihnen?
What is your nameWie heißen Sie? (formal)
Wie heißt Du? (informal)
My name isIch heiße…
Do you speak EnglishSprechen Sie englisch?
I don’t understandIch verstehe nicht
Please speak more slowlyKönnen Sie bitte langsamer sprechen
Thank youDankeschön
Where is the toilet?Wo ist die Toilette?
Please call me a taxiBitte rufen Sie mir ein Taxi
How do I get to….?Wie komme ich zum/zur…..?
A beer/two beers pleaseEin Bier/zwei Bier bitte
A glass of red/white wine pleaseEin Glas Rot/Weisswein bitte
The menu, pleaseDie Speisekarte, bitte
Is there a local speciality?Gibt es eine Spezialität aus dieser Gegend?
I’m vegetarianIch bin Vegetarier
It was deliciousEs war hervorragend
The bill, pleaseDie Rechnung, bitte
I have a headacheIch habe Kopfschmerzen
I have a sore throatIch habe Halsschmerzen
My stomach hurtsIch habe Magenschmerzen
I’m allergic toIch bin allergisch gegen
I need a doctor who speaks EnglishIch brauche einen Arzt, der englisch spricht
Virtual participation

What’s included?

  • Access to all the livestreamed talks
  • Video library of the recorded talks during the event and for two weeks afterwards. Please note: at the request of individual speakers, some talks are not recorded.
  • Facility to submit questions

* Talks will only be recorded upon speaker’s consent

Please note that only on-site participants are able to submit abstracts and participate in the poster sessions.

Event platform

We are using an event platform for this conference. More information about the platform will be shared ahead of the conference.

Guidelines

  • Do not broadcast the conference to unregistered participants.
  • You are encouraged to tweet and post about the event. Tweet unless the speaker specifically says otherwise, but be mindful of unpublished data. 
  • Please do not capture, transmit or redistribute data presented at the meeting.

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 conference platform for you to enjoy during the event.

How to ask questions

Please use the Q&A function in the event platform.

If you have any other questions, you can go to the Help Desk in the event platform. Click on ‘more’ on the top menu and click Help Desk. 

Time zone

The programme is planned based on the Europe/Berlin time zone, unless otherwise stated. Please take your time zone into consideration when planning your attendance.

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 on-site events at EMBL Heidelberg can be found in our COVID-19 FAQs.

Sponsors

Media partners

FEBS Open Bio

International Union of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology

Medinformatics, a Bon View Publishing journal

Molecular Systems Biology, an EMBO Press Journal

Open Biology, a Royal Society journal

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.

Warning

EMBL wishes to warn sponsors of EMBL conferences and courses of fraudulent schemes purporting to offer sponsorship opportunities on behalf of EMBL or affiliated with EMBL officials. One current scam campaign of which we are aware is conducted using the name ‘Judy Eastman’ (judy@gopcontact.a2hosted.com) and entails approaches to sponsors offering sponsorship opportunities on EMBL’s behalf. Please be kindly advised that all relevant communication regarding sponsorship of EMBL conferences, symposia and courses is handled by EMBL directly and is sent from an official EMBL account. EMBL does not work with any external providers on sponsorship acquisition.

Please also note that:

  • EMBL never provides attendee lists for purchase. Any offers of such are fraudulent.
  • EMBL will never call or email you to ask for your credit card details or to request a payment.
  • All payments are on invoice.

Suspicious communications purportedly from, for or on behalf of EMBL should be reported to EMBL at the following email address sponsorship@embl.de.

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.

Media kit

Want to let others know you’re attending this event? Take a look at our shareable media and feel free to use them in your social media channels or presentations.

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Date: 17 - 20 Sep 2024

Location: EMBL Heidelberg and Virtual

Venue: EMBL Advanced Training Centre


Deadline(s):

Abstract submission: Closed

Registration (On-site): Closed

Registration (Virtual): Closed


Organisers:

  • Johannes Krause
    MAX PLANCK INSTITUTE FOR EVOLUTIONARY ANTHROPOLOGY, GERMANY
    • Ida Moltke
      UNIVERSITY OF COPENHAGEN, DENMARK

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