Welcome to the Structural Biology Platform FINStruct and Instruct-ERIC Centre Finland 2023 Annual Meeting

FINStruct 2023 Annual meeting will be held on 13.10.2023 at Biocity, Joki Presidentti-auditorium Tykistökatu 6, Turku, at 9:00-17:00. The event consists of talks by invited speakers, young scientists and companies as well as a poster session to present your work and meet the staff of various core facilities.

 

Time:                 13.10.2023, at 9:00-17:00

Venue:               Biocity, Joki Presidentti-auditorium, Tykistökatu 6, Turku

Registration:       The event is free of charge. Registration is required: deadline 3.10.2023 (see website)

Website:             https://turkuproteincore.utu.fi/finstruct2023/

 

FINStruct is the Structural Biology Platform of Biocenter Finland and coordinates all research infrastructure requirements of the national structural biology network. It provides integrated structural biology services and training to support research and innovation in life sciences. FINStruct services are provided by core facilities at five universities (Helsinki, Oulu, Eastern Finland, Turku, and Åbo Academi), and coordinated by the University of Helsinki.
Instruct-ERIC Centre Finland is a national node of
Instruct-ERIC, one of the operators at the European Strategy Forum on Research Infrastructures (ESFRI).

                              

 

 

 

 

 

 

Single Cell Omics symposium

Register now for the Single Cell Omics symposium,

Oct 26 to 27, 2023, in Biomedicum Helsinki.

 

The symposium covers broad areas of single cell omics: from spatial interactions to epigenetic plasticity, with methodologies ranging from functional genomic screens to machine learning models, applied in a wide range of biological contexts: intestinal stem cells, brain development, immunology and cancer.

 

Program begins at 9 AM on Oct-26, and ends at 1PM on Oct-27. We will have a poster session on Oct-26 after the talks. 

The symposium is on-site only, free of charge and everybody is warmly welcome to register!

Barbara Treutlein (ETH Zurich), Oliver Stegle (EMBL Heidelberg) , Kelley Yan (Columbia University), Brian Cleary (Boston University College of Engineering), Valentina Boeva (ETH Zurich), Celine Vallot (Institut Curie), Jessica Nordlund (Uppsala University), and Mark Robinson (University of Zurich), will present their work, in addition to national speakers Sakari Vanharanta (University of Helsinki), Tuure Kinnunen (University of Eastern Finland), Pia Rantakari (University of Turku), and Satu Mustjoki (University of Helsinki).

Symposium is part of the Single Cell Course week 2023 with hands-on wet-lab and data-analysis courses for students.

 

Organising team: Anna Vähärautio, Pirkko Mattila, Saara Ollila, Kati Donner, Minna Kaikkonen-Määttä, Merja Heinäniemi, Virpi Ahola, Asta Laiho, Tapio Lönnberg, Laura Elo, Eija Korpelainen.

 

Letter of Intent call open 14.8.-7.9.2023

Letter of Intent - Biocenter Finland SAB 2024 Evaluation

Biocenter Finland (BF, https://www.biocenter.fi/) is a nation-wide Life Science research infrastructure jointly hosted by University of Eastern Finland (UEF), University of Helsinki (UH), University of Oulu (UO), Tampere University (TAU), University of Turku (UTU) and Åbo Akademi University (ÅAU). BF Platforms support frontier research by providing open-access technology services. Currently BF has 15 Technology Platforms and each Platform functions as a network of distributed Nodes in several host universities with clearly defined complementary tasks. BF’s investment resources are applied for from the Research Infrastructure Calls (FIRI Calls) of the Academy of Finland – Finnish Research Council, while the Platforms’ key personnel’s salary costs and the Coordination Office’s costs are covered by the host universities.

The Academy of Finland will organize the next FIRI Roadmap call 2025-2028 most likely in spring 2024. The Technology Platforms are selected to BF for four-year period based on Scientific Advisory Board (SAB) recommendation. The selected organization of BF Platforms will then be used in the next BF’s FIRI Roadmap application for Academy of Finland.

BF invites applications for Technology Platforms for 2025-2028. The call will be open to existing Platforms, new Platform openings and inclusion of new nodes to existing Platforms.

Important details about the BF SAB 2024 Evaluation:

Call for Letter of Intent (LoI)

Both existing platforms and new platform initiatives are requested to send the LoI application. For more details, please contact: biocenterfinland (at) helsinki.fi. Letter of Intent period is open 14.8. – 7.9.2023. The BF Board will evaluate the LoI’s and give feedback to applicants before the call of full applications.

Call for full applications

The Platforms are invited to provide full applications describing the composition of the Platform, the services provided and competence including e.g. user statistics (for existing Platforms coordination office will provide the relevant reported data). The application period will be open 16.10.-1.12.2023. BF office will organize an information event before the full call, where the call details will be discussed.  

SAB evaluation / interviews

The on-site interviews and evaluation of the Platforms by the SAB will be organized on 5.-7.2.2024 in Helsinki. More information about the schedule will be provided in the autumn. The evaluation results and report of SAB will be available on early-March 2024 after which BF Board will make decisions. 

If you have any questions, do not hesitate to contact us: biocenterfinland (at) helsinki.fi.

 

 

Bridging Cancer Frontiers Symposium 2023

Join us at the upcoming Bridging Cancer Frontiers Symposium, a unique gathering focusing on cutting-edge cancer research and insights. Scheduled for August 29-31, 2023, at the Pharmacity Auditorium, Turku, Finland.

Important Notice: Registration deadline is approaching quickly! Although the symposium has no attendance fee, we kindly encourage you to register as soon as possible for catering arrangements during the breaks. Additionally, there's a special Jacobaeus Prize Concert and Dinner on Wednesday, Aug. 30, at 18:30 in Turku Castle. Make sure to register for both the symposium and dinner by Aug 15 using the links below:

Symposium Highlights: Over the course of three eventful days, the symposium will provide:

  • Comprehensive overviews of current research.
  • Discussions from leading cancer researchers, including Douglas Hanahan and Sir David Lane, with David Lane being honored with the Jacobaeus Prize from the Novo Nordisk Foundation.
  • Focused sessions on metabolic signaling pathways, HPV-mediated cancers, the role of AI in cancer research, and more.

For a full agenda and regular updates, please refer to the symposium's official web page.

Bridging Cancer Frontiers - Not just a symposium – it's the collective mission of life science researchers.

For inquiries or further information, please don't hesitate to Tämä sähköpostiosoite on suojattu spamboteilta. Tarvitset JavaScript-tuen nähdäksesi sen..

Symposium secretary: Tämä sähköpostiosoite on suojattu spamboteilta. Tarvitset JavaScript-tuen nähdäksesi sen.

 

 

 

 

DRUG DISCOVERY AND CHEMICAL BIOLOGY SYMPOSIUM

Come to learn how YOUR RESEARCH could benefit from the chemical biology and drug discovery tools available in Finland!

 
 

Date and time: May 4, 2023 between 12:00-16:00.

Place: Lecture hall 2, Biomedicum 1, Helsinki.

Format: hybrid (on site or remotely)

Online translation link (Zoom) will be provided to registered participants a few days prior to the event.

Registration: by April 15 (registration link)

Confirmed speakers:

Prof. Päivi Tammela, University of Helsinki

Dr. Michael Courtney, Turku Bioscience Centre, University of Turku and Åbo Academy University

Laxman Yetukuri, CSC – IT CENTER FOR SCIENCE LTD

 

Find out more:

Symposium's web page

DDCB consortium web page

FIMM High Throughput Biomedicine Unit (HTB)

HTB LinkedIn page

 

Call for Applications in EMBL Postdoctoral Programme

EIPOD-LinC is a Postdoctoral fellowship programme supporting promising researchers from around the world who are passionate about interdisciplinary research. The programme is designed to support the increasing diversity of career paths in Europe’s research landscape providing researchers with the mentoring, training and career development support needed to become leaders in academia, industry and beyond.

The programme is embedded in EMBL’s unique interdisciplinary and collaborative research environment. Candidates work on self-designed interdisciplinary research projects in the context of EMBL’s research programme: Molecules to Ecosystems. All projects require an EMBL Host and a partner. Partners may come from EMBL or from an academic institute, industry or clinic located in an EMBL Member State, Associate Member State or Prospect Member State. Importantly, projects must allow candidates to gain new skills contributing to interdisciplinary research skill sets.

Call deadline: January 18th, 2023.

More information: https://www.embl.org/about/info/postdoctoral-programme/eipod-linc-exploring-life-in-context/eipod-linc-application/.

 

 

Director Olli Silvennoinen Nominated as Finland’s delegate in the EMBL / EMBC Council

Director of Biocenter Finland, Professor Olli Silvennoinen, has been nominated as Finland’s delegate in the European Molecular Biology Laboratory (EMBL) Council and the European Molecular Biology Conference (EMBC) Council: https://okm.fi/paatos?decisionId=0900908f807ea443.

More information about EMBL council: https://www.embl.org/about/info/embl-council/, and EMBC: https://embc.embo.org/.

 

 

Frontiers of Science autumn 2022 seminars starts October 6th

 

 

Frontiers of Science is a 25-year-old seminar series arranged by BioCity Turku, where BioCity Turku researchers invite world-leading scientists to give a talk and present their latest results from their field of research. The seminars are intended for both researchers and students and students can get ECTs from participation.

- We are happy to be able to arrange again all the Frontiers of Science seminars on-site. Lectures won’t be recorded nor broadcasted, so the only way to listen to these great talks is to come in person and meet your colleagues, says Professor Klaus Elenius, Scientific Director of BioCity Turku.

- Also we decided to move a bit away from BioCity neighborhood and since we have plenty of BioCity Turku research groups working in Aurum, we wanted to arrange the December seminar in Argentum auditorium. The December lecture is dealing with computing, data and energy production that are topics, which surely interests many of us, Elenius continues.

Take a look at the full Frontiers of Science seminar program from here: https://biocityturku.fi/autumn-2022-programme/

Student, have a face-to-face lunch with a world-leading scientist!

BioCity Turku offers a great possibility for students and early-career postdocs to create connections for future and to learn hosting skills in a friendly environment. After each seminar, the speaker will have lunch with maximum six students with no PIs around. The atmosphere during the lunch has been very casual and positive, even leading to informal invitations to join the speaker’s research group. This is an excellent opportunity for all PhD students to start building their own scientific networks. If you got interested please send an email to Tämä sähköpostiosoite on suojattu spamboteilta. Tarvitset JavaScript-tuen nähdäksesi sen.

Frontiers of Science seminars are on Thursdays at 12:00.

The seminars are arranged either in BioCity, Presidentti auditorium (October and November) or in Aurum, Argentum auditorium (December). There is no registration to the on-site events and there is coffee and sandwich served before the seminar.

If you are a student and wish to collect ECTs, please print the Seminar Diary and ask the coordinator to sign it after the seminar.

