J Chem Biol (2016) 9:143–148 DOI 10.1007/s12154-016-0156-6
JOCB BULLETIN
JOCB Bulletin
Published online: 3 September 2016 # Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg 2016
Thanks once again to all our readers who have submitted items for inclusion in this section. Can I remind you that we advertise readers’ items at the interface of the physical and life sciences free of charge including illustrations and colour. Any contributions that might be of interest to researchers in the Chemical Biology field concerning studentships, job vacancies courses or conferences, book reviews or news items would be most welcome. Please send to Dr C A Rosser Email [email protected]
GRADUATE STUDIES IN BILBAO, SPAIN
The University of the Basque Country offers Master and PhD degrees in Molecular Biology and Biomedicine. The one-year Master degree (60 ECTS) consists of lecture courses (30 ECTS) and a research project (30 ECTS).
Four-year PhD interdisciplinary programme
This unique programme offers opportunities to study at UCL,Birkbeck College and CrickNIMR. Students are exposed to a wide range of training in all aspects of structural, molecular and cellular biology, chemical biology and the computational tools necessary to address important problems in biomedicine. Interdisciplinary programme It is difficult to envisage modern research in molecular and cellular biology, and in microbiology, without strong computational, structural, and chemical biology components. In the era of ever expanding biological complexity, computational biology is crucial in making sense of the data. Similarly, structural biology and biophysics provide essential insights into the molecular mechanisms presiding over biological processes. In turn, the chemical information provided by 3-dimensional structures can be exploited in the design of small molecule reagents which are valuable cell and molecular biology tools.
No knowledge of Spanish required.
The interplay between all of these fields enables important and exciting areas of modern biology, biotechnology and medicine to be investigated at the atomic, molecular, cellular and organism levels.
Info at: www.masterbiologiamolecular.ehu.es
http://www.ismb.lon.ac.uk/wt_studentships.html
144
This Ph.D. project aims to study light-regulated motility in photosynthetic swimming microorganisms through experiments and modelling. Photosynthetic microorganisms are fundamental primary producers, at the base of major food webs (e.g. in the oceans). Many species are motile, and can move towards or away from light (phototaxis), thereby modulating their photosynthetic activity. At the same time microorganisms are also capable of biochemical photoprotection, which can in principle be used as an alternative to phototaxis. Phototaxis, photosynthesis, and photoprotection are interconnected, and can be thought of as the three main components of a possibly complex- dynamical system whose behaviour has a profound impact on the fitness of photosynthetic microorganisms. This system has not been studied before. The aim of this Ph.D. project is to begin exploring specific aspects of this connection quantitatively, as part of a wider, comprehensive plan to develop a realistic model of phototaxis. The student will receive training in both experimental biophysics at the cellular level (micromanipulation, video microscopy, image analysis), and cell biology with a focus on chloroplast activity. Link: http://www2.warwick.ac.uk/fac/sci/physics/ prospective/postgraduate Link2:http://mpolin.wordpress.com/ E-mail: [email protected] Application accepted all year round
PhD Supervisor: Dr P Thorpe Dept: National Institute for Medical Research Deadline: All year round Characterising the mechanism of the mitotic checkpoint
J Chem Biol (2016) 9:143–148
This is a collaborative project, joint funded between NIMR and Imperial College London. The successful candidate will benefit from working in labs at both the NIMR and Imperial. The student will register for their degree at Imperial.
