News / 31 July 2017

Dozens of life science leaders from across the nation – and several from across the globe – travelled to Melbourne to share their expertise with sixty hand-picked young scientists at the 4thEMBL Australia PhD Course.

The line-up of 57 presenters comprised Nobel Laureate Professor Ada Yonath and other eminent scientists, including:

  • EMBL Australia Scientific Head Professor James Whisstock
  • The Jackson Laboratory for Mammalian Genetics Scientific Director Professor Nadia Rosenthal
  • South Australian Scientist of the Year 2016 Professor Alan Cooper
  • EMBL Electron Microscopy Core Facility Head Dr Yannick Schwab
  • Walter and Eliza Hall Institute Director Professor Doug Hall
  • The Garvan Institute of Medical Research Director Professor John Mattick and
  • The Bio21 Institute Director Professor Michael Parker.
  • Several presentations were also opened to the public.

Modelled on the compulsory pre-doc training program of the prestigious European Molecular Biology Laboratory (EMBL), the course covered a wide range of topics – from epigenetics and bioinformatics to translational and clinical sciences – exposing students to the latest ideas in molecular biology and infrastructure available in Australia.
Other highlights of the two-week residential program, held at Monash University between July 9 and 21, included a panel discussion with industry leaders on translating biomedical research, a tour of the Australian Synchrotron, practical workshops and a poster session where students shared their own research with their peers.

Social events assisted the first and second-year PhD students in developing their network of scientific contacts and forging relationships for future collaborations.

Several students also volunteered to guest tweet on the EMBL Australia Twitter account, at one point propelling the course hashtag (#EMBLAPhD) into the top ten trending topics in Australia.

The calibre of presenters at the course was a testament to the hard work of the group leaders on the Organising Committee – Edwina McGlinn (Chair), Maté Biro, Chen Davidovich and Max Cryle – and student programs coordinator Paul Jones.

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