Print the Seminar Diary from here:
https://biocityturku.fi/wp-content/uploads/2022/09/seminar-diary-autumn-2022.pdf 

Additional information

Download and add all the Frontiers of Science seminars to your calendar:
https://seafile.utu.fi/d/db29925e6f0e4becb755/

Take a look at the poster from here:
https://biocityturku.fi/wp-content/uploads/2022/09/FoS-Autumn_A3_2022_web.pdf

More information from Frontiers of Science seminars: 
https://biocityturku.fi/biocityevents/frontiers-of-science-seminars/

Any questions? Just ask!
BioCity Turku Coordinator Maija Lespinasse, +358 40 5658 654, Tämä sähköpostiosoite on suojattu spamboteilta. Tarvitset JavaScript-tuen nähdäksesi sen.

Welcome!

October 6th
Prof. Aled Clayton,
Cardiff University, UK
How do extracellular vesicles work?
Host: Janne Leivo (Tämä sähköpostiosoite on suojattu spamboteilta. Tarvitset JavaScript-tuen nähdäksesi sen.)

CANCELLED: October 13th
Ana Teixeira
, Karolinska Institutet, Sweden
Mapping and targeting membrane protein nanodomains
Host: Cecilia Sahlgren (Tämä sähköpostiosoite on suojattu spamboteilta. Tarvitset JavaScript-tuen nähdäksesi sen.)

November 3rd
Prof. Gilles van Wezel
, Leiden University, Netherlands
Ecology-inspired approaches towards antibiotic discovery in Actinobacteria
Prof. Jacques Neefjes, Leiden University Medical Center, Netherlands
Detoxifying anthracycline anti-cancer drugs for new treatment options of relapsed cancer patients
Host: Mikko Metsä-Ketelä (Tämä sähköpostiosoite on suojattu spamboteilta. Tarvitset JavaScript-tuen nähdäksesi sen.)

November 10th
Prof. Christian Wolfrum
, ETH Zürich, Switzerland
Adipocyte plasticity and its impact on metabolism
Host: Kirsi Virtanen (Tämä sähköpostiosoite on suojattu spamboteilta. Tarvitset JavaScript-tuen nähdäksesi sen.)

November 17th
Prof. Johanna Myllyharju
, University of Oulu, Finland
Prolyl 4-hydroxylation – a druggable protein modification with central roles in collagen synthesis and regulation of hypoxia response
Host: Jyrki Heino (Tämä sähköpostiosoite on suojattu spamboteilta. Tarvitset JavaScript-tuen nähdäksesi sen.)

December 8th
Frontiers of Science meets Aurum!
Prof. Gianfranco Pacchioni, Università degli Studi di Milano-Bicocca, Italy
Computer driven material discovery
Host: Dmitry Murzin (Tämä sähköpostiosoite on suojattu spamboteilta. Tarvitset JavaScript-tuen nähdäksesi sen.)

 

HiLIFE Webinars - open for researchers and students

The organizing teams the Biomedicum Helsinki and Viikki Monday seminars have joined forces to offer you science for lunch on Mondays! HiLIFE webinars continue the tradition of inviting outstanding, international scientists to present their work to the broad audience of the life science community during the extraordinary circumstances that restrict travel and personal contact.

Date: Mondays at 13.00 noon Helsinki time (time can vary, check the details of each webinar)
Place: Link of place can be found in the details of each talk
Twitter #hilifewebinars #bmhsem #viikkimon

https://www2.helsinki.fi/en/conferences/hilife-life-science-seminars/hilife-webinars

Professor Klaus Elenius Appointed as Scientific Director of BioCity Turku

Professor of Medical Biochemistry Klaus Elenius from the University of Turku has been selected for the position of the Scientific Director of BioCity Turku, a member Institute in Biocenter Finland. The vacancy lasts five years and started on 1 January 2022. BioCity Turku is a joint organisation of the University of Turku and Åbo Akademi University, supporting and coordinating bioscience research in the Turku region.


Picture: Suvi Harvisalo


For more information, see:
https://www.utu.fi/en/news/press-release/professor-klaus-elenius-appointed-as-scientific-director-of-biocity-turku

 

Instruct-ERIC Centre Finland Opening and Structural Biology Finland Conference 2021

The Structural Biology Finland Conference 2021 highlights the official opening of the Instruct-ERIC Centre Finland, show-casing the latest scientific highlights in integrated structural cell biology and demonstrating the use of key research infrastructure available in the Instruct-ERIC and FINStruct service catalogues. Participants can present posters, flash talks and give industrial exhibitions.

Instruct-ERIC Centre Finland and Structural Biology Finland (FINStruct) organize a Conference Instruct-ERIC Centre Finland Opening and Structural Biology Finland Conference 2021 on December 17, at 8.45-17:45 EET in Viikki Info Center.
The event is organized as a hybrid meeting and can be joined remotely. Due to the coronavirus epidemic, the event will be organized in accordance with the guidelines and restrictions of University of Helsinki in effect at the time of the event. 

Time:                  
December 17, at 8.45-17:45 EET

Venue:                
Viikki Info Center, Oppimistori, Viikinkaari 11, Helsinki;
Information about Viikki Campus, public transportation, car parking etc.

Registration:      
Registration is required: deadline December 3rd, 2021
Please register here.
Registration is free of charge

Website:             
Event website                        

Remote access:
A link will be provided for participants who register for online event

Safety:                
Please comply with the University of Helsinki guidelines to prevent the spread of Sars-Cov2
Please attend on site only if you are completely healthy.

Organizers:    
Sarah Butcher, Director, FINStruct and Instruct-ERIC Centre Finland (University of Helsinki)
Hanna Oksanen, Coordinator, FINStruct and Instruct-ERIC Centre Finland (University of Helsinki; for contact: hanna.oksanen(at)helsinki.fi)
FINStruct and Instruct-ERIC Centre Finland core facility group leaders: Lari Lehtiö, Juha Rouvinen, Minna Poranen, Hideo Iwai, Tommi Kajander, Markku Varjosalo, Tiina Salminen, Tassos Papageorgiou (Universities of Helsinki, Oulu, Eastern Finland, Turku and Åbo Akademi University)
Sergei Gurianov (University of Helsinki)

Symposium: Life Sciences Combatting Global Challenges - The European perspective

Biocenter and Helsinki Institute of Life Science HiLIFE organize a Symposium: Life Sciences Combatting Global Challenges - The European perspective. on November 26 at 10-12.

Keynote by Prof Ewan Birney: EMBL: Europe’s international life science laboratory - from viruses to ecosystems
Director of EMBL-EBI & Deputy Director General of EMBL

 

Speakers:
Aarno Palotie,
Tiina Kupila-Rantala,
Pauli Kallio, Katja Kivinen and
Olli Silvennoinen

 See details below.

Welcome to the Symposium!


Life Sciences are central to understanding the most pressing global challenges from climate change and loss of biodiversity to pandemics and other severe health care challenges. The ongoing rapid technological and digital developments are providing tools to address these challenges in completely new ways with direct applications in environment, agriculture, health care, innovations and industry. The technology-driven revolution in Life Sciences underline the importance of modern infrastructure services. 

 

Biocenter Finland and Helsinki Institute of Life Science HiLIFE organize a Symposium Life Sciences Combatting Global Challenges - The European perspective on November 26, at 10 AM-12 PM in Viikki Infocenter. The Symposium is organized as a hybrid meeting and can be joined remotely.

 

Professor Ewan Birney, Director of EMBL-EBI and Deputy Director General of EMBL gives the Keynote Lecture on the EMBL research and infrastructure organization. The Keynote covers the new EMBL Scientific Programme and European response to the COVID-19 pandemic. The Symposium includes presentations from prominent Finnish Life Science researchers and experts and a panel discussion on Life Science research and infrastructures in the European context.

 

Time:                  November 26, at 10 AM-12 PM

Venue:               Viikki Infocenter, Oppimistori;

   Viikinkaari 11, Helsinki

Arrival:               See map included with the programme. Limited parking lots available due to Raide Jokeri construction work in Viikinkaari. Few general parking lots at campus and more at nearby Prisma shopping center

   Public transportation

Registration:      Registration is required for those attending the Symposium onsite https://www.lyyti.fi/reg/LS_Combatting_Global_Challenges

Remote access: https://helsinki.zoom.us/j/67905842883, (passcode 808666)

Safety:               Please comply with the University of Helsinki guidelines to prevent the spread of Sars-Cov2

 

Click here for full programme!

Symposium: Building Bridges 2021 - Technologies advancing molecular medicine – focus on Nordic infrastructures

The Nordic EMBL Partnership warmly invites you to participate in the tenth Building Bridges symposium providing an exciting collaborative look into advanced research technologies. The Building Bridge series is aimed to highlight collaborative efforts towards, ultimately, a better understanding of the pathophysiology of disease and improved options for patient treatment and care. 

Building Bridges 2021:  Technologies advancing molecular medicine – focus on Nordic infrastructures

The Building Bridges symposia series is arranged to bridge basic, translational and clinical research and provide examples of how teams of investigators are working together to advance molecular medicine.  With the 10th Building Bridges symposium we shine the spotlight on technologies used to improve our understanding of health and disease.  In particular, we will demonstrate research advances using infrastructure available in the Nordic region, bridging research and technology development as well as bridging researchers across borders. With an opening and closing keynote from EMBL Heidelberg and EMBL Hamburg, we highlight research infrastructure at EMBL, as well.

Join the symposium and learn more about the research technology and core facility services available within the Nordic EMBL Partnership!

Organizers: The Nordic EMBL Partnership for Molecular Medicine, a Nordforsk-funded Research Infrastructure Hub. The Nordic EMBL Partnership consists of four international research and technology centers:

  • Danish Research Institute of Translational Neuroscience (DANDRITE)
  • Institute for Molecular Medicine Finland (FIMM)
  • The Laboratory for Molecular Infection Medicine Sweden (MIMS)
  • Centre for Molecular Medicine Norway (NCMM)

Venue: Hybrid
On-site: University of Helsinki, Meilahti Campus, Biomedicum 1, Lecture Hall 2
Online via Zoom: link and passcode provided in registration confirmation
Webpage
https://bit.ly/3jkG5vl
Date and time: Wednesday, 1 December 2021 at 9:00-16:00 CET/10.00-17.00 EET

Program: 

9.00

Welcome from the organizers & setting the stage

Katja Kivinen, FIMM

 

Session I:  High resolution technologies in molecular medicine

Chairs:  Pirkko Mattila, FIMM

9.10

Opening Keynote: From genotype to phenotype with single-cell resolution
Oliver Stegle (DKFZ & EMBL Heidelberg)

9.45

Single cell analysis for precision cancer medicine
Caroline Heckman (FIMM)

10.10

Discovery of novel anti-chlamydial compounds through a multi-strategy screening approach
Barbara Sixt (MIMS)

10.35

Break, coffee & tea

11.00

Aarhus CryoEM - on the path to in situ structural biology
Thomas Boesen (DANDRITE)

11.25

Inherited causes of somatic mutagenesis and evolution in cancer
Sebastian Martin Waszak (NCMM)

11.50

Short pitches for research visits

CryoEM structures of centromeric complexes – collaboration between NCMM and cryoEM facility in Umeå (MIMS)
Ahmad Ali-Ahmad (NCMM)

Defining dietary effects on mouse gut microbiota metabolites with metabolomics
Björn Schröder (MIMS) & Anni Nieminen (FIMM)

Patient-derived slice-model as a low throughput screening method
Nanna Møller Jensen (DANDRITE)

Collaborations with Chemical Biology Consortium Sweden (CBCS): The Swedish national platform for small molecule screening
Anna Eriksson (CBCS)

Phenotypic screening of patient -derived primary cells (FIMM-NCMM collaboration)
Antti Hassinen (FIMM)

   

12.20

Lunch (light lunch provided for those attending on-site)

   

Session II:  Models, characterizations and structures

Chair:  Thomas Boesen (DANDRITE)

13.15

Diagnostic modelling in the context of cancer heterogeneity
Emmy Verschuren (FIMM) & Sarang Talwelkar (FIMM)

13.40

Unbiased characterization of cells using single-cell analysis
Johan Henriksson (MIMS)

14.05

The zebrafish as a model organism to understand and treat complex genetic disorders
Camilla Esguerra (NCMM)

14.30

Break, coffee & tea

15.00

Lipid flippase CryoEM structure case: structure-based drug development and translational collaboration with hospitals/medical doctors
Thibaud Dieudonne (DANDRITE)

15.25

Closing keynote: EMBL Imaging Centre: the technology development we need for the imaging challenges we face
Simone Mattei (EMBL Hamburg)

16.00

Closing words
Organizing committee led by Katja Kivinen

ECTS credits: 1,0 ECTS - University of Helsinki doctoral candidates who would like to earn 1,0 ECTS are required to attend the symposium and complete advance readings and follow-up quiz questions provided for each talk. Further information about the advance readings and quiz will be posted on the course webpage as soon as available.