This project will involve extensive use of automated multiwell plate FLIM instrumentation and analysis of the resulting large data sets. Consequently, candidates should ideally have a physics/bioengineering degree coupled with strong analytical and computational skills. The project will also involve learning basic genetics and molecular biology. Dual-tagged yeast strains will be created by the student at NIMR using high-throughput genomics approaches. At Imperial FLIM FRET will then be used to assay for interactions within this array of dualtagged strains using an automated high-throughput approach to FRET FLIM. Link: http://www.nimr.mrc.ac.uk/phd/projects/ Characterising-the-mechanism-of-the-mitotic-checkpoint Contact: [email protected]
This is your opportunity to launch a career in worldleading cancer research as you gain a PhD in a cancerrelated field. To join us as a Clinical Research Training Fellow, you will be a post-registration clinician, ideally with a specialist training post. You will receive running expenses, an appropriate salary and full coverage of university PhD fees. A first or 2:1 honours degree or the overseas equivalent will be vital for a non-clinical studentship. Your award will include running fees, PhD fees and an annual stipend of £19,000 per year. Find out more about how you can join the fi ght against cancer at http://www.mcrc.manchester.ac. uk Applications can be made to: [email protected]
J Chem Biol (2016) 9:143–148
University of Oxford MSc by Research in Chemical Biology About the course This is a research degree leading to the award of an MSc by Research in Chemical Biology. Many training opportunities are available throughout the course, but the focus of the course is the research project. You will be admitted as a probationary research student and will join a research group supervised by one or more members of the Department of Chemistry, sometimes in collaboration with other departments. During the first year, in addition to starting work on your research, you will be encouraged to follow training courses chosen from the vast number offered by the Divisional Graduate School, and it is recommended that you attend at least three of these. A termly report on your progress is submitted by your supervisor throughout the course. At the end of the first year you must apply for transfer to MSc by Research status, which ensures that you have the potential to gain the degree. This assessment will be made on the basis of a report and oral examination. Research proceeds with termly reporting until the project is complete. The degree is examined by thesis and oral examination by two examiners, one of whom is normally from Oxford and one from elsewhere.
145
gain a doctorate. This assessment will be made on the basis of a report and oral examination. Research proceeds with termly reporting throughout the next two years, and there is the opportunity to follow further courses during this period. By the end of the third year you must apply for confirmation of status, which ensures that you are on track to complete the thesis within a reasonable time. The degree is examined by thesis and oral examination by two examiners, one of whom is normally from Oxford and one from elsewhere.
Imperial College, London MRes Chemical Biology
http://www.ox.ac.uk/admissions/graduate/courses/mscresearch-chemical-biology
University of Oxford DPhil in Chemical Biology About the course This is a research degree leading to the award of a DPhil in Chemical Biology. Many training opportunities are available throughout the course, but the focus of the course is the research project. You will be admitted as a probationary research student and will join a research group supervised by one or more members of the Department of Chemistry, sometimes in collaboration with other departments. During the first year, in addition to starting work on your research, you will be encouraged to follow training courses chosen from the vast number offered by the MPLS Graduate School, and it is recommended that you attend at least three of these. A termly report on your progress is submitted by your supervisor throughout the course. At the end of the first year you must apply for transfer to DPhil status, which ensures that you have the potential to
Multidisciplinary Physical Scientists for NextGeneration Biological, Biomedical and Pharmaceutical Research and Development Duration: 1 year full-time Start date: October 2016 Location: South Kensington Campus, London ECTS: 90 credits Chemical Biology is an emerging discipline that sits at the interface of traditional chemistry and biology, drawing on the tools and ideas of modern Physical Sciences and applying them to the solution of biological problems at the molecular level. http://www.imperial.ac.uk/study/pg/chemistry/chemicalbiology/
146
Courses
Chemical Biology 2016 EMBL Heidelberg, Germany 31 Aug - 3 Sep 2016 This conference provides a platform for the broad audience in the field of chemical biology to interact. Over 300 participants can meet the 25 speakers and other top researchers whilst at the same time discussing their own data in three large poster sessions and 15 short talks selected from the participants. We aim to provide the possibility for every chemical biologist to meet and discuss with peers, from tool development to biological applications, from computational drug design to synthetic chemistry. Most important, however, is the flagship character of the meeting. Participants come to see where the field stands in its full breadth. The past meetings were very successful in this respect, ensuring that the EMBL Conference on Chemical Biology remains the largest and broadest meeting in this field. http://www.embl.de/training/events/2016/CHB16-01/
EMBO Conference: Chemical Biology 2016 31 August – 3 September 2016 Heidelberg, Germany Organization: European Molecular Biology Laboratory, EMBL Heidelberg Discipline: Health Science Subdiscipline: General & Internal Medicine Event type: Conference Venue: EMBL Advanced Training Centre Event Details We aim to provide the possibility for every chemical biologist to meet and discuss with peers, from tool development to biological applications, from computational drug design to synthetic chemistry. Most important, however, is the flagship character of the meeting. Participants come to see where the field stands in its full breadth.
