Day: September 29, 2015

We invite PhD students and postdocs from all branches of the life sciences that like to participate in the one-week Life Sciences with Industry 2015 Lorentz workshop in Leiden: November 16 – 20, 2015. During the workshop, the about 40 participants tackle in groups of eight six scientifically challenging and commercially important problems formulated by six companies.

The workshop will take place in Leiden in the building of the Lorentz Center, an organisation that is specialised in organising scientific workshops (www.lorentzcenter.nl).

To create multi-disciplinary teams, participants will be selected based on their (i) specific background in the life sciences, (ii) motivation to participate, and (iii) date of registration.

Registration on the workshop website: www.lorentzcenter.nl/lc/web/2015/762/info.php3?wsid=762&venue=Oort
Deadline: Sunday October 18, 2015.

Participation is free of charge, including hotel accommodation during the workshop. Also lunches and two workshop dinners are covered. The workshop is sponsored by the Lorentz Center, the Research School BioSB (www.biosb.nl), STW (www.stw.nl) and the companies involved.

Need more information?
Contact Yousra Jaddour at the Lorentz Center: jaddour@lorentzcenter.nl or +31-71-527 5578.

The organisers
Dr. Ellen Feddes (STW)
Dr. Gökhan Ertaylan (MaCSBio, Maastricht University)
Dr. Jurgen R. Haanstra (VU University Amsterdam)
prof. em. Dr. Roel van Driel (University of Amsterdam)

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Six industrial challenges Life Sciences with Industry 2015

New possibilities for developing disease-resistant plants
Bejo Zaden B.V. (www.bejo.nl)

Technologies to modulate galactosylation and fucosylation in human antibodies production in clonal cell lines
Bioceros B.V. (www.bioceros.com)

Isolation of phospholipids from fresh cow milk
Nutricia Danone (www.nutricia.nl)

Applications of a novel low-cost/disposable high resolution and sensitive detector in health and biotechnology
NXP Semiconductors B.V. (www.nxp.com)

Quantifying the quality of light for human-centric lighting solutions: how to objectively measure (visual) comfort and well-being
Philips Research (www.research.philips.com)

Automated 3D imaging and analysis systems to measure plant volume and other critical parameters of seed germination and seedling establishment
Syngenta (www3.syngenta.com/country/nl/nl/Pages/home.aspx)

More information about BioSB can be found at www.lorentzcenter.nl.

Target audience
The course is suitable for both PhD students working in structural bioinformatics as well as for PhD students in the life sciences who want to learn more about using structural informatioin in their research.
The course schedule accommodates both groups, parallel sessions for both groups will be scheduled when necessary.

Course Description
In the right hands, protein structures are a ‘power’ful tool to answer bio-molecular questions. Knowledge of the structure is a pre-requisite for rational drug design, for biotechnology, for chemical biology, and for answering a whole series of biomedical questions. In this course we will discuss the ‘production’ of protein structures by NMR, X-ray, and homology modelling. These methods all have their pro’s and cons so a certain ‘prowess’ is needed to follow all ‘promises’ and start attacking bio-medical ‘problems’ using protein structures.

The course will be split in three parts.
Part 1) Looking and seeing things in protein structures, learning to operate the software, understanding some of the algorithms.
Part 2) Protein structure determination (prediction) with NMR, X-ray, and homology modelling, and the possibilities and problems that come with each of these three techniques.
Part 3) Applying all that was learned in real-life example studies.

Course topics
Day 1: Homology modelling
Day 2: Protein structure comparison
Day 3: Electrostatics and molecular dynamics
Day 4: Protein structure determination and validation
Day 5: Own project executed with help from CMBI staff.

Examples of questions you will be able to answer after following the course:
-Why is a person with this mutation sick? Or in other words, how does the molecular phenotype cause a disease state?
-This enzyme converts mannose. Can I make is specificity broader?
-This enzyme doesn’t function in my in vitro assay. Should I add some ions?
-I want to add a tag to my enzyme, should I put it on the N-terminus, the C-terminus, or is something different needed?
-This receptor binds a ligand, but if I look at the structure, that ligand doesn’t fit at all. Can I predict motions that take place upon ligand binding?

BioSB Education Programme
This course is part of the Education Programme of BioSB, the Netherlands Bioinformatics and Systems Biology research school, which offers training and education for in bioinformatics and systems biology.

More information about BioSB can be found at www.biosb.nl.

Please note that this course is free of charge for PhDs who are or will become a member of the BioSB research school, and with a reduced fee for other researchers who are or will become a member of BioSB.

From 19-23 October 2015, the AIMMS postgraduate “Practical Course in Biomolecular Modelling” will run, with hands-on tutorials and morning lectures by Wilfred van Gunsteren, Sereina Riniker, Daan Geerke and Chris de Graaf. Please check out further information and the programme at http://www.aimms.vu.nl/en/news-events/events/2015/2015-10-19-aimms-post-graduate-course.asp ; registration via the website is still possible (until 29 September)

More information about BioSB can be found at www.aimms.vu.nl/en/news-events/events/2015/2015-10-19-aimms-post-graduate-course.asp.