Registration:
University of Helsinki doctoral candidates must register in SISU, course code DPBM-194
All others, please register using the e-form: https://elomake.helsinki.fi/lomakkeet/53957/lomake.html
Registration deadline:  21 November

Organizing Team:
Heidi Arling, FIMM, Tämä sähköpostiosoite on suojattu spamboteilta. Tarvitset JavaScript-tuen nähdäksesi sen.
Thomas Boesen, DANDRITE, Tämä sähköpostiosoite on suojattu spamboteilta. Tarvitset JavaScript-tuen nähdäksesi sen.
Katja Kivinen, FIMM, Tämä sähköpostiosoite on suojattu spamboteilta. Tarvitset JavaScript-tuen nähdäksesi sen.
Pirkko Mattila, FIMM, Tämä sähköpostiosoite on suojattu spamboteilta. Tarvitset JavaScript-tuen nähdäksesi sen.
Vilja Pietiäinen, FIMM, vilja.pietiäTämä sähköpostiosoite on suojattu spamboteilta. Tarvitset JavaScript-tuen nähdäksesi sen.
Gretchen Repasky, Nordic EMBL Partnership/FIMM, Tämä sähköpostiosoite on suojattu spamboteilta. Tarvitset JavaScript-tuen nähdäksesi sen.
Nikolina Sekulic, NCMM, Tämä sähköpostiosoite on suojattu spamboteilta. Tarvitset JavaScript-tuen nähdäksesi sen.
Barbara Sixt, MIMS, Tämä sähköpostiosoite on suojattu spamboteilta. Tarvitset JavaScript-tuen nähdäksesi sen.

Annual Report 2020

Biocenter Finland's Annual Report 2020 has been published. Read more here.

Best practice in pre-clinical animal research: Navigating the guidelines and principles

Preclinical studies using animal models are an integral part of biomedical research. However, their value is dependent on their scientific validity and reproducibility , which are, in turn, dependent on rigorous study design and reporting. This symposium aims to update on the guidelines developed and recommended for achieving robust research output

When: November 10, 2021; 12:30 17:00 EET (Finland)
Where: Zoom meeting.
Registration: for this meeting is required and open until 14:00 on November 8.
Please use the e form for registration https://elomake.helsinki.fi/lomakkeet/113272/lomake.html
Link for joining the meeting will be sent to the email of registered participant on November 9.
Organizers: Finnish Reproducibility Network and HiLIFE Comprehensive Model Organisms infrastructure platform
Further information: Tämä sähköpostiosoite on suojattu spamboteilta. Tarvitset JavaScript-tuen nähdäksesi sen.

Frontiers of Science - BioCity Turku Seminar Series

BioCity Turku arranges every semester Frontiers of Science seminar series where researchers are welcome to invite prominent international scientists to give a talk to local scientific community. The seminars are for all researchers and students and students can get ECTs from participation.

This autumn the seminar series is arranged together with InFLAMES Flagship and three of the invited speakers, Teng-Leong Chew, Janne Lehtiö and Petter Brodin, are InFLAMES visiting professors. Although all the speakers are specialists, the lectures are usually given on moderately general level for their intelligibility.

Registration is obligatory and links to register are in BioCity Turku website (https://biocityturku.fi/autumn-2021-programme/) and advertised in our news feed. Registration closes and zoom link is sent to participants one day before the event.

 

Call for Director of HiLIFE

CALL FOR DIRECTOR OF HiLIFE

HiLIFE, Helsinki Institute of Life Science, is one of the leading life science research institutes in the Nordics. It builds on existing strengths and new recruits and partnerships to create an attractive international environment where today’s grand challenges in health and environment are solved together. HiLIFE supports outstanding research and generation of innovations across the University’s campuses within partner faculties and its own units, the Institute for Molecular Medicine Finland FIMM, the Institute of Biotechnology and Neuroscience Center. HiLIFE also coordinates research infrastructures in life sciences and provides research-based interdisciplinary training. HiLIFE has a staff of more than 650 diverse scientists and support personnel. The budget exceeds 60 M€ of which about 65% is external competed research funding. The University of Helsinki is an international scientific community of 40,000 students and researchers with a critical outlook and a creative attitude. It is one of the leading multidisciplinary research universities in Europe and ranks among the top 100 international universities in the world. Through the power of science, we contribute to a meaningful life, human wellbeing and healthy environment!

We are now seeking candidates for the position of

DIRECTOR OF HILIFE

Click for further information

Call for Scientific Director of BioCity Turku

This is a part-time position (maximum 50% full time equivalent) based at the University of Turku, Finland. The position is for five years, beginning 01.01.2022.

BioCity Turku is a joint biocentre which links the University of Turku and Åbo Akademi University to support and coordinate life science and molecular medicine related research in the Turku region. The BioCity Turku community currently comprises more than 140 research groups and over one thousand researchers.

The key responsibilities of the Scientific Director of BioCity Turku are: to promote life science research and education; support development of the research environment and infrastructure; and to coordinate collaboration between researchers in bioscience and medical research. The Scientific Director acts as the chairperson of the common Executive Board of the Turku Bioscience Centre and BioCity Turku, and, in working with the Board, contributes to the strategy and development of Biocenter Finland through participating in appropriate decision making processes.

BioCity Turku https://biocityturku.fi/
Turku Bioscience Centre https://bioscience.fi/
Biocenter Finland https://www.biocenter.fi/

The successful applicant will have demonstrated high-level academic competence in the life science and/or molecular medicine research fields and is expected to continue their own relevant academic research. The role requires a deep understanding of the life science research field, particularly in respect to current, leading edge research and innovation. Excellent interpersonal skills, effective strategic planning and implementation skills, and high-quality written and verbal communication skills (in English) are considered essential to this role.

The position is one of teaching and research personnel. The salary is determined based on the collective agreement of the Finnish universities and will be based on Professors’ demand levels 8-10. The exact salary is specified when finalising the employment contract, and the salary level is determined based on the competence and knowledge of the successful applicant and the full time equivalent load (30-50% FTE). There is a trial period of six months.

For further information, please don’t hesitate to contact Vice Rector Kalle-Antti Suominen, Tämä sähköpostiosoite on suojattu spamboteilta. Tarvitset JavaScript-tuen nähdäksesi sen.. In case you need help with the application process, please turn to our HR Specialist Paula Luoma, Tämä sähköpostiosoite on suojattu spamboteilta. Tarvitset JavaScript-tuen nähdäksesi sen.

Along with your application, kindly enclose your CV, an academic portfolio, your list of publications and a motivation letter describing how you would develop BioCity Turku in future.

Instructions for your academic portfolio can be found here: https://www.utu.fi/en/university/come-work-with-us/academic-portfolio

Please submit your application using the online application system by 16.06.2021, at the latest. The link to the online application system can be found here: https://www.utu.fi/en/university/come-work-with-us

BioCity Turku represents one of the most successful scientific fields in Finland and provides an exciting opportunity to contribute to the development of life sciences in Turku and beyond. We warmly welcome you to join our multicultural community!

Structural biology workshops, courses and webinars

Instruct-ERIC where Structural Biology Finland (FINStruct) participates, provides training in structural biology through workshops and courses and webinars on regular basis, for more information see:
https://instruct-eric.eu/events/
https://instruct-eric.eu/instruct-training-events-annual 

This includes the monthly webinar series “Instruct-ERIC webinar series: structure meets function” (also recorded and available on the Instruct web site for viewing).
https://instruct-eric.eu/content/instructeric-webinar-series-structure-meets-function

Also internships are available for doctoral students and post docs from member countries including Finland
https://instruct-eric.eu/internships

 

BioCity Symposium celebrates its 30th anniversary

The annual BioCity Symposium is in August 19th–20th with the title Cancer – Breaking Bad. This series of meetings organized since 1991 has become the most important annual get-together in the fields of biosciences and molecular medicine in Turku. The symposium gathers together hundreds of participants each year and offers talks from cutting-edge international researchers.


BioCity Turku is a community of life science and molecular medicine researchers and students in Turku region. One of its main events is the yearly BioCity Symposium which celebrates its 30th anniversary this year. This year the event is organized in collaboration with Finnish Cancer Institute and the aim is to arrange a hybrid event with some of the audience and invited speakers present in Turku as well as having virtual participants following the broadcasted program. However if necessary BioCity Symposium can be flipped into fully virtual event even at short notice.

This year’s program consist of nine talks from international scientists spiced up with short talks from Finnish researchers. One of the speakers is Stephen J. Elledge from Harvard Medical School who will talk about approaches to immunotherapy for tumors. Other symposium speakers include Leila Akkari from Netherland Cancer Institute researching macrophages in cancer, and Robert A. Gatenby from Moffitt Cancer Center investigating evolutionary dynamics in cancer and cancer drug resistance. Something new this year is a panel discussion with three editors representing different journals from American Association for Cancer Research (AACR). Panel discussion will include short presentations from the journals (Cancer Discovery, Clinical Cancer Research and Cancer Research) and tips and discussion on submitting manuscripts and publishing articles.

Send an abstract and present your work to Symposium audience

Participants of the BioCity Symposium represent different research areas such as molecular biology, cell biology, biomedicine and clinical research from both universities and companies. A significant proportion of attendants are PhD students and post-docs. Researchers are encouraged to participate to the poster exhibition and submit a poster abstract latest 11.6.2021. Based on the submitted abstracts at least six researchers are invited to give a short talk in the symposium. If the poster sessions need to be cancelled the researchers who have sent abstracts will be informed at the beginning of August. Last day to register to the symposium is 6.8.2021 and the event is free of charge.