J Chem Biol (2016) 9:143–148
Topics will include: Innovations on therapeutic discovery Cell signaling Nucleotides Protein engineering Protein chemistry and synthetic methods Controlling and engineering cells
DEVELOPMENTS & POTENTIAL OF qPCR & dPCR AS A TOOL FOR PROGRESSING MOLECULAR BIOLOGY RESEARCH The 4th qPCR & Digital PCR Congress will take place on 20–21 October in London. Once again it will be colocated with the 3rd Synthetic Biology Congress and the 2nd Microfluidics Congress. Bringing together industry & academic experts working in areas such as molecular biology/diagnostics, gene expression, genomics, biomarkers, pathogen detection, GMO, mRNA, NGS, bioinformatics and data management, the congress examined the latest developments, opportunities and applications of both dPCR and qPCR through case studies across diverse areas such as oncology, virology, infectious diseases, vaccines, prenatal diagnosis, clinical applications, microbiology, food microbiology, plant/ ecology genomics, environmental testing and other novel applications.
J Chem Biol (2016) 9:143–148
The 5th Official Conference of the International Chemical Biology Society Translational Chemical Biology October 24th-26th, 2016 Memorial Union 800 Langdon Street Madison, WI 53706, USA Session topics: & & & & & & & & & & &
Human MicroBiome Neurodegenerative and Neurological Disorders Cancer Infectious Disease Regenerative Medicine Natural Products Chemistry and Biology Biosensors and Imaging Chemical Biology of Lipids Epigenetics Rising Stars: Young Chemical Biologist Award Poster Session
The 2017 EMBL-Cancer Core Europe Conference on Cancer Immunotherapy
147
2nd Zing Genomic Integrity Conference 2017 9th – 13th July 2017 The second Zing conference on ‘Genomic Integrity’ in Dublin will build on the success of the 2015 conference held in Cairns, Australia. The meeting will focus on the molecular pathways that protect living organisms from deleterious genetic changes. It will include sessions covering both established areas in the field, including excision repair pathways, DNA damage signalling, translesion synthesis and recombination as well as more emergent topics such as DNA damage in mitosis and the role of RNA in the DNA damage response. There will also be sessions covering human disorders and therapeutic targeting of genome stability. The program will include time for vibrant group discussions, poster sessions and ample time for individual interactions. The key goal of this international meeting is to allow the community of scientists working in this highly interconnected set of sub-fields to come together in a single location, so as to share their exciting results and to discuss their thoughts for future research directions and collaborations. http://www.zingconferences.com/conferences/genomicintegrity-2017/
2 - 4 Feb 2017 EMBL Heidelberg, Germany The 2017 EMBL-Cancer Core Europe Conference on Cancer Immunotherapy will cover highly relevant subdisciplines of cancer immunology with a special focus on personalised immunotherapy. The conference will bring together basic, translational and clinical scientists and physicians from academics to industry.
The Non-Coding Genome 13–16 September 2017 EMBL Heidelberg, Germany
Topics Unleashing endogenous immunity Clinical studies of T cell-based immunotherapies Markers of effective immune responses Targeting the microenvironment Inducing immunity http://www.embl.de/training/events/2017/CCE17-01/index. html
This symposium will explore the diverse, dynamic and multifaceted roles of RNA across a spectrum of cellular processes. It will provide an interdisciplinary discussion of the roles of non-coding RNAs in both prokaryotes and eukaryotes, with the aim of enhancing our understanding of gene regulation and function. http://www.embo-embl-symposia.org/
148
The Mobile Genome: Genetic and Physiological Impacts of Transposable Elements 11–14 October 2017 EMBL Heidelberg, Germany, The meeting will stimulate interdisciplinary discussions on various key topics including the impact of mobile DNA on genome structure and evolution, novel advances in the mechanism of transposition and transposon defence as well as the developmental and physiological roles of transposition. http://www.embo-embl-symposia.org/
J Chem Biol (2016) 9:143–148
3rd Zing Bacterial Cell Biology Conference 2017 14th – 17th November 2017 The 3rd Zing Bacterial Cell Biology Conference will take place in November 2017 in Tampa, Florida. A full synopsis detailing the themes and topics of this conference will be available in the near future. http://www.zingconferences.com/conferences/3rd-zingbacterial-cell-conference-2017/
JOCB BULLETIN
JOCB Bulletin
Published online: 3 September 2016 # Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg 2016
Thanks once again to all our readers who have submitted items for inclusion in this section. Can I remind you that we advertise readers’ items at the interface of the physical and life sciences free of charge including illustrations and colour. Any contributions that might be of interest to researchers in the Chemical Biology field concerning studentships, job vacancies courses or conferences, book reviews or news items would be most welcome. Please send to Dr C A Rosser Email [email protected]
GRADUATE STUDIES IN BILBAO, SPAIN
The University of the Basque Country offers Master and PhD degrees in Molecular Biology and Biomedicine. The one-year Master degree (60 ECTS) consists of lecture courses (30 ECTS) and a research project (30 ECTS).
