EMBL Australia

The EMBL Australia group is growing, with two renowned research institutes – the Garvan Institute of Medical Research and QIMR Berghofer Medical Research Institute – joining our Partner Laboratory Network.

News this quarter:

• Ancient DNA expert Professor Alan Cooper to give public address at the EMBL Australia PhD Course on 12 July 2017
• Swiss researcher Dr Harald Janovjak announced as a new EMBL Australia group leader
• Join EMBL for their first alumni event to be held in Australia
• EMBL’s Head of Electron Microscopy Core Facility, Dr Yannick Schwab, will present at EMBL Australia’s PhD Course
• Gaus group researchers have developed a sensor to measure membrane charges in live cells
• The Davidovich group has further enhanced our knowledge on how genes are regulated

And more:

• Student opportunities
• Upcoming events
• Job opportunities

Opportunities are available for students interested in the EMBL Australia PhD Course, travel grants for PhD students and postdoctoral fellows and financial support for the 19th EMBL PhD Symposium in Heidelberg.

Dr Yannick Schwab, team leader and head of electron microscopy core facility at EMBL, will travel from EMBL Heidelberg to join us and 60 first and second-year PhD students at the EMBL Australia PhD Course in July at Monash University.

Alex Ma, Katharina Gaus and their colleagues have developed a fluorescence membrane charge sensor (MCS) that reports changes in electrostatic interactions at the inner leaflet of the plasma membrane in live cells.

Professor Alan Cooper, the 2016 South Australian Scientist of the Year and prominent ancient DNA researcher, will give a plenary address to the students at our PhD Course in July.

His passion for regenerative medicine has seen him work all over the world and now Dr Harald Janovjak is bringing his expertise to EMBL Australia as a group leader based at the Australian Regenerative Medicine Institute at Monash University either later this year or in early 2018.

In collaboration with an assembly of highly recognised international scientists, EMBL Australia group leader Chen Davidovich and Nobel Laureate Thomas Cech (Howard Hughes Medical Institute and University of Colorado at Boulder) have discovered how a gene-suppressing enzyme recognises genes product.

Morgan Oatley is one of Australia’s first students to enter the esteemed EMBL International PhD Programme. Read our interview with Morgan about the programming and studying abroad.

Seven years since it started in 2009, the Victorian Life Sciences Computation Initiative (VLSCI) has re-launched as Melbourne Bioinformatics.