The BioCity Symposium is organized by BioCity Turku (https://biocityturku.fi/), an organization coordinating the research in the fields of biosciences and molecular sciences in Turku region. BioCity Turku has over one hundred research groups with more than thousand scientists and students from University of Turku and Åbo Akademi University.

Registration and poster abstract submission:
https://biocityturku.fi/biocity-symposium/registration/

For more information:
https://biocityturku.fi/biocity-symposium/

Please note that the program outline for the event might change until the very last moment. Up-to-date information is available in BioCity Turku website:
https://biocityturku.fi/

Also, don’t hesistate to contact us at Tämä sähköpostiosoite on suojattu spamboteilta. Tarvitset JavaScript-tuen nähdäksesi sen.

Olli Silvennoinen appointed as director of Biocenter Finland

Olli Silvennoinen will start his appointment on May 1. From 2019, he has worked as director of HiLIFE, Helsinki Institute of Life Sciences at the University of Helsinki.

The rectors of Biocenter Finland partner Universities have nominated professor Olli Silvennoinen as new director of Biocenter Finland.

Silvennoinen has worked as director of HiLIFE, Helsinki Institute of Life Sciences at the University of Helsinki from April 2019. Before that, Silvennoinen served as director of the Institute of Biotechnology, which operates as part of HiLIFE.

Prior HiLIFE Silvennoinen has worked as professor and director of the Institute of Medical Technology at the University of Tampere. He also spent several years of his career in the United States. Silvennoinen graduated with a doctoral degree from the University of Helsinki in 1988.

“From the seven applicants prof. Olli Silvennoinen had clearly the best qualifications, experience and vision for the future development of Biocenter Finland. The board of Biocenter Finland is very pleased that we could get such a high profile director to lead the nation-wide infrastructure for the next five years,” says professor Seppo Ylä-Herttuala, chair of the board of Biocenter Finland.

Olli Silvennoinen has a long history with national infrastructures

Olli Silvennoinen has experienced Biocenter Finland from different angles and positions, as member and chair of board, chair of a platform, active customer of the platforms and in administration of smaller and larger biocenter. In addition, he was one of the signees of the Biocenter Finland founding document.

“I am honored and excited to take the helm of Biocenter Finland. I could almost say that I am coming home as my history with national infrastructures dates back two decades. The relevance of Biocenter Finland coordination activities are today extremely important with demands on rapidly developing technologies, skilled personnel, resources, and obviously the relevance of cutting-edge infrastructures for research and its implementation for the benefit of the society as we have seen in very concreate terms with the COVID-19 pandemic. Thus, there is much for us to do and I am looking very much forward to work together with Biocenter Finland community in these activities,” says Silvennoinen. 

Olli Silvennoinen will start his appointment on May 1.

Biocenter Finland BF is a distributed nation-wide RI supporting frontier research, innovation and industry-academia collaboration in Life Sciences, openly accessible for 17,000 researchers in universities, research institutes, biobanks, hospitals and industry. BF coordinates investments into and operations of nationally important RIs and promotes collaboration, division of responsibilities and joint investments according to a long-term plan anchored to the strategies of its host universities University of Eastern Finland, University of Helsinki, Oulu University, Tampere University, University of Turku and Åbo Akademi University.

More information:

Seppo Ylä-Herttuala, professor, chair of the board of Biocenter Finland
Tämä sähköpostiosoite on suojattu spamboteilta. Tarvitset JavaScript-tuen nähdäksesi sen.
040 355 2075

Olli Silvennoinen, professor, director of Biocenter Finland (1 May 2021–)
Tämä sähköpostiosoite on suojattu spamboteilta. Tarvitset JavaScript-tuen nähdäksesi sen.
050 359 5740

New instrument available for purification of high quality samples for structural and functional studies

Biocomplex (Structural Biology platform) offers a new instrument, a new generation asymmetrical flow field-flow fractionation (AF4) instrument NEON Eclipse (Wyatt), that is coupled to five online detectors, for use in your research projects on large macromolecular complexes.


With this first new-generation Wyatt FFF-MALS installed in Europe, we invite all to have a look on the Biocomplex website for further information and to contact Tämä sähköpostiosoite on suojattu spamboteilta. Tarvitset JavaScript-tuen nähdäksesi sen. for enquiries on this wonderful separation system!

Asymmetrical flow field-flow fractionation (AF4) is a versatile and gentle size-based separation method that is well suited for biological macromolecules and their complexes, membrane vesicles, and nanoparticles (viruses, virus-like particles etc.). It separates sample components according to size in an open channel. This leads to large separation range, from 1 to 1000 nm in radius, and gentle separation.

With the support of the Academy of Finland and the Faculty of Biological and Environmental Sciences, Biocomplex unit has acquired a new generation asymmetrical flow field-flow fractionation (AF4) instrument NEON Eclipse (Wyatt) that is coupled to five online detectors: DAWN multi-angle light scattering detector (MALS) with 18 angles; QELS dynamic light scattering (DLS) detector; fluorescence detector; UV and Optilab® differential refractive index (dRI) detectors.

The setup can be used in analytical and semi-preparative purification mode. The accompanied software (ASTRA) allows characterization of various biophysical properties of sample components: size (radius of gyration/root mean square radius and hydrodynamic radius), shape, molar mass, particle concentration, composition of conjugates, aggregation, molecular interactions. Thus, valuable information can be collected for the study of biomolecules. Fraction collection enables off-line analysis.

See also information on our other separation technologies: preparative ultracentrifugation and monolithic chromatography for large biocomplexes (Biocomplex websites)

You can apply for fully funded access to all Biocomplex services through Instruct-ERIC (Proposal guidelines).

Biocomplex is part of the Faculty of Biological and Environmental Sciences and HiLIFE at the University of Helsinki. Biocomplex is also part of a national research infrastructure network FINStruct that is the Structural Biology Platform of Biocenter Finland, and Instruct-ERIC that is a pan-European distributed research infrastructure in structural biology.

Inquiries: Tämä sähköpostiosoite on suojattu spamboteilta. Tarvitset JavaScript-tuen nähdäksesi sen.

Contact person: Katri Eskelin

For more Structural Biology services, see https://www.biocenter.fi/index.php/technology-platform-services/structural-biology

 

EQIPD VIRTUAL WORKSHOP - Rigor, reproducibility and data management in nonclinical research

THE AIM of this workshop is to give participants theoretical knowledge and practical insights on factors that contribute to poor research reproducibility and replicability, and how to improve the trustworthiness and quality of research. The event is intended for researchers/students in the field of life sciences.

DATE and TIME: April 21, 10:00-13:00 (Helsinki time)

PLACE: Online (link will be sent to registered e-mail).

REGISTRATION to Workshop is open until April 19th, 14:00 (Helsinki time): https://elomake.helsinki.fi/lomakkeet/110835/lomake.html

The participation is free of charge; however, registration is necessary (certificates of participation will be send to the registered e-mail address upon request).

PROGRAM:

10:00-10:40 Malcolm Macleod (University of Edinburgh): Why changes in research practice are needed NOW and one cannot wait until tomorrow? Discussion: What prevents the participants from changing?

10:40-11:20 Thomas Steckler (Janssen Pharmaceutica NV): The need to recognize “research conducted with sufficient rigor” Discussion: What prevents the participants from applying blinding, randomization, etc?

11:20-11:30 Break

11:30-12:10 Sami Virtanen (Orion Pharma): Rigor in data management. Discussion: Can I trace raw data from a publication?

12:10-12:50 Anton Bespalov & Valentina Vengeliene (PAASP GmbH): Rigor in collaborative research. Discussion: Do workshop participants have experience with collaborative research?

12:50-13:00 Vootele Voikar (Neuroscience Center, HiLIFE), Andreas Scherer (Institute for Molecular Medicine Finland, HiLIFE): Do we need a Reproducibility Network in Finland?

ORGANISERS: Neuroscience Center (NC), Institute for Molecular Medicine Finland (FIMM), Helsinki Institute of Life Science (HiLIFE), University of Helsinki, European Infrastructure for Translational Medicine (EATRIS), Partnership for Assessment and Accreditation of Scientific Practice (PAASP), Enhancing Quality in Preclinical Data (EQIPD) consortium supported through the European Union’s Innovative Medicines Initiative (IMI).

Frontiers of Science - BioCity Turku Seminar series

Frontiers of Science

Spring seminars 2021

BioCity Turku will continue Frontiers of Science seminar series online as eTALKs. Registration is obligatory and links to register are in BioCity Turku website (https://biocityturku.fi/) and advertised in our news feed. Registration closes and zoom link is sent to participants one day before the event.

Please note that any audio or video recording of the seminars is strictly forbidden.

If you wish to follow BioCity Turku news feed and receive up to date information about the Frontiers of Science seminars and other events, please contact Tämä sähköpostiosoite on suojattu spamboteilta. Tarvitset JavaScript-tuen nähdäksesi sen.

 

March 11th
online at 18:00
Dr. Vishva M. Dixit, Genentech Inc., US
Why so many ways to die?
host: Annika Meinander (Tämä sähköpostiosoite on suojattu spamboteilta. Tarvitset JavaScript-tuen nähdäksesi sen.)
Registration latest March 10th at 12:00
https://link.webropolsurveys.com/S/D0190FEC11DAFBE1

 

March 25th
online at 15:00
Prof. Thomas Look, Harvard Medical School and Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, US
Allosteric activators of protein phosphatase 2A display broad antitumor activity
host: Jukka Westermarck (Tämä sähköpostiosoite on suojattu spamboteilta. Tarvitset JavaScript-tuen nähdäksesi sen.)
Registration latest March 24th at 12:00
https://link.webropolsurveys.com/S/1E693F703013AB7C

 

April 8th
online at 12:00
Prof. Didier Picard, University of Geneva, Switzerland
The molecular chaperone Hsp90: probing its functions with drugs and gene deletions
host: Outi Salo-Ahen (Tämä sähköpostiosoite on suojattu spamboteilta. Tarvitset JavaScript-tuen nähdäksesi sen.)
Registration latest April 7th at 12:00
https://link.webropolsurveys.com/S/D7C1FD56DD28A4A9

 

April 22nd
online at 12:00
Academician of Science Markku Kulmala, University of Helsinki, Finland
Climate, air quality and COVID
host: Eva-Mari Aro (Tämä sähköpostiosoite on suojattu spamboteilta. Tarvitset JavaScript-tuen nähdäksesi sen.)
Registration latest at April 21st at 12:00
https://link.webropolsurveys.com/S/C7B8A7E3598DD0EE

 

April 29th
online at 18:00
Dr. Aviv Regev, Genentech Inc., US
Cell Atlases as roadmaps to treat disease
host: Riitta Lahesmaa (Tämä sähköpostiosoite on suojattu spamboteilta. Tarvitset JavaScript-tuen nähdäksesi sen.)
Registration latest at April 28th at 12:00
https://link.webropolsurveys.com/S/757F3676A3638A22

 

May 6th
online at 12:00
Prof. Xavier Trepat, Institute for Bioengineering of Catalonia, Spain
Mechanobiology of intestinal organoids
host: Diana Toivola (Tämä sähköpostiosoite on suojattu spamboteilta. Tarvitset JavaScript-tuen nähdäksesi sen.)
Registration latest at May 5th at 12:00
https://link.webropolsurveys.com/S/4A840109CAA578BA

New EMBO Webinar Series

INVITATION TO ATTEND THE CYCLE OF WEBINARS ABOUT
PRECARITY IN ACADEMIA

The ISE Researchers' Careers Task Force has been conducting a long reflection on the organisation
of academic research in Europe, with a focus on the systemic structural changes that will be
necessary for Europe to remain an attractive place to do science, and a competitive economic and
scientific powerhouse. To facilitate a constructive discussion around these topics, ISE will be
running a series of three webinars specifically designed for policy makers, funders, universities,
international organisations, and journalists. More information about each webinar can be found at
the registration links below.