Four-year PhD interdisciplinary programme
This unique programme offers opportunities to study at UCL,Birkbeck College and CrickNIMR. Students are exposed to a wide range of training in all aspects of structural, molecular and cellular biology, chemical biology and the computational tools necessary to address important problems in biomedicine. Interdisciplinary programme It is difficult to envisage modern research in molecular and cellular biology, and in microbiology, without strong computational, structural, and chemical biology components. In the era of ever expanding biological complexity, computational biology is crucial in making sense of the data. Similarly, structural biology and biophysics provide essential insights into the molecular mechanisms presiding over biological processes. In turn, the chemical information provided by 3-dimensional structures can be exploited in the design of small molecule reagents which are valuable cell and molecular biology tools.
No knowledge of Spanish required.
The interplay between all of these fields enables important and exciting areas of modern biology, biotechnology and medicine to be investigated at the atomic, molecular, cellular and organism levels.
Info at: www.masterbiologiamolecular.ehu.es
http://www.ismb.lon.ac.uk/wt_studentships.html
144
This Ph.D. project aims to study light-regulated motility in photosynthetic swimming microorganisms through experiments and modelling. Photosynthetic microorganisms are fundamental primary producers, at the base of major food webs (e.g. in the oceans). Many species are motile, and can move towards or away from light (phototaxis), thereby modulating their photosynthetic activity. At the same time microorganisms are also capable of biochemical photoprotection, which can in principle be used as an alternative to phototaxis. Phototaxis, photosynthesis, and photoprotection are interconnected, and can be thought of as the three main components of a possibly complex- dynamical system whose behaviour has a profound impact on the fitness of photosynthetic microorganisms. This system has not been studied before. The aim of this Ph.D. project is to begin exploring specific aspects of this connection quantitatively, as part of a wider, comprehensive plan to develop a realistic model of phototaxis. The student will receive training in both experimental biophysics at the cellular level (micromanipulation, video microscopy, image analysis), and cell biology with a focus on chloroplast activity. Link: http://www2.warwick.ac.uk/fac/sci/physics/ prospective/postgraduate Link2:http://mpolin.wordpress.com/ E-mail: [email protected] Application accepted all year round
PhD Supervisor: Dr P Thorpe Dept: National Institute for Medical Research Deadline: All year round Characterising the mechanism of the mitotic checkpoint
J Chem Biol (2016) 9:143–148
This is a collaborative project, joint funded between NIMR and Imperial College London. The successful candidate will benefit from working in labs at both the NIMR and Imperial. The student will register for their degree at Imperial.
