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Current methods in cell biology – Course and Conference Office

EMBO Practical Course

Current methods in cell biology

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

Experience modern cell biology at work: not only see but also try out in practice how cutting-edge technologies can be used to answer questions at the frontiers of cell biology.

It is a tradition that the entire faculty of the Cell Biology and Biophysics Unit of EMBL teaches the course to cover a broad spectrum of techniques.

The course also provides an excellent opportunity for participants and course faculty to discuss current and future challenges in cell biology.

Audience

The course will be primarily aimed at postdocs and advanced graduate students who have developed an interest in cell biology. We wish to attract cell biologists who want to acquire quantitative, biophysical, and computational methods as well as scientists (including early-career principle investigators) with different backgrounds (including physics, chemistry, engineering, informatics, etc) who want to use their expertise to address current problems in cell biology.

We aim to balance the number of participants with a background in biology and participants coming from other disciplines. A key criteria for selection is the potential benefit of adding novel cell biological methods to the students’ own research plans.

Preference will be given to students where there is little or no possibility that the student can acquire these technologies at her/his home institution.

Modules

  • Biological sample preparation
  • Microscopy
  • Image analysis
  • Fluorescent probes development
  • Mechanobiology

Learning outcomes

The course will provide an update on the latest developments from the beginning to the end of an experiment. This includes recent advances in fluorescent probe development (e.g. FRET-based activity probes), through new techniques and tricks of biological sample preparation (e.g. mounting of live organisms), novel approaches in molecular biology, cutting-edge microscopy (e.g. live imaging, super-resolution light microscopy and correlative light and electron microscopy) and mechanobiology – covering the complete range of biological complexity from single molecules to whole organisms. Participants will learn how to analyze imaging data using Cellprofiler and Ilastik.

As the topics of the practicals are closely related to the current research in EMBL laboratories, they will cover many experimental model organisms (yeast, mammalian cells, fly, ascidian) and a wide variety of methods (fluorescence and electron microscopy, molecular biology, in silico approaches, image analysis).

This course is kindly supported by the Cell Biology and Biophysics Unit of EMBL.

Speakers

Speakers, trainers, and staff

Kai Johnsson

Max Planck Institute for Medical Research

Germany

Peter Lenart

Max Planck Institute for Multidisciplinary Sciences, Göttingen

Germany

Andrea Pauli

Research Institute of Molecular Pathology

Austria

Trainers

LabPeople
Banterle/DeyJohanna Melisa – EMBL Heidelberg, Germany
Tocci Hiral Shah – EMBL Heidelberg, Germany
Felix Mikus – EMBL Heidelberg, Germany
Diz-Muñoz Filipe Nunes Vicente – EMBL Heidelberg, Germany
Jia Hui Lui – EMBL Heidelberg, Germany
Richard Bailleul – EMBL Heidelberg, Germany
Anusha Gopalan – EMBL Heidelberg, Germany
Linda Decker – EMBL Heidelberg, Germany
EllenbergKai Sandvold Beckwith – EMBL Heidelberg, Germany
Andreas Brunner – EMBL Heidelberg, Germany
KöhlerCristina Piñeiro Lopez – EMBL Heidelberg, Germany
Ana Rita Rodrigues Neves – EMBL Heidelberg, Germany
Ivana Čavka – EMBL Heidelberg, Germany
PrevedelIvo Leite – EMBL Heidelberg, Germany
Sebastian Hambura – EMBL Heidelberg, Germany
Ling Wang – EMBL Heidelberg, Germany
PepperkokMuzamil Majid Khan – EMBL Heidelberg, Germany
Aliaksandr Halavatyi – EMBL Heidelberg, Germany
Giriram Mohana – EMBL Heidelberg, Germany
RiesAline Tschanz – EMBL Heidelberg, Germany
Yu-Le Wu – EMBL Heidelberg, Germany
Lucas Müller – EMBL Heidelberg, Germany
Takahiro Deguchi – EMBL Heidelberg, Germany
Soheil Mojiri – EMBL Heidelberg, Germany
Michal Skruzny – EMBL Heidelberg, Germany
Philipp Hoess – EMBL Heidelberg, Germany
SchwabNedal-Djamil Darif – EMBL Heidelberg, Germany
Marianne Sandvold-Beckwith – EMBL Heidelberg, Germany
Inés Romero Brey – EMBL Heidelberg, Germany
ZimmermannTimo Zimmermann – EMBL Heidelberg, Germany
CuylenYuki Hayashi – EMBL Heidelberg, Germany
Terra Kuhn – EMBL Heidelberg, Germany
KreshukDominik Kutra – EMBL Heidelberg, Germany
Fynn Beuttenmüller – EMBL Heidelberg, Germany
BAND PlatformYi Sun – EMBL Bioimage ANalysis Desktop (BAND) Platform
Jean-Karim – EMBL Bioimage ANalysis Desktop (BAND) Platform