European funding: finding solutions to systematic challengesModerator: Chloe Hill (EGU). Panelists: Maria da Graça Carvalho (MEP), Mariya Ivancheva (EASA),
Wim van Saarloos (Leiden University), Rachel Coulthard-Graf (EMBL).
18 February 2021, 2pm - 3:30pm CET REGISTER HERE

Research assessment practices
Moderator: Mathew Tata (Eurodoc). Panelists: Sarika Wilson (The Guild), Stephen Curry (DORA),
Cecilia Cabello Valdés (ERAC).
4 March 2021, 2pm - 3:30pm CET REGISTER HERE

Research grant evaluation
Moderator: Renaud Jolivet (MCAA). Panelists: Frédéric Sgard (OECD), Catherine McCammon (ERC
panel member), James Morris (Science Europe), Kasper Gossink (Dutch Funding Agency - NWO).
18 March 2021, 2pm - 3:30pm CET REGISTER HERE

ABOUT ISE: The Initiative for Science in Europe (https://initiative-se.eu) is an independent platform of
16 European Learned Societies and Research Organizations operating within different disciplines and
across sectors. ISE supports all fields of research at a European level, involves researchers in the design
and implementation of European science policies, and advocates strong independent scientific advice in
European policy making.

Scientific Services Provided by EMBL

EMBL provides access to the very latest in life science technologies, infrastructure, and data resources, enabling researchers to obtain the highest quality results, often in a tailored way. A Mission in their own right, EMBL's scientific services are tightly linked to EMBL’s other Missions – research, training, technology development and transfer, as well as coordination and integration of European life sciences. These services are part of the fabric of European life sciences – constantly evolving to be at the leading edge – for the benefit of all of our member states.

See link for the services

Academy of Finland Granted Biocenter Finland a Roadmap Status for the years 2021-2024

The Academy of Finland published the list of research infrastructures to be included in the Roadmap of National Research Infrastructures 2021-2024. Biocenter Finland was granted the Roadmap status with an overall rating “Excellent”. This list included altogether 29 high-level research infrastructures.

The international evaluation panel stated:
“The unique structure and level of coordination that BF as an RI has today, serves as an example for the efficient use of resources and the increased joint impact of combined infrastructures and know-how. Internationally, BF is a well-recognized example for the support of public life science research”.

The panel acknowledged both the excellent technology platforms as well as the quality and efficiency coordination:
“While …, the biggest synergies are achieved within the 15 platforms, the fact that an overarching structure exists to address common issues and constraints by all partner universities, provides benefits at the strategic and financial level well beyond the nodes and platforms.”

The next key step for Biocenter Finland in its mission to support frontier research in Finland is to apply for instrument investment funding in the FIRI Call in Spring 2021. The decision on which instruments to apply for is based on consultation of the research community, advise of the Scientific Advisory Board and on the technology platforms’ proposals. In line with the BF policy, all new equipment and technologies will be openly accessible to all researcher in Finland as well as non-university users.

Academy of Finland grants Biocenter Finland 2,5 M€ for collaboration with the business sector and industry partners

Academy of Finland’s FIRI Calls are the major funding source for nationally important instrument investments to research infrastructures of all scientific and scholarly disciplines. The FIRI2020 Call "Research Infrastructures as Collaborative Platforms" was targeted specifically to strengthen collaboration with the business sector and industry partners.

Biocenter Finland’s proposal of 2,5 M€ was fully funded. Together with the host universities’ share (30%), the total amount available for the investments is 3,5 M€. This resource is targeted to the following Biocenter Finland Competence Centers for Research and Innovation, operating in five of the BF host universities:

  • Competence Center for Advanced Single Cell Analytics, University of Helsinki
    • HT Flow cytometer and incubator 
    • 10X Genomics Chromium Connect 
    • AI-guided autopatcher, CAMI, and manipulator platform
  • Profiling Platform for Lipid Metabolites, University of Helsinki and University of Turku
    • Ultimate sensitivity LC-MS/MS System 
    • Triple Quadrupole MS/MS detector, UHPLC-equipment, and a multisampler for automatic sample injection
  • Collaborative Industrial Platform for Proteomics, University of Helsinki, University of Turku and Åbo Akademi University
    • FAIMS Pro Interface 
    • ZipChip Interface 
    • Integrative nano-sensitizer for nanoLC-MS connection 
    • NanoDroplet sample treatment Assembly 
    • Ultimate 3000 RSLCnano System 
    • Orbitrap Exploris MS upgrade
  • Viral Vector Production and Testing Services, University of Eastern Finland, University of Helsinki, and Tampere University
    • Becton-Dickinson: FACS Melody cell sorter 
    • Olympus IXplore Live Fluorescent Microscope 
    • Beckman Cytoflex Table top flow cytometer 

The industry and business partners of these Competence Centers amount to 7 international and 14 Finnish companies.

The BF technology services supporting frontier science are available to the entire Finnish research community in the Life Sciences based on an open-access principle.

BF applies FIRI funding for the most needed technologies according to a strategic long-term investment plan. The choice of the equipment to be funded is based on consultation of the scientific community, and informed by assessment of the quality and needs of the Platforms carried out by BF’s international Scientific Advisory Board.

 

 

Annual report 2019

Biocenter Finland's Annual Report 2019 has been published. Read more here.

FinGMice Webinar: Boost your research - national mouse clinic network

FinGMice: a network within Finnish universities providing services and expertise in generation and analysis of genetically modified mice Organizes a Webinar

“Boost your research - national mouse clinic network”

Date: Nov 20th 2020
Time: 9:00-16:00 (Finnish time, GMT +2)
Registration: https://elomake.helsinki.fi/lomakkeet/107625/lomake.html

Program overview (link to full program):

Session 1. Generation and selection of GM mouse models
Session 2. In vivo phenotyping
Session 3. Pathological analysis of GM mice
Session 4. Translational value of GM mouse models

For full program, see the attachment

Registration deadline: Nov 18th 2020
Registered participants will receive the webinar link by Nov 19th 2020

 

 

EMBL Technology Developers Programme ARISE – Career Accelerator for Research Infrastructure Scientists

The ARISE fellowship programme offers fellowships for experienced professionals with a background in science, technology, engineering, or mathematics (STEM) who wish to advance technology development in the life sciences and receive training to operate life science research infrastructures, which provide novel technologies as a service for life scientists.

More information at
https://www.embl.org/training/technology-developers-programme/arise/

Frontiers of Science - BioCity Turku eTALK Seminar Series

Weekly Frontiers of Science (FoS) seminars bring BioCity Turku researchers together to listen to prominent international scientists. The autumn 2020 seminars will be arranged online as eTALKs. The Frontiers of Science seminar series was started in 1998. The aim is to bring top scientists to present their recent achievements on various fields ranging from biology, cell and molecular biology and biotechnology to material and computational sciences. Although the speakers are specialists, the lectures are usually given on moderately general level for their intelligibility.

For morel information and schedule please see
https://biocityturku.fi/biocityevents/frontiers-of-science-seminars/

 

Open position: Senior Research Fellow in Proteomics

The Turku Proteomics Facility seeks an ambitious senior research fellow (tenure track) to lead the Proteomics Facility at Turku Bioscience Centre. The successful candidate will be responsible for service activities and technology platform development at the core facility. He or she will be expected to establish an independent research group through competitive external funding and to support methods development at the core. The research activity is expected to be at an internationally competitive level and includes mandatory supervision of Master of Science and doctoral students from the University of Turku and Åbo Akademi University.

For more information, see link

Coronavirus-related research and services at EMBL

The molecular life sciences have a central role in delivering new treatments or vaccines against Sars-CoV-2. EMBL has re-purposed existing facilities to provide a range of direct research and support services, including in partnership with institutes in Member States.

This document provides a summary of EMBL coronavirus-related research and service activity as at 20 April 2020, and will be updated as additional projects receive necessary safety and scientific approvals.

For more information, see link below

EMBL Covid19 activities

Academy of Finland grants Biocenter Finland 2.7 M€ for building and upgrading research infrastructures

Academy of Finland’s FIRI Calls are the major funding source for nationally important instrument investments to research infrastructures of all scientific and scholarly disciplines. Academy of Finland’s FIRI Committee published on 21 January 2020 its funding decisions on the FIRI2019 Call.

Biocenter Finland’s proposal of 2,7 M€ was fully funded. Together with the host universities’ share (30%), the total amount available for the BF Technology Platforms is 3,9 M€. This resource is targeted to the following BF Technology Platforms, operating in three of the six BF host universities (in brackets):

  • BioImaging Platform: Focused ion-beam SEM for high-resolution 3D-modelling (UH)
  • Genome-wide Methods Platform: PacBio Sequel II for single-molecule sequencing (UH)
  • FinGMice Platform: Pipeline for mouse phenotyping (UO, UH, UTU)
  • Proteomics Platform: Orbitrap Tribrid MS for spatial proteomics (UH)
  • Single-cell Omics Platform: Nanostring GeoMXTM DSP (UH, UTU)

The BF technology services supporting frontier science are available to the entire Finnish research community in the Life Sciences and Biomedical Sciences, based on an open-access principle.

BF applies FIRI funding for the most needed technologies according to a strategic long-term investment plan. The choice of the funding target is based on consultation of the scientific community, and informed by assessment of the quality and needs of the Platforms carried out by BF’s international Scientific Advisor Board. The BF Technology Platforms coordinate their services nationally to enable specialization of the Platform’s Nodes and to support the host universities’ research profiling.

BF has been successful in FIRI funding calls for several years. The previously attracted resources strengthened genomics and viral vector production (FIRI2018), proteomics, metabolomics, and single-cell omics (FIRI2016) and light microscopy (FIRI2015). The next FIRI call will open in 2021.

BF Organizes a Nature Masterclass Course

Biocenter Finland organises a Nature Masterclass course for 60 PhD students and post-docs working in the BF host universities (Universities of Eastern Finland, Helsinki, Oulu, Tampere, Turku, and Åbo Akademi). The course takes place on November 28 and 29 in Helsinki.

The participants will experience a full-day Nature Masterclass workshop where Nature editors provide hands-on, practical training for publishing in top tier journals. This session will provide a unique overview of the publishing process of highly selective journals. The editors will share their expert insight into what makes an exemplary paper and will discuss how participants can improve their scientific writing skills to create a polished manuscript ready for publication. The course is free of charge for the participants.