This project will involve extensive use of automated multiwell plate FLIM instrumentation and analysis of the resulting large data sets. Consequently, candidates should ideally have a physics/bioengineering degree coupled with strong analytical and computational skills. The project will also involve learning basic genetics and molecular biology. Dual-tagged yeast strains will be created by the student at NIMR using high-throughput genomics approaches. At Imperial FLIM FRET will then be used to assay for interactions within this array of dualtagged strains using an automated high-throughput approach to FRET FLIM. Link: http://www.nimr.mrc.ac.uk/phd/projects/ Characterising-the-mechanism-of-the-mitotic-checkpoint Contact: [email protected]
This is your opportunity to launch a career in worldleading cancer research as you gain a PhD in a cancerrelated field. To join us as a Clinical Research Training Fellow, you will be a post-registration clinician, ideally with a specialist training post. You will receive running expenses, an appropriate salary and full coverage of university PhD fees. A first or 2:1 honours degree or the overseas equivalent will be vital for a non-clinical studentship. Your award will include running fees, PhD fees and an annual stipend of £19,000 per year. Find out more about how you can join the fi ght against cancer at http://www.mcrc.manchester.ac. uk Applications can be made to: [email protected]
J Chem Biol (2016) 9:143–148
University of Oxford MSc by Research in Chemical Biology About the course This is a research degree leading to the award of an MSc by Research in Chemical Biology. Many training opportunities are available throughout the course, but the focus of the course is the research project. You will be admitted as a probationary research student and will join a research group supervised by one or more members of the Department of Chemistry, sometimes in collaboration with other departments. During the first year, in addition to starting work on your research, you will be encouraged to follow training courses chosen from the vast number offered by the Divisional Graduate School, and it is recommended that you attend at least three of these. A termly report on your progress is submitted by your supervisor throughout the course. At the end of the first year you must apply for transfer to MSc by Research status, which ensures that you have the potential to gain the degree. This assessment will be made on the basis of a report and oral examination. Research proceeds with termly reporting until the project is complete. The degree is examined by thesis and oral examination by two examiners, one of whom is normally from Oxford and one from elsewhere.
145
gain a doctorate. This assessment will be made on the basis of a report and oral examination. Research proceeds with termly reporting throughout the next two years, and there is the opportunity to follow further courses during this period. By the end of the third year you must apply for confirmation of status, which ensures that you are on track to complete the thesis within a reasonable time. The degree is examined by thesis and oral examination by two examiners, one of whom is normally from Oxford and one from elsewhere.
Imperial College, London MRes Chemical Biology
http://www.ox.ac.uk/admissions/graduate/courses/mscresearch-chemical-biology
University of Oxford DPhil in Chemical Biology About the course This is a research degree leading to the award of a DPhil in Chemical Biology. Many training opportunities are available throughout the course, but the focus of the course is the research project. You will be admitted as a probationary research student and will join a research group supervised by one or more members of the Department of Chemistry, sometimes in collaboration with other departments. During the first year, in addition to starting work on your research, you will be encouraged to follow training courses chosen from the vast number offered by the MPLS Graduate School, and it is recommended that you attend at least three of these. A termly report on your progress is submitted by your supervisor throughout the course. At the end of the first year you must apply for transfer to DPhil status, which ensures that you have the potential to
Multidisciplinary Physical Scientists for NextGeneration Biological, Biomedical and Pharmaceutical Research and Development Duration: 1 year full-time Start date: October 2016 Location: South Kensington Campus, London ECTS: 90 credits Chemical Biology is an emerging discipline that sits at the interface of traditional chemistry and biology, drawing on the tools and ideas of modern Physical Sciences and applying them to the solution of biological problems at the molecular level. http://www.imperial.ac.uk/study/pg/chemistry/chemicalbiology/
146
Courses
Chemical Biology 2016 EMBL Heidelberg, Germany 31 Aug - 3 Sep 2016 This conference provides a platform for the broad audience in the field of chemical biology to interact. Over 300 participants can meet the 25 speakers and other top researchers whilst at the same time discussing their own data in three large poster sessions and 15 short talks selected from the participants. We aim to provide the possibility for every chemical biologist to meet and discuss with peers, from tool development to biological applications, from computational drug design to synthetic chemistry. Most important, however, is the flagship character of the meeting. Participants come to see where the field stands in its full breadth. The past meetings were very successful in this respect, ensuring that the EMBL Conference on Chemical Biology remains the largest and broadest meeting in this field. http://www.embl.de/training/events/2016/CHB16-01/
EMBO Conference: Chemical Biology 2016 31 August – 3 September 2016 Heidelberg, Germany Organization: European Molecular Biology Laboratory, EMBL Heidelberg Discipline: Health Science Subdiscipline: General & Internal Medicine Event type: Conference Venue: EMBL Advanced Training Centre Event Details We aim to provide the possibility for every chemical biologist to meet and discuss with peers, from tool development to biological applications, from computational drug design to synthetic chemistry. Most important, however, is the flagship character of the meeting. Participants come to see where the field stands in its full breadth.
