Summer School in Computational Life Sciences

Scientific Organising Committee:

• Dr. Marc Beyer (German Center for Neurodegenerative Diseases (DZNE), Germany)
• Prof. Dr. Joachim L. Schultze (German Center for Neurodegenerative Diseases (DZNE), Germany)
• Dr. Tal Shay (Ben Gurion University, Israel)

Event:

The field of computational life sciences has grown rapidly over the years, with single-cell OMICs playing an increasingly important role in analysing biological systems at a cellular level. Both the immune system and the brain are some of the most complex biological systems, and single-cell OMICs has revolutionised our understanding of them. In addition, new concepts such as Swarm Learning and memory-driven computing are changing the landscape of computational life sciences, offering exciting opportunities for research in these fields. In light of this, GIF will organise a three-and-a-half-day summer school in computational life sciences bridging the fields of single-cell OMICs, immunology, brain analysis, Swarm Learning, and advanced computation in collaboration with DZNE in Germany (lead: Prof. Joachim Schultze, Systems Medicine) and Ben Gurion University (lead: Tal Shay, ImmunoInformatics, Life Sciences) in Israel.

Optimally such a retreat would allow a get-together of approximately 20 junior researchers (PhD and postdocs) from these two institutions with additional partners from Israel and Germany welcome to join.

The primary objective of this summer school is to provide students and early-career researchers with the necessary computational and analytical skills to conduct cutting-edge research in single-cell OMICs analysis of the immune system and the brain using Swarm Learning and memory-driven computing concepts. The programme will cover various topics related to experimental design, data acquisition, preprocessing, analysis, and interpretation of single-cell OMICs data using these new approaches. The programme will also provide opportunities for hands-on training and working on real-world problems related to both organ systems.

The GIF and its German partner institution will collaborate with DZNE and Ben Gurion University to organise this summer school. The academic partners will provide experienced lecturers, researchers, and technicians who will lead the lectures, workshops, and hands-on training sessions. They will also try to attract 2-3 external speakers.