 

Biocenter Finland opens a call for the term 2021-2024

BF has opened a call for the current platform’s as well as new openings to apply to BF for the term 2021-2024. The platform applications are evaluated by an external SAB of international experts. The deadline of the call is November 22. As a result of the evaluation, the SAB will make a recommendation of the platforms’ key personnel salary funding. BF Board will make a proposal to the host universities’ rectors for such strategic funding accordingly.

For further information, please contact Tämä sähköpostiosoite on suojattu spamboteilta. Tarvitset JavaScript-tuen nähdäksesi sen.

Proteopedia: a versatile tool for structural biology research and teaching

Proteopedia: a versatile tool for structural biology research and teaching

As part of a PDBe-Proteopedia joint project, under the auspices of ELIXIR, there will be seminars at the University of Oulu where the Proteopedia tools for researchers and teachers will be explained.

Wednesday, February 27
University of Oulu, FBMM, Aapistie 7A, Oulu
F101, 10:00(sharp)-13:00)
:

  1. Tuomo Glumoff (University of Oulu) “open university” teaching at Oulu University
  2. Joel Sussman (Weizmann), Proteopedia: a tool for teaching and research
  3. Mihaly Varadi (EBI) (PDBe-KB and Proteopedia)
  4. Coffee break
  5. Jaime Prilusky (Weizmann), Technical features of Proteopedia for use in research, and in teaching
  6. Brainstorming how to benefit from Proteopedia for teaching and research

Proteopedia: http://proteopedia.org     

General info:http://proteopedia.org/wiki/index.php/Help:Contents#Generic_help_in_using_Proteopedia
Teaching, general: http://proteopedia.org/wiki/index.php/Help:Contents#Teaching_and_Education
Teaching, high school: http://proteopedia.org/wiki/index.php/High_school_teachers%27_resources

On February 28 there will be the possibility to make your own Proteopedia page with help from the experts. If you would like to participate please contact Rik Wierenga (Tämä sähköpostiosoite on suojattu spamboteilta. Tarvitset JavaScript-tuen nähdäksesi sen.).

ELIXIR Innovation and SME Forum, 5 March 2019

ELIXIR Innovation and SME Forum: Genomics and Associated Data in National Healthcare Initiatives

This free ELIXIR Innovation and SME Forum with a focus on Genomics and Associated Data in National Healthcare Initiatives in Stockholm is open to researchers working in the personalised medicine sector, large and small companies that develop services for healthcare systems or are users of genomics and/or associated data, as well as people involved in national healthcare initiatives and anyone else who is interested in learning more about data-driven innovation in the healthcare sector. It aims to inform about ELIXIR resources and create a space to network for industry and academia.

For more information, please see
https://www.elixir-europe.org/events/elixir-sme-forum-sweden

Biocenter Finland receives full FIRI funding

Biocenter Finland received 1.83 M€ funding from the Academy of Finland’s FIRI2018 call for national research infrastructure investments. This is the full amount applied for. The received funding is for two Illumina NovaSeq 6000 sequencing instruments and an iCellis500 bioreactor system for viral vector production. All of the instruments and related services will be openly accessible to all of Finland’s ~17,000 Life Science researchers.

One of the sequencing instruments is hosted by the FIMM Genomics unit of the Institute for Molecular Medicine Finland FIMM, part of the Helsinki Institute of Life Science HiLIFE at University of Helsinki. The Sequencing unit is part of the HiLIFE Genomic Infrastructure platform. The other instrument will be located in the Finnish Functional Genomics Centre hosted by University of Turku and Åbo Akademi University. The Helsinki and Turku units are part of the national Biocenter Finland technology platform Genome-wide methods.

The iCellis500 bioreactor for viral vector production is to be located in the National Virus Vector Laboratory in Biocenter Kuopio, University of Eastern Finland as part of the Viral Gene transfer and cell therapy platform.

To identify the investment targets, Biocenter Finland consulted the Finnish Life Science community: ERC grantees, Academy Professors, and Centre of Excellence directors and received proposals from the Biocenter Finland technology platforms.

Biocenter Finland is currently preparing for the FIRI2019 call.

 

For more information on the new services, please contact the technology platform chairs:

Genome-wide methods
Janna Saarela

Viral gene transfer and cell therapy
Seppo Ylä-Herttuala

Lauri Eklund and Mark Daly join the BF Board

Biocenter Finland welcomes two new members into it’s governing board.

University of Oulu nominated Professor Lauri Eklund, director of the Biocenter Oulu Infrastructure Unit, as the university’s representative in the Biocenter Finland board from 1.1.2019. Professor Johanna Uusimaa is the deputy member.

University of Helsinki nominated Professor Mark Daly, director of the Institute of Molecular Medicine Finland FIMM, and Professor Olli Silvennoinen, director of Insitute of Biomedicine, as the University of Helsinki representatives. Professor Tomi Mäkelä director of Helsinki Institute of Life Science HiLIFE continues as the third UH board member. Deputies are Professor Janna Saarela, Professor Sarah Butcher and Dr. Maria Vartiainen.

EMBL in Finland: Scientists in Finland met to share ideas and discover research opportunities

On 5 October, more than 170 Finnish researchers and EMBL alumni gathered at the Biomedicum in Helsinki to discover and share the latest scientific opportunities available at EMBL’s six sites. Here Marja Makarow, director of Biocenter Finland and event co-organiser, talks about her own scientific journey. During her long-standing career, Marja has fostered international and diverse research environments – and she was keen to share these experiences with scientists throughout Finland...

Please read more here

CoMO educational days – Reproducibility and reliability of animal experiments

CoMO educational days – Reproducibility and reliability of animal experiments
19.-20.11.2018, Helsinki

This mini-symposium is organized by Comprehensive Model Organisms (CoMO) infrastructure platform at the Helsinki Institute of Life Science (HiLIFE).
Students can receive ECTS credits as follows: 1 ECTS for attendance and pre-assignment, 2 ECTS for attendance and workshop. Contact Satu Kuure (satu.kuure-at-helsinki.fi) for further information concerning the pre-assignment and enrolment to the workshop (based on motivation letters).

Synopsis. Animal models have a crucial role in modern biomedicine and basic research. However, they are under scrutiny by public and authorities whereas reproducibility and reliability of animal experiments has emerged as a major topic of discussion in scientific community. With this meeting, CoMO is introducing itself as an instrument for supporting researchers in all aspects of studies involving model organisms. Top-level speakers are invited to open the discussion related to basic but often underestimated issues in science – planning, conducting and reporting of animal experiments.

Read more

Symposium: Exploring cellular complexity by cryoEM

What: This one-day symposium organised by HiLIFE - Helsinki Institute of Life Science will showcase uses of cryo-EM (cryogenic electron microscopy) in studying biological mechanisms at different levels of complexity - ranging from macromolecules to cells. Distinguished international speakers will discuss how cryo-EM is now helping to understand illness and how it is starting to inform drug discovery. We welcome anyone who is interested in hearing about cutting-edge science and methods bridging cell biology, neuroscience, biochemistry, virology, and microbiology. Please save the date, more information will follow soon:

https://www.helsinki.fi/en/conferences/hilife-symposium-exploring-cellular-complexity-by-cryoem

When: 28th February 2019, 09:00-17:00

Where: Biomedicum, University of Helsinki

 

SPEAKERS

Keynote speakers:

Richard Henderson, Nobel Laureate in Chemistry 2017 (MRC LMB, Cambridge)

Hong Zhou (UCLA, Los Angeles)

Invited speakers:

Radu Aricescu (MRC LMB, Cambridge)

Ariane Briegel (University of Leiden)

Liz Carpenter (Structural Genomics Consortium, Oxford)

Ruben Fernandez-Busnadiego (MPI Biochemistry, Martinsried)

Kay Grunewald (Center for Structural Systems Biology, Hamburg)

Wanda Kukulski (MRC LMB, Cambridge)

Tzviya Zeev Ben Mordehai (Utrecht University)

Peijun Zhang (eBIC and University of Oxford)

 

To whom: Students, post docs, staff. Anyone interested in hearing about cutting edge science and bio-imaging methods bridging cell biology, neuroscience, biochemistry, virology, and microbiology.

EMBL in Finland

Biocenter Finland would like to welcome you to the EMBL in Finland event on Friday October 5, 2018 at 10-16.00 in Biomedicum HelsinkiThe event is a get-together for the Finnish Life Science community and features an exciting day of science talks and discussions about resources and opportunities offered by EMBL.

 

Connect with current and former EMBL staff, life science researchers and students to grow networks, strengthen ties, explore collaborations and learn about state-of-the-art research infrastructures.

 

The speakers include current and alumni EMBL researchers and staff, EMBO members, as well as leaders in the field of research infrastructures. The event provides information on career opportunities for young researchers, so be sure to forward the invitation to your students. Some of the speakers include:

 

  • Kai Simons, Chief Executive Officer, Lipotype, Dresden; (EMBL Heidelberg, Head of Cell Biology and Biophysics Unit, 1975-2000; EMBO Council Member, 2004-2009)
  • Mark Daly, Director, Institute for Molecular Medicine Finland (FIMM), HiLIFE, University of Helsinki
  • Rainer Pepperkok, Head of Core Facilities, Head of Advanced Light Microscopy Core Facility, Team Leader and Senior Scientist, EMBL, Heidelberg
  • Howy Jacobs, EMBO Member, Professor of Molecular Biology, University of Tampere
  • Riitta Maijala Vice President for Research, Chair of The Finnish Research Infrastructure Committee at the Academy of Finland

 

The event is free of charge but registration is required. For full program and registration, please see www.embl.org/alumni/finland2018

 

The event is organized by Biocenter Finland and the EMBL Alumni team.

 

HiLIFE Genome Editing and Stem Cells GoEditStem minisymposium

CRISPR genome editing, stem cells and applications October 3, 2018
Biomedicum Helsinki, seminar room 3

Registration through: https://elomake.helsinki.fi/lomakkeet/91351/lomake.html

 

Program
9:30 Coffee (sponsored by Thermo Fisher Scientific)
Session I Chair: Ras Trokovic
10:00-10:15 Topi Tervonen, University of Helsinki, Finland
Basics of CRISPR techniques
10:15-11:00 Anna Falk, Karolinska Institutet, Department of Neuroscience, Sweden
iPSCs in therapy and CRISPR possibilities
11:00-11:30 Henna Tyynismaa, University of Helsinki, Finland
Genome editing and disease modelling from iPSCs
11:30-11:45 Thermo Fisher Scientific – CRISPR tools and services
11:45-12:30 Lunch (sponsored by Thermo Fisher Scientific)
Session II Chair: Topi Tervonen
12:30-13:00 Andrey Anisimov, University of Helsinki, Finland
Viral gene delivery systems for genome editing
13:00-13:30 Satu Kuure, University of Helsinki, Finland
Genome editing and mouse models
13:30-14:00 Jere Weltner, University of Helsinki, Finland
Cellular reprogramming with CRISPR activators
14:00-14.15 Katariina Karjalainen: Practical course info (for selected students)

Instruct Biennial Structural Biology Conference 2019

The 4th Instruct Biennial Structural Biology Conference, which will take place in Alcalá de Henares, Spain, from May 22 till May 24, 2019. The historical Alcalá de Henares is in addition to the birthplace of Miguel de Cervantes where the Universidad Complutense was founded in 1293, one of the oldest universities in the world. Social programme of the meeting will include visit of the city, a gala dinner and extensive opportunity to network with the Instruct Structural Biology community.