J Chem Biol (2016) 9:143–148
Topics will include: Innovations on therapeutic discovery Cell signaling Nucleotides Protein engineering Protein chemistry and synthetic methods Controlling and engineering cells
DEVELOPMENTS & POTENTIAL OF qPCR & dPCR AS A TOOL FOR PROGRESSING MOLECULAR BIOLOGY RESEARCH The 4th qPCR & Digital PCR Congress will take place on 20–21 October in London. Once again it will be colocated with the 3rd Synthetic Biology Congress and the 2nd Microfluidics Congress. Bringing together industry & academic experts working in areas such as molecular biology/diagnostics, gene expression, genomics, biomarkers, pathogen detection, GMO, mRNA, NGS, bioinformatics and data management, the congress examined the latest developments, opportunities and applications of both dPCR and qPCR through case studies across diverse areas such as oncology, virology, infectious diseases, vaccines, prenatal diagnosis, clinical applications, microbiology, food microbiology, plant/ ecology genomics, environmental testing and other novel applications.
J Chem Biol (2016) 9:143–148
The 5th Official Conference of the International Chemical Biology Society Translational Chemical Biology October 24th-26th, 2016 Memorial Union 800 Langdon Street Madison, WI 53706, USA Session topics: & & & & & & & & & & &
Human MicroBiome Neurodegenerative and Neurological Disorders Cancer Infectious Disease Regenerative Medicine Natural Products Chemistry and Biology Biosensors and Imaging Chemical Biology of Lipids Epigenetics Rising Stars: Young Chemical Biologist Award Poster Session
The 2017 EMBL-Cancer Core Europe Conference on Cancer Immunotherapy
147
2nd Zing Genomic Integrity Conference 2017 9th – 13th July 2017 The second Zing conference on ‘Genomic Integrity’ in Dublin will build on the success of the 2015 conference held in Cairns, Australia. The meeting will focus on the molecular pathways that protect living organisms from deleterious genetic changes. It will include sessions covering both established areas in the field, including excision repair pathways, DNA damage signalling, translesion synthesis and recombination as well as more emergent topics such as DNA damage in mitosis and the role of RNA in the DNA damage response. There will also be sessions covering human disorders and therapeutic targeting of genome stability. The program will include time for vibrant group discussions, poster sessions and ample time for individual interactions. The key goal of this international meeting is to allow the community of scientists working in this highly interconnected set of sub-fields to come together in a single location, so as to share their exciting results and to discuss their thoughts for future research directions and collaborations. http://www.zingconferences.com/conferences/genomicintegrity-2017/
2 - 4 Feb 2017 EMBL Heidelberg, Germany The 2017 EMBL-Cancer Core Europe Conference on Cancer Immunotherapy will cover highly relevant subdisciplines of cancer immunology with a special focus on personalised immunotherapy. The conference will bring together basic, translational and clinical scientists and physicians from academics to industry.
The Non-Coding Genome 13–16 September 2017 EMBL Heidelberg, Germany
Topics Unleashing endogenous immunity Clinical studies of T cell-based immunotherapies Markers of effective immune responses Targeting the microenvironment Inducing immunity http://www.embl.de/training/events/2017/CCE17-01/index. html
This symposium will explore the diverse, dynamic and multifaceted roles of RNA across a spectrum of cellular processes. It will provide an interdisciplinary discussion of the roles of non-coding RNAs in both prokaryotes and eukaryotes, with the aim of enhancing our understanding of gene regulation and function. http://www.embo-embl-symposia.org/
148
The Mobile Genome: Genetic and Physiological Impacts of Transposable Elements 11–14 October 2017 EMBL Heidelberg, Germany, The meeting will stimulate interdisciplinary discussions on various key topics including the impact of mobile DNA on genome structure and evolution, novel advances in the mechanism of transposition and transposon defence as well as the developmental and physiological roles of transposition. http://www.embo-embl-symposia.org/
J Chem Biol (2016) 9:143–148
3rd Zing Bacterial Cell Biology Conference 2017 14th – 17th November 2017 The 3rd Zing Bacterial Cell Biology Conference will take place in November 2017 in Tampa, Florida. A full synopsis detailing the themes and topics of this conference will be available in the near future. http://www.zingconferences.com/conferences/3rd-zingbacterial-cell-conference-2017/
