Computational Molecular Evolution 13-24 April 2015

Wellcome Trust Genome Campus, Hinxton, Cambridge, UK

Application deadline: 14 November 2014

Course summary

This 2-week advanced course aims to provide graduate and postgraduate researchers with the theoretical knowledge and practical skills to carry out molecular evolutionary analyses on sequence data.

The need for effective and informed analysis of biological sequence data is increasing with the explosive growth of biological sequence databases. A molecular evolutionary framework is central to many Bioinformatics approaches used in these analyses, e.g., de novo gene finding from genomic sequences.

Additionally, explicit use of molecular evolutionary and phylogenetic analyses provide important insights in their own right, e.g., analysis of adaptive evolution in viruses providing clues to their interaction with host immune systems.

This course will offer a unique opportunity for direct interaction with some of the world-leading scientists and authors of famous analysis tools in evolutionary bioinformatics (John Huelsebeck, Olivier Gascuel, Nick Goldman, Bruce Rannala, Alexandros Stamatakis, Ziheng Yang, etc.).

Topics

• Data retrieval and assembly
• Next Generation Sequencing technologies*
• Alignment techniques
• Phylogeny reconstruction
• Hypothesis testing
• Analysis of selection
• Analysis of divergence times
• Population genetics approaches
• Parallel computing

The course will cover sessions on analysis of both protein and nucleotide sequences, including NGS data. *Please note: The course focuses on NGS analyses for molecular evolution and does not include tutorials on the traditional DNA-seq or RNA-seq data processing (QC, read mapping, SNP calling, assembly etc).

Course organisers

• Goldman (European Bioinformatics Institute, Hinxton, UK)
• Ziheng Yang (University College London, UK)
• Aidan Budd (European Molecular Biology Laboratory, Heidelberg, Germany)
• Alexandros Stamatakis (Heidelberg Institute for Theoretical Studies)
• Laura Emery (European Bioinformatics Institute, Hinxton, UK)

How to apply

Prerequisites
Preference will be given to applicants who:

• are doctoral candidates in the early to middle stages of their thesis research
• already have some familiarity with phylogenetic methods (i.e. have already used some of the relevant tools)
• have already collected/assembled molecular sequence datasets to analyze in their work
• have experience working in a Unix/Linux command-line environment

Cost
The course is subsidised by the Wellcome Trust. The course is residential and is there is a charge of £1625 towards board and lodging for non-commercial applicants.The fee for commercial applicants is £3200.

Bursaries
Limited bursaries are available for non-commercial applicants (up to 50% of fee) and are subject to open competition. If you would like to apply for a bursary, please complete the bursary section of the online application form (see below for application process).

Applications
Application forms for this course can now be completed online. If you have any problems with the online application process, please email us.

Please note: Applications must be supported by a recommendation from a scientific sponsor. This can be your supervisor or head of department. A request for a supporting statement will be sent to your nominated sponsor automatically during the application process. Applicants must ensure that their sponsor provides this supporting statement by the application deadline.

Deadlines
Application deadline: 14 November 2014