Image: Adobe Stock image generated by AI
Image: Adobe Stock image generated by AI
We cordially invite you to attend the KBC DAYS 2023 conference with the main theme "AI in research" on 7-8 November!
Submit your images latest on 7 November.
When: Tuesday, 7 November - Wednesday, 8 November 2023
Where: Carl Kempe salen (KB.E3.03) (MAP) and other locations at KBC
We invite you to participate in the KBC DAYS, an annual interdisciplinary conference! This conference aims to foster collaborations between different departments and research centres affiliated with the Chemical Biological Centre, KBC, including departments from two faculties from Umeå University as well as from the Faculty of Forest Sciences, SLU.
A scientific focus this year will be on "AI in research". We welcome you to listen to the plenary lectures and other presentations exploring the intersection between Artificial Intelligence (AI) and various fields of science and discussing how we can use the advantages of AI in our daily work, research, or science communication!
We also welcome newcomers to KBC and longer-term KBC residents and other curious researchers to learn or update themselves about the research infrastructures available at KBC and Campus Umeå, get to know more about their services and join the guided tours to their facilities!
You will also gain insights into what has currently or recently happened at KBC by listening to exciting scientific talks from new faculty members of the KBC environment, awardees and researchers who received major grants in the last year, presentations by PhD students and activities organised by the Umeå Postdoc Society (UPS)!
As usual, the KBC DAYS will bring researchers from different departments and scientific disciplines together and offer plenty of opportunities to network, participate in engaging discussions and panel sessions and generate new ideas and new collaborations!
9 October - registration deadline for the doctoral course "Science Communication: Elevator Pitch" (2 ECTS). Registration is closed!
25 October - registration deadline for the KBC DAYS 2023. Registration is closed!
2 November - registration deadline for the Workshop "How to use OpenAI API to identify functional relationships between genes", 6 November. Registration is closed!
7 November - image submission deadline for the contest "AI generated image of my research". Closed.
8 November 13:00 - VOTE for your favourite image!
Prof. Dr. Mark Bender Gerstein, Ph.D., Yale University, USA
(Albert L. Williams Professor of Biomedical Informatics, Professor of Molecular Biophysics and Biochemistry, of Statistics and Data Science, and of Computer Science; Co-director of the Yale Computational Biology and Bioinformatics program; Co-director of the Yale Center for Biomedical Data Science)
Resume
Prof. Gerstein obtained his B.A. in physics in 1989 from Harvard University and in 1993 earned a doctorate in theoretical chemistry and biophysics after studies of conformational change of proteins under the mentorship of Prof. Ruth Lynden-Bell and Prof. Cyrus Chothia at Cambridge University. From 1993 to 1996, Prof. Gerstein was a postdoctoral fellow in bioinformatics at Stanford University, guided by the 2013 Chemistry Nobel Laureate Prof. Michael Levitt. He came to Yale University in 1997 as an assistant professor.
Prof. Gerstein’s research provides a comprehensive look at extremely complex and stochastic biological processes. Via mapping complex situations and their elements, he employs network analyses to establish a systems view of cells, whole organisms, and their populations. Thus, a central element (e.g., a protein or gene) is defined by its position in a network, the connectivity of which explains and predicts phenotypes and behaviors based on different hierarchies. To achieve that, his group has established a wide range of computational approaches based on data mining, machine learning, molecular simulation, and database design. His primary research interests include comparative and functional genomics (from personal genomics through disease and cancer genomics to neurogenomics), simulation of macromolecular structures and motions, and molecular network analysis. Biosafety is intimately linked to personal genomics and therefore an integral part of Prof. Gerstein’s research interests—it is where security and molecular biology interplay, setting a new level of (bio)ethics.