Scientific organisers

Course organisers

Raili Pall

Course and Conference Officer

EMBL Heidelberg

Germany

Programme

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  • 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 – Sunday 4 September 2022
TimeSpeakerLocation
16:45 – 17:00 RegistrationISG Hotel
17:00 – 17:30Welcome and course overview
Simone Koehler – EMBL Heidelberg, Germany
Sara Cuylen-Haering – EMBL Heidelberg, Germany
ISG Hotel
17:30 – 18:45Introduction by participants (flash talks)ISG Hotel
19:00Buffet dinner ISG Hotel
Day 2 – Monday 5 September 2022
TimeSpeakerLocation
08:40Bus from ISG Hotel to EMBL Main entranceISG
Bus stop
08:50 – 09:15Check inRoom 202
9:15 – 10:00Lecture: Light microscopy: Basic principles
and concepts
Robert Prevedel – EMBL Heidelberg, Germany
Room 202
10:00 – 10:30Coffee breakRoom 202
10:30 – 11:15Lecture: Superresolution Microscopy
Timo Zimmermann –
EMBL Heidelberg, Germany
Room 202
11:30 – 14:00Poster session 1 (ODD numbers)
with Lunch
Operon Foyer
14:00 – 14:15Introduction to practicalsRoom 202
14:15 – 18:00Practical 1Room 202
18:00 – 18:45Lecture: Super-resolution applied:
the centriole case
Niccolo Banterle – EMBL Heidelberg, Germany
Room 202
19:00 – 19:15Bus from EMBL Main entrance to ISG HotelEMBL
Bus stop
19:15BBQ DinnerISG Hotel
Day 3 – Tuesday 6 September 2022
TimeSpeakerLocation
08:40Bus from ISG Hotel to EMBL Main entranceISG Bus stop
08:50 – 09:00Check inRoom 202
09:00 – 09:45Lecture: Single cell biology at large scale
to study membrane traffic and
organelle biogenesis

Rainer Pepperkok – EMBL
Heidelberg, Germany
Room 202
09:45 – 11:45Poster session 2 (EVEN numbers)
with coffee break
Operon Foyer
11:45 – 12:45LunchEMBL Canteen
12:45 – 18:00Practical 1Room 202
18:00 – 18:45Lecture: Integrative analysis of
cell division across scales

Jan Ellenberg – EMBL Heidelberg, Germany
Room 202
18:45 – 19:45Dinner EMBL Canteen
20:00Bus from EMBL Main entrance to ISG HotelEMBL Bus stop

Day 4 – Wednesday 7 September 2022
TimeSpeakerLocation
08:40Bus from ISG Hotel to EMBL Main entranceISG Bus stop
08:50 – 09:00Check inRoom 202
09:00 – 09:45Lecture: Measuring Cell Mechanics
Alba Diz-Muñoz – EMBL Heidelberg, Germany
Room 202
09:45 – 10:00Coffee breakRoom 202
10:00 – 11:00Seminar: Computer simulations for
cell reshaping
Andela Šarić – University College London, UK
Small Operon
11:00 – 11:45Meet the Speaker – Andela ŠarićRoom 202
11:45 – 12:45LunchEMBL Canteen
12:45 – 13:00Group PhotoOutside IC
12:45 – 18:00Practical 2Room 202
18:15 – 19:45Pizza dinnerOperon Foyer
19:45Bus from EMBL Main entrance to ISG HotelEMBL Bus stop

Day 5 – Thursday 8 September 2022
TimeSpeakerLocation
08:40Bus from ISG Hotel to EMBL Main entranceISG Bus stop
08:50 – 09:00Check inRoom 202
09:00 – 09:45Lecture: Electron microscopy for Cell
Biology: from CLEM to volume SEM
Yannick Schwab – EMBL Heidelberg,
Germany
Room 202
09:45 – 10:00Coffee breakRoom 202
10:00 – 11:00Seminar: Using phospho-proteomics and
imaging to reveal conserved mechanisms
of oocyte meiosis
Peter Lenart – Max Planck Institute
for Multidisciplinary Sciences, Göttingen
Small Operon
11:00 – 11:45Meet the Speaker – Peter LenartRoom 202
11:45 – 12:45LunchEMBL Canteen
12:45 – 18:00Practical 2Room 202
18:00 – 18:45Lecture: Molecular Views into Cells by
in situ Cryo-Electron Tomography
Julia Mahamid – EMBL Heidelberg, Germany
Room 202
18:45 – 19:45Dinner EMBL Canteen
20:00Bus from EMBL Main entrance to ISG HotelEMBL Bus stop
Day 6 – Friday 9 September 2022
TimeSpeakerLocation
08:40Bus from ISG Hotel to EMBL Main entranceISG Bus stop
08:50 – 09:00Check inRoom 202
09:00 – 09:45Lecture: Small molecule fluorophores
for microscopy
Claire Deo – EMBL Heidelberg, Germany
Room 202
09:45 – 10:00Coffee breakRoom 202
10:00 – 11:00Seminar: Fluorescent Probes for Cell
Biology
Kai Johnsson – Max Planck Institute for
Medical Research, Germany
Small Operon
11:00 – 11:45Meet the Speaker – Kai JohnssonRoom 202
11:45 – 12:45LunchEMBL Canteen
12:45 – 17:15Practical 3Room 202
17:15 – 18:45Networking activity with dinnerATC
outdoor tent
18:45Bus from EMBL Main entrance to ISG HotelEMBL Bus stop
Day 7 – Saturday 10 September 2022
TimeSpeakerLocation
09:30Bus from ISG Hotel to EMBL Main entranceISG Bus stop
09:45 – 10:00Check inRoom 202
10:00 – 10:45Lecture: Visualizing Meiosis
Simone Koehler – EMBL Heidelberg,
Germany
Room 202
10:45 – 11:00Coffee breakRoom 202
11:00 – 11:45Lecture: Evolutionary Cell Biology
Gautam Dey – EMBL Heidelberg, Germany
Room 202
11:45 – 12:00European Research Infrastructure
landscape and Euro-BioImaging
Aastha Mathur – Euro-Bioimaging
Bio-Hub, Germany
Room 202
12:00 – 12:45LunchEMBL Canteen
12:45 – 13:15Tour of the Imaging Center
Timo Zimmermann – EMBL Heidelberg
IC
13:15 – 18:00Practical 3Room 202
18:00Bus to ISG HotelEMBL Bus stop
19:00Bus from ISG Hotel to NeckarmünzplatzISG Bus stop
19:30Dinner downtown
Day 8 – Sunday 11 September 2022

