CENTURI Summer School
2022

CENTURI Summer School
2022

From data to biology and back

June 20 - July 01, 2022 -  Luminy campus (Marseille, France)

Traditionally, scientists and engineers have distinct jobs: while scientists experiment and discover, engineers design and build. But this distinction no longer stands today, and engineers participate in the scientific process of discovery in many ways. This is particularly true since the advent of technologies for high-throughput data acquisition in fields such as genomics and neuroscience, that allow studying the structure, function, growth and chemistry of living systems with unprecedented resolution. New mathematical and computing methods may contribute to a better understanding of the complexity and dynamics of living systems.

The time has come for reverse engineering biological systems: in the century ahead, engineers will be essential contributors for understanding many unanswered questions in biology.

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We created the CENTURI Summer School to build bridges between scientists and engineers, allowing them to meet, exchange and work together on interdisciplinary projects.

The CENTURI summer school is aimed at students from Master of Science and engineering schools (Bachelor students in their final year are also accepted) with backgrounds in Physics, Mathematics and Computational Sciences who are interested in applying their skills towards problems in Biology. The summer school, entitled “From data to biology and back”, will introduce major open questions in systems biology. It will address those questions through the use of state-of–the-art techniques for analyzing and modelling data sets, via hands-on projects.

Program

The mornings will be dedicated to lectures by high-level speakers to tackle biology’s challenges in data analysis but also to presentation of experimental methods used to collect biological data in experimental labs. The afternoons are dedicated to hands-on projects on biological data. Participants will work in small groups and use state-of-the-art equipment to collect and analyze biological data sets. Participants will also have the chance to present their project and benefit from valuable feedback from a tutor and a scientific committee.

Morning workshops

  • Workshops in biology, with high-level international speakers round different thematics

Image analysis (segmentation)

Time series processing (autocorrelation, classification, etc.)

Dimension reduction (linear PCA, nonlinear UMAP)

Classical statistical tests for data comparison

Clustering methods (k-means, hierarchical clustering, classification from neural networks, ..)

Invited speakers

  • Open questions in machine learning with Thomas Walter
  • Open questions in neuroscience with Adrienne Fairhall
  • Open questions in genetics and evolution with LLuis Quintana-Murci
  • Open questions in neurobiology with Rosa Cossart 
  • Open questions in epidemiology with Arnaud Fontanet

Afternoon projects

Enrolled participants will work in small groups (3-5 people) on concrete biological data analysis projects (proposed by Principal investigators) during the afternoons of the summer school. Each group will be advised by a mentor, who will guide and support students to solve the projects' biological questions, using biological data analysis. The type of data will vary depending on projects. At the end of the summer school, participants will present their project to instructors and fellow participants.

CENTURI internship program

The CENTURI Summer School is also coupled with CENTURI internship program. This program offers funded internships of 3 to 6 months in research laboratories, strictly for engineering students. CENTURI internship program is the opportunity for engineering students to apply their skills in maths, physics and computer science to biological questions. Students participating in the internship programme are expected to participate in the Summer School.”

Students participating to the internship programme can also join the Summer School.

Useful information

The Summer School will welcome 25 students.  Applicants should have some experience using Matlab and Python. Each student should bring a laptop.

Our Summer School is aimed at students from Master of Science and engineering schools (Bachelor students in their final year are also accepted) with backgrounds in Physics, Mathematics and Computational Sciences who are interested in applying their skills towards problems in Biology.

 

Registration fees: 75€ (excluding taxes)

Students who joined our internship program are exempted from registration fees.

 

For informal enquiries: info@centuri-livingsystems.org

Deadline for application: April 29, 2022

Housing

Housing will be provided to non-local attendees (free of charge).

Participants will be hosted at the CROUS on the Luminy Campus.

Venue

CENTURI Summer School's morning workshops will take place on the Luminy Campus, in the Hexagone

Afternoon projects will take place in the tutors' lab / institute. 

campus