Prof. Gerstein’s laboratory developed significant tools and databases: the Database of Macromolecular Motions, tYNA, PubNET, PeakSeq and CNVnator. His research unit contributed to the development of scientific consortia, including ENCODE, modENCODE, 1000 Genomes projects, Brainspan and DOE Kbase. Prof. Gerstein is an AAAS fellow and a fellow of the International Society for Computational Biology. Among his awards and honors are the W. M. Keck Foundation Distinguished Young Scholars Award, and prizes from the US Navy, IBM, Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America, and the Donaghue Foundation.
Assoc. Prof. Marek Mutwil, School of Biological Sciences, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore
Assoc. Prof. Marek Mutwil is a computational biologist with a Ph.D. from the University of Potsdam in 2011, Germany, and a Master's (2007) and Bachelor's (2005) degree in Biochemistry from the University of Copenhagen, Denmark. He led the Regulatory Networks group at the Max Planck Institute of Molecular Plant Physiology, Germany (2012-2016). He has been serving as an Assistant Professor (2017-2022) and Associate Professor (2022-) at the Nanyang Technological University, School of Biological Sciences, Singapore. His research is a fusion of experimental and computational methods, targeting plant evolution, specialized metabolism, and stress acclimation.
Time in the programme is Central European Time (CET), e.g. Stockholm, Umeå
Note! The programme is preliminary and subject to change
8.30 Registration and poster mounting
(Chairperson: Stefan Björklund)
9.00 Welcome
Stefan Björklund
Scientific Coordinator of KBC
9.05 Opening of the KBC DAYS 2023
Mikael Elofsson
Dean, Faculty of Science and Technology, Umeå University
9.15 Tribute to Carl Kempe
Gunnar Öquist
Professor Emeritus, Department of Plant Physiology, Umeå Plant Science Centre, Umeå University
9.30 IceLab and the Center for modeling adaptive mechanisms in living systems under stress
Martin Rosvall
Director of IceLab, Department of Physics, Umeå University
9.45 AI-assisted deep learning segmentation and quantitative analysis of X-ray micro tomography data
Anna Strandberg
Department of Applied Physics and Electronics, Umeå University
10.00 Studying microbial communities from past and present aquatic systems with environmental DNA
Eric Capo
Department of Ecology and Environmental Science, Umeå University
10.15 Coffee break
(Chairperson: Nasim Sabouri)
10.35 A unique light source to realize miniature particle accelerators and film electron motion in matter
László Veisz
Relativistic Attosecond Physics Laboratory (REAL), Department of Physics, Umeå University
10.50 Innovative treatment for extrapulmonary benefits in COPD
André Nyberg
Department of Community Medicine and Rehabilitation, Umeå University
11.05 The AI Council at the Faculty of Medicine, UmU: Vision, long-term goals, strategic action plans and activities
Jenny Persson
Chair of the Faculty of Medicine's Council for AI and Autonomous Systems
11.15 The ageing chaperome - from phenotype to functionality
Verena Kohler
Department of Molecular Biology, Umeå University
11.30 Ultrafast nanoscience: from understanding the structure and function of materials and molecules to next generation technologies using light
Nicolò Maccaferri
Department of Physics, Umeå University
11.45 Light harvesting in the world’s most cosmopolitan algae
Heidi Burdett
Department of Ecology and Environmental Science, Umeå University
12.00 Lunch break
(Chairperson: Micael Jonsson)
13.00 Prisutdelning för att fira Bror Holmbergs medalj till Knut Irgum / Award ceremony to celebrate Bror Holmbergs medal awarded to Knut Irgum
Hans Adolfsson
Vice-chancellor, Umeå University
13.10 Aboveground-Belowground Linkages and Global Change
David Wardle
Department of Ecology and Environmental Science, Umeå University
13.25 "Elevator talk" presentations by PhD students (Part I) (2 min each)
13.35 Plant science for a sustainable green transformation of the subarctic
Stefan Jansson
Department of Plant Physiology, Umeå Plant Science Centre, Umeå University
13.50 Elevator talk presentations by PhD students (Part II) (2 min each)
14.00 Poster presentations by PhD students
Coffee
(Chairperson: Nikola Zlatkov Kolev)
15.00 Keynote lecture I: AI in Biomedicine
Prof. Dr. Mark B. Gerstein
Yale University, USA
16.00 Students and teachers in the center - my experience as a teacher and director of studies