Free day

Day 9 – Monday 12 September 2022
TimeSpeakerLocation
08:40Bus from ISG Hotel to EMBL Main entranceISG
Bus stop
08:50 – 09:00Check inRoom 202
09:00 – 09:45Lecture: Image Analysis
Anna Kreshuk – EMBL Heidelberg, Germany
Room 202
09:45 – 10:00Coffee breakRoom 202
10:00 – 11:00Seminar: Segmentation of cellular
organelles
Aubrey Weigel – Janelia Research
Campus, USA
Small Operon
11:00 – 11:45Meet the Speaker – Aubrey WeigeRoom 202
11:45 – 12:45LunchEMBL Canteen
12:45 – 18:00Image analysis practical 1
(Cellprofiler or Ilastik)
Computer
Training Lab/
Room 202
18:00 – 18:45Lecture: From Screening to Cellular
Function: Discovery of a Cellular Surfactant
Sara Cuylen-Haering – EMBL
Heidelberg, Germany
Room 202
18:45 – 19:45Tapas dinnerATC Foyer
20:00Bus from EMBL Main entrance to ISG HotelEMBL
Bus stop
Day 10 – Tuesday 13 September 2022
TimeSpeakerLocation
08:40Bus from ISG Hotel to EMBL Main entranceISG Bus stop
08:50 – 09:00Check inRoom 202
09:00 – 09:45Lecture: A DNA toolset for spatial biology
Sinem Saka – EMBL Heidelberg, Germany
Room 202
09:45 – 10:00Coffee breakRoom 202
10:00 – 11:00Seminar: Egg-to-embryo transition
in zebrafish

Andrea Pauli – IMP Vienna, Austria
Small Operon
11:00 – 11:45Meet the Speaker – Andrea PauliRoom 202
11:45 – 12:45LunchEMBL Canteen
12:45 – 18:00Image Analysis Practical 2
(Cellprofiler or Ilastik)
Computer
Training Lab/
Room 202
18:00 – 18:30Feedback SessionRoom 202
18:30 – 19:30Dinner at EMBLEMBL Canteen
19:45Bus from EMBL Main entrance to ISG HotelEMBL Bus stop

Practical information

Registration fees and motivation letter

The course is limited to 20 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.

This EMBO course includes accommodation and transportation to and from the ISG Hotel to the venue.

Academia€425
PhD Student€425
Industry€1000

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.

Childcare grant (EMBO practical courses and workshops only)

For EMBO Practical Course or EMBO Workshop participants with children, there is the possibility to apply for a childcare grant to offset child care costs incurred by participants or speakers when participating at a course or conference. Eligible costs include fees for a baby-sitter or child-care facility, travel costs for a care giver, or travel costs for taking the child to the meeting etc. Please note that priority will be given to early stage researchers. A maximum amount of 500 EUR can be awarded per participant applying for an EMBO Childcare Grant. In order to apply for this grant for EMBO Workshops, you must be registered by the abstract submission deadline.

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

Accommodation has been pre-booked for you at the ISG Hotel for the default dates of Sunday 4 to Wednesday 14 September 2022 (10 nights). Please note that the course registration fee includes coverage of accommodation costs in twin rooms, including breakfasts, for your stay at the ISG but that you will be required to pay an additional cost of 21 EUR per night for a single room. This should be paid by you directly to the ISG during your stay. Any additional nights need to be booked and paid for by you. 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 on-site 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: 4 - 13 Sep 2022

Location: EMBL Heidelberg

Venue: EMBL Advanced Training Center


Deadline(s):

Application: Closed


Organisers:


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