Instruct is a distributed European Research Infrastructure, which provides scientists with access to all major cutting edge technologies that enable biomacromolecular structure determination at atomic resolution. Access to all of these technologies has been available to European member researchers from February 2012. The inaugural Instruct Structural Biology Meeting at Heidelberg in 2013 successfully showcased integrative structural biology and its impact on biological research and biomedicine. The second Biennial took place in Florence in 2015 continuing the integrative line with an increased focus on innovation. The last edition which took place in Brno Czech Republic included sessions representing recent structural biology highlights, emerging methods and technologies and results of biomedical importance. We have already confirmed outstanding speakers for this 4th edition and we are looking forward to see you there.

 

For more information and registration please see,
https://www.structuralbiology.eu/biennial2019

Seeing the Invisible - The 28th Annual BioCity Symposium

The BioCity Symposium is traditionally opening the Autumn season for bioscientists, and since summer is already here so is soon the symposium!
This year the symposium is arranged 23rd–24th August in BioCity, Turku and the topic of the symposium is bioimaging – Seeing the invisible. Take a look at the Symposium trailer from here.

We hope you will participate to the poster exhibition and submit a poster abstract latest 12.6.2018.


On the basis of the submitted abstracts we invite four researchers to give a short talk in the symposium. Registration dead-line to the symposium is 10.8.2018, and the ones presenting a poster have a priority to the symposium dinner banquette on 23.8.2018. The whole event is free of charge.

Registration and abstract submission
http://www.biocity.turku.fi/biocity-symposium/registration/

More information
http://www.biocity.turku.fi/biocity-symposium/

Biocenter Finland evaluated as excellent in the FIRI midterm evaluation

The Academy of Finland published the results of the Finnish Research Infrastructure Roadmap Midterm Evaluation. Biocenter Finland (BF) was placed in the best possible category – A. The overall rating was “Excellent - Extremely good in international comparison – no significant elements to be improved”.

The international panel who reviewed the infrastructures stated that Biocenter Finland supports high-quality science and supports the national research infrastructure strategy. The panel commented: “BF is an excellent Finnish resource for life-science research, which provides a key backbone to the excellency of this small country in a highly competitive field of research”.

Biocenter Finland is currently preparing an application for the FIRI2018 call. The application is based on proposals from the research community and the BF technology platforms. In line with the BF policy, all new equipment and technologies will be openly accessible to all researcher in Finland as well as non-university users.

MAX IV Summer School in Synchrotron Radiation 2018

Organized by MAX IV and Chalmers University of Technology.

When: 21st – 29th May, 2018

Where: Backagården and MAX IV Laboratory

Registration is open until March 16th 14:00 CET

Scope of the School

The aim of the school is to provide graduate students with a good understanding of synchrotron facilities and why are they such a useful tool for research. To that end, the students will attend lectures, do exercises and hands-on sessions at MAX IV and engage in follow-up discussions. In addition to providing a good overview of the main instrumentation and methods aspects of such large scale facility, the school aims at emphasising the MAX IV new imaging capabilities and high coherence.

The school offers a valuable opportunity for the students to start building a network with other students, with the lecturers and the participating MAX IV scientists.

For more information, see:
https://www.maxiv.lu.se/education-training/max-iv-summer-school/

Mass Cytometry Kick-Off

As part of the newly established Biocenter Finland Single-cell omics platform, Mass cytometry has been installed at the Turku Centre for Biotechnology. The workshop is to introduce this new technology and how it can be used in your study. This seminar will give you an introduction to mass cytometry, including a tech overview, applications, workflow and reagents, and the Hyperion Imaging System. Additionally, you will get a data presentation description of the technology service in Turku.

Participation is free of charge - no sign-up required. Refreshments will be served.
Welcome everyone!

March 22nd at 10:00
BTK 5th floor seminar room

Andrius Serva, PhD, Field Application Specialist, Europe, Fluidigm 
Discovery and Functional Profiling with Mass Cytometry 
High order multiplexing of biological samples – from suspension to tissue

Zhi Chen, PhD, Turku Centre for Biotechnology
Helios Mass Cytometry in Turku

Organized by: Turku Centre for Biotechnology; Fluidigm; AH Diagnostic

For further information, please see:
Mass_Cytometry_2018-03_FI.PDF

Tapio Visakorpi nominated as Biocenter Finland Chair of the Board

The Board of Biocenter Finland nominated Professor Tapio Visakorpi as Chair of the Board for the term 2018-2019. Tapio Visakorpi serves as the Dean of the Faculty of Medicine Life Sciences and as Professor of Cancer Genetics at the University of Tampere. See Biosketch for more information.

Academy Professor Seppo Ylä-Herttuala was nominated as Vice-Chair. He is the Director of Biocenter Kuopio and Professor of Molecular Medicine at the University of Eastern Finland.

Translating Structural Biology into Biomedical Applications (iNEXT workshop)

Structure-based and biophysical approaches are now well established in industry as major tools contributing to drug development and there is a growing interest among academic labs in applying these techniques to help develop chemical tools. New technologies for HT fragment-based screening and cryo-electron microscopy are rapidly changing the field and there is a strong potential for collaborations between scientist in industry and academia on this area. The aim of the workshop is to present the state of the art as well as to provide a meeting ground for scientist from public and private institutions. The workshop will include keynote lectures from scientist in industry and academia as well as presentations on new technologies and access opportunities within iNEXT. Abstracts from participants with a focus on areas of high translational potential will be selected for oral presentations.

Additional information and registration through this link

Dedine for registration is February 5th.

iNEXT is a consortium funded by the Horizon2020 program that is pioneering coordinated access to infrastructures for macromolecular crystallography, SAXS, NMR, electron microscopy, advanced light microscopy and biophy! sics. In addition to providing access, the consortium has established ambitious collaborative structural biology research programs to develop advanced methodologies for ligand screening, the study of membrane proteins and acquiring structural information in the context of the living cell. The iNEXT workshop will be preceded by the iNEXT Users Meeting March 19-21 2018

Biocenter Finald Career Workshop 2017

Biocenter Finland organised a two-day Career Workshop for 60 post-docs and PhD students on Dec 14-15 in Biomedicum Helsinki . The participants experienced a full-day Nature Masterclass workshop where two Nature editors
provide hands-on, practical training for publishing in top tier journals.

On the second day, the participants attended a career opportunity and grant writing workshop that
contained information about postdoctoral and PhD funding instruments of EMBO, Academy of
Finland, and Marie-Sklodowska Curie Actions. The workshop included talks by grant writers sharing
their best practises, as well as grant awardees who shared their experiences of launching an
international career from the postdoctoral stage.

Programme:
BF_career_workshop_2017.pdf

Biocenter Finland Annual Report Published

The Biocenter Finland Annual Report 2015-2016 has been published. Please see the report for information on Biocenter Finland services, scientific success stories, societal impact and more.

BF annual report 2015 16 thumbnail

 

 

3rd Metabolomics Annual Workshop


Course concept:
Attendees of MAW will gain basics in different theoretical concepts of metabolomics and also practical knowledge on various aspects of the metabolite analysis using mass spectrometry including data processing and statistical analyses.

Venue:
Biomedicum (Haartmaninkatu 8)

Organizer:
Vidya Velagapudi (FIMM Metabolomics Unit) and DPBM doctoral programme

Date:
October 17-19, 2017

Registration at https://elomake.helsinki.fi/lomakkeet/73864/lomake.html

Deadline for registration is Monday, 2.10.2017.

Program and further information: http://www.helisci.fi/hbgs/DPBM-115

CSSB Opening Symposium: Frontiers in Structural Systems Biology of host –pathogen interactions

It is our pleasure to invite you to the CSSB Opening Symposium  entitled “Frontiers in Structural Systems Biology of host –pathogen interactions." The symposium will take place from 13-15 November 2017 in Hamburg, Germany and will explore new frontiers in structural systems biology with a particular focus on host – pathogen interactions. The CSSB Opening Symposium will feature top-class international research talks in four scientific sessions and will end with a panel discussion on future perspectives of the field.

Registration:

For more information about the symposium and to register, please visit: https://cssb-symposium2017.de/

We do look forward to welcoming you to Hamburg.

Yours sincerely,

Kay Grünewald, Michael Kolbe, and Thomas Marlovits

Stability for the European structural biology research infrastructure

Picture1

In July 2017 The European Commission has granted the pan-European research infrastructure Instruct the ERIC status, which stands for European Research Infrastructure Consortium. Instruct provides access to specialist research infrastructures for structural biology at different centers across Europe. In Finland the Instruct-FI structural biology network of Biocenter Finland is interacting in many ways with the Instruct structural biology community. At the moment the four major structural biology centers in Finland (Helsinki, Oulu, Joensuu, Turku) are preparing an application to the Instruct council to become accepted as a distributed Instruct Centre. Helsinki will be the national hub. Oulu coordinates the participation of Instruct-FI in iNEXT and Instruct-ULTRA. The FIRI committee of the Academy of Finland has agreed that Finland joins Instruct providing the Finnish life science researchers with funded access to the major structural biology centers in Europe. Access to Instruct facilities across Europe is essential to use large instruments, like X-ray synchrotrons and modern cryo-electron microscopes that cannot be built and maintained in all countries, but also to maintain a collaborative scientific culture that allows the dissemination of scientific expertise and methodological innovations across different laboratories. Instruct also fosters joint translational research efforts between academia and biotech to ensure the implementation of new technologies for more sustainable processes and better human health.

Millennium Talks Workshop – Asking More from Research

The Millennium Talks Workshop was co-organized by Biocenter Finland and Technology Academy Finland and supported by the Institut Francais de Finlande, the Embassy of France in Finland and the Aalto University. Keynote speakers included Professors Emmanuelle Charpentier, one of the inventors of the CRISPR-Cas9 gene-editing technology, and Frances Arnold winner of the Millennium Technology Prize. The workshop discussed how technologies emanating from frontier research can be taken advantage of in industry, clinical care and in research in Finland. The workshop promoted a mind-set change amongst academic researchers, to acknowledge the importance of wider impact for society of findings of fundamental research.

The event took place on May 17-18 at the Aalto University School of Business.

Biocenter Finland Succeeds in the FIRI2016 Call

Biocenter Finland was successful in the Academy of Finland’s FIRI2016 funding call with an application entitled: “Dissection of protein modifications and metabolites in single cells and diseased tissue as the 2017-2018 Focus Area of Biocenter Finland”. The funded equipment enable setting up services for identification of proteins, metabolites, and their modifications in single-cells or tissue samples. These services will be openly available from 2017-2018 on for academic and non-academic customers in Finland and abroad.

The funded equipment investments further develop and enforce the state-of-the-art technological front and throughput capacity of the existing Biocenter Finland Proteomics and Metabolomics technology platform services that are on high and increasing demand. Furthermore, novel approaches including liquid biopsy and mass cytometry technologies will be incorporated in the Biocenter Finland service portfolio.