Caroline Blomquist
Department of Ecology and Environmental Science, Umeå University
16.10 Quality control of mitochondrially encoded proteins
Andreas Kohler
Department of Medical Biochemistry and Biophysics, Umeå University
16.25 Functional proteomics of human gut microbiome species
André Mateus
Department of Chemistry, Umeå University
16.40 Poster viewing and mingling before the dinner starts
18.00 Dinner
- Announcement of the PhD student presentation prize winners
(Chairperson: Stephan Wenkel)
8.45 Innovative inspiration: Opportunities with research in Umeå
Johan Hedengran
Business Developer at Uminova Innovation, Umeå
9.00 Keynote lecture II: Large language models in biology
Assoc. Prof. Marek Mutwil
School of Biological Sciences, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore
9.45 Coffee break
(Chairperson and moderator: Pallabi Sengupta)
10.00 Introduction of Umeå Postdoc Society: activities and aims
Maximiliano Estravis Barcala
Umeå Postdoc Society
10.10 Science communication and Grant writing
Speaker: Simone Wenkel, Research Coordinator at Research Support and Collaboration Office, Umeå University
Panelists:
Atin Sharma, Department of Molecular Biology, Umeå University
Selma Dahmane, Department of Medical Biochemistry and Biophysics, Umeå University
10.55 Break
11.00 Transition from Academia to Industry
Speaker: Pia Keyser, Business coach, Umeå Biotech Incubator
Panelists:
Sofia Mayans, Innovation and Business advisor, SLU Holding
Joanna Porankiewicz Asplund, Technical Support Manager, Agrisera
Lotta Edvinsson, Temporary Team Manager and Senior Consultant Quality & Management, Knightec
11.45 Posters by Research Infrastructures
and standing lunch
(Chairperson: Linda Sandblad)
13.00 Introduction
Linda Sandblad
Director of Umeå Centre for Electron Microscopy and SciLifeLab Site Umeå
13.10 MAXS – Multi-purpose adaptive X-ray scattering platform for a broad user community
Nils Skoglund
Department of Applied Physics and Electronics, Umeå University
13.20 BioMolecular Characterization Unit (BMCU) – New research infrastructure at KBC
Johan Olofsson Edlund
Department of Medical Biochemistry and Biophysics, Umeå University
13.30 Protein Production in Plant Cells at the Protein Expertise Platform, PEP
Uwe Sauer
Head of the Protein Expertise Platform, Department of Chemistry, Umeå University
13.40 Atomic Force Microscopy
Roushdey Sahl, Director of NanoLab, Department of Physics, Umeå University
Fouzia Bano, Department of Clinical Microbiology, Umeå University
Stephane Verger, Department of Plant Physiology, Umeå Plant Science Centre, Umeå University
13.55 Coffee break
and time to talk to infrastructure’ representatives by their posters
(Chairperson: Madeleine Ramstedt)
14.15 MIMS, Recent developments and future directions
Anna Överby Wernstedt
Deputy Director of Molecular Infection Medicine Sweden (MIMS), Department of Clinical Microbiology, Umeå University
14.30 Shining Light on Viral Assembly and Replication through Structural Biology
Max Renner
Department of Chemistry, Umeå University
14.45 Machine learning approaches for novel secondary metabolite discovery
Laura Carroll
DDLS Fellow, Department of Clinical Microbiology and Molecular Infection Medicine Sweden (MIMS), Umeå University
15.00 Light-emitting Electrochemical Cells: Basic Understanding for Practical Devices
Ludvig Edman
Department of Physics, Umeå University
15.15 Bacterial pore-forming proteins: ancient, but not out of fashion
Aftab Nadeem
Department of Molecular Biology, Umeå University
15.30 Concluding remarks
Stefan Björklund
Scientific Coordinator of KBC
- Announcement of the image contest prize winner
15.35 Guided tours to infrastructure facilities
Science Communication: Elevator Pitch (2 ECTS) course, 11, 16, 20 October and 6 November
If you are a PhD student, we encourage you to present your project during the KBC DAYS 2023, November 7-8, in the form of an elevator talk and a poster. To help you present yourself and your project in the best way, we offer you to participate in the course "Science Communication: Elevator Pitch (2 ECTS)". The four-day course will be held on 11, 16, 20 October and 6 November in Glasburen, KBC. Target group: all admitted PhD students, but midterm PhD students will be given priority for course participation. If space allows, some Postdoctoral fellows may be admitted. The number of course places is limited (first come, first served)!
