Between 14 and 16 October 2014, ECIMAT hosted the first Workshop on Marine Evolutionary Genomics and Proteomics. A large number of applications were received from various countries (Argentina, Croatia, Finland, France, Greece, Italy, Mexico, Portugal, Spain, and the United Kingdom). Finally, 18 PhD students and 12 postdoctoral researchers were selected to attend the workshop.
During the first day, six lectures were presented by leading researchers. The most notable ones were given by Stevan Springer (University of California San Diego), Nicolas Bierne (University of Montpellier), and Patrik Nosil (University of Sheffield), published in high-impact journals such as PLoS Genetics, Nature, and Science. All presentations were recorded and can be accessed via Campus do Mar TV (http://tv.campusdomar.es/serial/index/id/421).
The attendees and invited speakers visited the ECIMAT laboratories and highlighted the quality of the facilities and the beauty of the location. During the lunch break, all participants enjoyed a picnic in the island’s forest area, where students and speakers had the opportunity to interact and talk.
The practical sessions on Approximate Bayesian Computation analyses and next-generation sequencing data analysis were held in the computer room of the Miralles building. These sessions will also be made available at a later stage on the Campus do Mar TV website. The students expressed great satisfaction with the quality of the lectures and highlighted Víctor’s patience (Víctor Soria-Carrasco, Univ. Sheffield). Due to the large number of students, Víctor’s practical sessions were supported by Stuart Dennis (Univ. Sheffield) and Anamaria Stambuk (Univ. Zagreb), which greatly improved the quality of the workshop. Coffee and lunch breaks were an important part of the workshop, as they allowed students to interact with others working on similar topics and to ask questions to the speakers informally.
The workshop was very successful not only due to the quality of the theoretical and practical sessions, but also because of the pleasant atmosphere. For more information, please visit the MEGP website: http://meeg2014.webs2.uvigo.es/home.html