“X-ray and neutron diffraction studies of macromolecules: from data collection to structures” (Oulu, Finland, May-15 to May-19, 2017)

From May-15 to May-19, 2017 we organise our iNEXT course; “X-ray and neutron diffraction studies of macromolecules: from data collection to structures” in Oulu. It is organized in the context of the iNEXT Horizon2020 project (http://www.inext-eu.org ), together with Diamond (Oxford, UK), Biocenter Oulu and the Health and Biosciences Doctoral Programme of the University of Oulu.  This full course consists of lectures and tutorials. The tutorials are only for the registrated students who have initially applied to attend the full course. However the 15 lectures are free for everyone who is interested. Researchers who follow all the lectures will receive a certificate for 1 ECTS credit. A detailed program is available at http://www.oulu.fi/biocenter/instruct-nac/courses/oulu. All lectures are at the FBMM premises on the Kontinkangas campus of the University of Oulu.

Briefly, the lectures of the course will include an introduction on the methods of protein crystallography (Rupp), neutron crystallography (Oksanen/Podjarny) and SAXS/SANS-approaches (Tukkanen). Also data collection at synchrotrons (Thunnissen, Aller, Powell), new perspectives when using the new long-wavelength beamline at Diamond (Wagner) and when using XFEL-technology (Hajdu) will be addressed. Focused lectures on structure validation (Rupp), X-ray data processing with XDS (Rower) and DIALS (Waterman) and neutron data processing (Oksanen), as well as experimental phasing (Gruene) and molecular replacement phasing (Lebedev) are also included.

On behalf of the local organisers,
Rik Wierenga and Lari Lehtiö

Marja Makarow Appointed as Director of Biocenter Finland

The rectors of Biocenter Finland partner Universities have nominated Professor Marja Makarow as new director of Biocenter Finland.

Marja Makarow ends her term as vice president of the Academy of Finland – the Finnish research Council in June. She is former vice rector for research, researcher training and innovation (2003-2007) and professor of applied biochemistry and molecular biology of  the University of Helsinki. In 2008-2011 she served as chief executive of the European Science Foundation in Strasbourg France. She chairs Technology Academy Finland and serves on the governing board of the European Institute for Innovation and Technology EIT.

Marja Makarow will start her appointment as Biocenter Finland Director in July 2016.

Further information:
Coordinator  antti.siltanen(at)helsinki.fi
Secretary anu.taulio(at)helsinki.fi

EMBO Conference: The biochemistry and chemistry of biocatalysis: From understanding to design

June 12 - 15, 2016

Oulu, Finland

The EMBO Conference focuses on fundamental and applied aspects of biocatalysis, with an emphasis on the impact that enzyme research has at the interface of biology and chemistry. The sessions will cover an array of topics including computational, chemistry and structural approaches, as well as directed evolution, bioinformatics and spectroscopic methods, aimed towards better understanding of enzyme mechanisms and mechanisms of complex multifunctional enzyme systems, in vitro and in vivo. The importance of the electrostatic and dynamical properties of enzymes will be addressed. The impact of this knowledge for drug discovery research and research on non-natural biocatalytic systems will be highlighted. Established and emerging scientists from academic and industrial settings will be available to stimulate discussion and provide perspective on the topics of this conference. We strongly encourage participation of students and postdoctoral associates, providing opportunities for discussion and networking. Oral presentations chosen from submitted poster abstracts will provide additional opportunities for discussing new and innovative ideas. The speakers are encouraged to give a brief introduction of the field in which they work and allow for sufficient time for discussion.

For more information: http://events.embo.org/16-biocatalysis/ 

Call for Biocenter Finland Director

Biocenter Finland (www.biocenter.fi) is a distributed nation-wide infrastructure network organization for biosciences in Finland. It is governed by six partner universities; Universities of Eastern Finland, Helsinki, Oulu, Tampere, Turku and Åbo Akademi.

The mission of Biocenter Finland is to maintain and develop national technology platform services and, by this means, to support top-level research in Finland and facilitate development and acquisition of new technologies. Biocenter Finland is one of the Finnish Research Infrastructures (FIRI; current roadmap 2014–2020).

Biocenter Finland invites applications for a position of

DIRECTOR

The position is part-time (50%), and the appointment will be from March 1, 2016 to December 31, 2020.

The Director of Biocenter Finland has an important visionary position within the Finnish bioscience community. The principal task of the Director is to maintain collaboration among the host universities and facilitate the function and development of infrastructure services and their strategy within the the field of biosciences.

The responsibilities of the Director are:

• to direct and develop Biocenter Finland activities and co-ordinate the network functions among

  the host universities and their biocenters

• to monitor the developments in the areas represented by Biocenter Finland as well as to maintain

  and develop the network’s national and international activities

• to manage the network’s finances

• to prepare and present the issues that belong to the Board of Biocenter Finland and to implement

  the Board’s decisions

The Director can have his/her own research group.

A successful candidate for the directorship is expected to be a professor or to have a doctoral degree, and to possess experience in the research fields represented by Biocenter Finland and in leadership positions. Experience in international expert positions and knowledge about international research and infrastructure policies are additional merits. English and Finnish are the working languages of Biocenter Finland.

The provisional time of commitment is 50%. The Director will be employed by the University of Helsinki acting as the Biocenter Finland coordination university currently. The salary is negotiable and commensurate with the candidate’s accomplishments within the remuneration system of the University of Helsinki.

Applications should be addressed to the Board. International experts will be used to evaluate the applicants’ accomplishments and qualifications. The Director is appointed by the Rector’s Council of Biocenter Finland based on a proposal of the Board. The contract is made with the Rector of the University of Helsinki.

The application is to include a short description (max. 3 pages) of the ways by which the applicant plans to develop Biocenter Finland activities during his/her tenure together with curriculum vitae and list of publications. The application and its appendices should be sent by January 21 at noon (+2 GMT) by email to Tämä sähköpostiosoite on suojattu spamboteilta. Tarvitset JavaScript-tuen nähdäksesi sen..

For additional information, please contact Professor Olli A. Jänne (Tämä sähköpostiosoite on suojattu spamboteilta. Tarvitset JavaScript-tuen nähdäksesi sen.), Director of Biocenter Finland or members of the Board.

BF Board meetings in spring 2016

BF Board meetings in spring/summer 2016:

08.02.2016, 9:15  12:00

15.03.2016, 9:15  12:00 

03.06.2016, 11:00 – 14:00

6th Sino-Finn Life Science Forum

17-18, August, 2015
Lecture Hall 2, Biomedicum Helsinki,  Haartmaninkatu 8, Helsinki, Finland

This symposium entitled “6th Sino-Finn Life Science Forum: From System Biology to Translational Medicine” will mainly focus on the latest and exciting innovations in the area of molecular biology and medicine, functional genomics and computational biology, clinical investigation and translation based on big data.

Since 2008, Sino-Finn Life Science Forum has been successfully held for 5 times. Through this platform, many respected scientists of life science from both Finland and China have presented their latest work, communicated with each other, and establishED various types of collaborations.


As a follow-up event of Sino-Finn Life Science Forum, the upcoming symposium provides a good opportunity of communication for the eminent scientists and investigators in the field of system biology and translational medicine from both Finland and China. Moreover, this symposium will provide a bilateral platform for all participants and young researchers/students to network and perceive scientific interactions for the future development in the related field.

 

http://www.calsif.org/6th-sino-finn-life-science-forum.html

Bridging Nordic Imaging - enabling discoveries from atoms to anatomy

BRIDGING NORDIC IMAGING – ENABLING DISCOVERIES FROM ATOMS TO ANATOMY -network was established for efficient collaboration between Nordic countries and to jointly work towards a better research community and improved options for both biological and medical imaging.
 
Bridging Nordic Imaging -network arranges a seminar series to bring together researchers and students from Nordic countries for improving interdisciplinary research and to combining the biological and medical imaging technologies and expertise. 
 
First seminar will take place on 13-14.8.15 in Turku. 
Information about the network and seminar: http://www.bioimaging.fi/nordic-imaging/
 
At the same time with this event, two Finnish Bioimaging network meetings will take place. Finnish Bioimaging network will have its first meeting on the 12th of August and meeting for Finnish bioimaging core facility staff will be arranged (date will be confirmed later).

 

Meeting of BF board with network coordinators, platform chairs and ESFRI representatives

Joint meeting of BF board members, coordinators of infrastructure networks and chairs of technology platforms will be organised on January 12, 2015. Also Finnish national coordinators/contact points of BMS (Biological and Medical Sciences) ESFRI projects have been invited to this meeting where important issues about the future development of BF will be discussed.

 

 

XXVI Paulo Foundation Symposium entitled "From Atomic Structures to Disease Mechanisms" and FINNBOX satellite meeting in June 2015

The Biocenter Finland structural biology network will hold a 1 day meeting dedicated to Finnish structural biology research and technical advances 9th June 2015, in Helsinki. It will be held as a satellite meeting to the Paulo Foundation Symposium "From atomic structures to disease mechanisms" (10-12th June). The new NMR magnet will be inaugurated as part of the satellite meeting.

XXVI Paulo Foundation Symposium entitled "From Atomic Structures to Disease Mechanisms", 10-12th June, 2015, Helsinki, Finland

"Our rationale for this symposium is both scientific and clinical. Scientifically, understanding the molecular details of energy metabolism is fundamental to our understanding of life. Clinically, brain diseases affect a large number of people, and yet therapeutic approaches are limited. Recent advances in structural biology and biophysics, especially in receptors and their signalling, will now allow, in principle, development of conceptually novel drugs that could modify disease progression. It is thus critically important to bring people in these areas together to find ways and means to make these breakthroughs."

Please visit symposium webpages for more information

Satellite meeting FINNBOX

The Finnish structural biology annual meeting (FINNBOX) will be held as a satellite to this symposium. The meeting will take place on June 9 in seminar room 3401, Biocenter 3, Viikinkaari 1. The program will be based on the submitted abstracts.

Registration for the symposium can be done using the following e-form
https://elomake.helsinki.fi/lomakkeet/54899/lomake.html

Deadline for registration & abstract submission is April 15, 2015.

BF Annual Report 2013 published

BF Annual Report 2013 has now been published. The report summarizes the activities of the technology platforms in 2013.

- "Year 2013 was an exceptionally busy one and full of changes for Biocenter Finland (BF)." Director Eero Vuorio

Lue lisää

Biocenter Finland user survey 2013

The first Biocenter Finland (BF) user survey was conducted in March 2013 in order to get information on the use and performance of BF technology platforms built up during the period of 2010–2012.

Lue lisää

Seppo Ylä-Herttuala continues as the Chairman of Biocenter Finland board

In 2013, Academy Professor Seppo Ylä-Herttuala (Biocenter Kuopio, University of Eastern Finland) will continue as the Chairman, and Professor Jyrki Heino (Biocity Turku, University of Turku) as the Vice-Chairman of the Biocenter Finland board.

The next board meetings are organized on March 15, 2013 and May 3, 2013.

Evaluation of BF activities in 2010-2012

The international evaluation of BF activities in 2010-2012 will take place in June 10-11, 2013. This will be combined with the evaluation of applications for support for bioscience technology platforms for 2014-2016. The call for BF technology platform support will be published on this website in February 2013.

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