Registration is closed.
Workshop "How to use OpenAI API to identify functional relationships between genes" given by Assoc. Prof. Marek Mutwil on 6 November
PhD students and Postdocs are welcome to join the workshop "How to use OpenAI API to identify functional relationships between genes", where you can learn how to use GPT API for text mining. The workshop will be organised on Monday, 6 November, 9:00-10:00, in Stora Fokusrummet, KBC.
Target group: young researchers.
Registration is closed!
"AI-generated image of my research" contest
In the same spirit as this year's theme, we ask you to submit image(s) for the “AI-generated image of my research” contest. You do not need special skills or equipment to generate such an image - just be creative and choose the right keywords! Use your favourite AI image generator (we have a few tips on the contest webpage).
The image should represent a creative and artistic vision of your research or what science inspires you about. As a heading, please submit the sentence you used to generate it and which generator was used. Each person can submit 1 to 3 images.
The deadline to submit your image is 7 November 2023.
The voting will start on Day 2 of the KBC DAYS, Wednesday, 8 November, and continues until after lunch, 13:00.
The photo contest winner will be announced at the end of the conference on Wednesday, 8 November, at around 15:30.
The contest is open to the participants of the KBC DAYS and everyone else related to the KBC environment!
Find more detailed rules and submit your images here: https://pollunit.com/en/polls/kbc_image_contest_2023
Scientific Organisers
Stefan Björklund, Professor, Department of Medical Biochemistry and Biophysics, Scientific Coordinator of KBC, Umeå University
Magnus Andersson, Professor, Department of Physics, Umeå University
Micael Jonsson, Associate professor, Department of Ecology and Environmental Sciences, Umeå University
Pallabi Sengupta, Postdoc, Department of Medical Biochemistry and Biophysics, and Umeå PostDoc Society (UPS)
Stephan Wenkel, Professor, Department of Plant Physiology, Umeå Plant Science Centre, Umeå University
Nikola Zlatkov Kolev, Senior research engineer, Department of Molecular Biology, Umeå University
Conference Organisers
Stefan Björklund, Professor, Department of Medical Biochemistry and Biophysics, Scientific coordinator of KBC, Umeå University
Anna Shevtsova, Communications officer, KBC, Umeå University
Ingrid Söderbergh, Research coordinator, Umeå Centre for Microbial Research (UCMR), Umeå University
Anaïs Lamy, Communications officer, KBC, Umeå University
Anna Shevtsova, PhD, Communications officer, KBC
E-mail: info.kbc@umu.se, anna.shevtsova@umu.se
Tel. +46 (0)70 547 2672
Rebecca Forsberg, PhD, science communicator for SciLifeLab Site Umeå and the Chemical Biological Centre (KBC)
E-mail: info.kbc@umu.se, rebecca.forsberg@umu.se
Visiting Address: KBC-building, KB.J3(C3.25.25), Linnaeus väg 6, 90736 Umeå
The best elevator pitch presentation prize is sponsored by Agrisera.
Watch Agrisera's video presentation here: Agrisera - Your local antibody and reagent supplier
Our sponsoring companies have the opportunity to present themselves and their products at a table in the mingling area during the two days of the conference.
