QLife Quantitative biology winter school “Polygenic Adaptation : from Quantitative Genetics to Population Genomics ”
Master in Life Science, ENS
BIO-Q-Qlife Winter School | Polygenic Adaptation : from Quantitative Genetics to Population Genomics
Year and Semester : M2 | S2
Where : Biology department, ENS
Duration : 1 week (March 10th -14th, 2025)
Credits : 3 ECTS`
Maximum class size : 25 students
This course is open to external students ->Contact
Coordination
Patrick Charnay, Biology Department, ENS
Chairman of the scientific committee : Henrique Teotónio, Biology Department, ENS, France
Keywords
Experimental evolution | quantitative trait locus mapping (QTL) | genome-wide association analyses | pool-seq | population genomics | mathematical modeling | data analysis
Course prerequisites
Basic experience in file manipulation under Unix/Linux and coding ability in Python or R. Attendance is competitive (25 participants) and open to M2 and PhD students, postdocs, engineers and junior scientists with backgrounds in life science, geoscience, physics, chemistry, computer science and mathematics. Knowledge or experience in the fields of experimental evolution or population genomics is recommended.
Course objectives and description
Aims and themes : Adaptation to novel environments depends on many alleles with small, but largely undetectable, fitness effects.
With the advance of DNA sequencing technologies, the combination of genome-wide association analyses with genome prediction methods has become the state-of-the-art approach to link adaptive trait responses to genetic changes at the molecular level.
The workshop will introduce students to evolutionary theory and the tools employed to test alternative models of polygenic adaptation. Current advances in detecting polygenic adaptation in experimental and natural populations will be discussed.
The course will introduce the participants to the analysis of phenomic and genomic data covering the latest software.
Organisation : Each day will include two introductory lectures in the morning, followed by computer tutorials in the afternoon (on some days the student can choose between two practicals). The evenings will include keynote speaker seminars and poster presentations by the students.
Common lunches and dinners with the speakers and instructors will foster informal discussions.
Assessment of M2 students
After the course, students requiring a mark will write a written report on two of the computer tutorials, which will be assessed by the instructors.
Course material
The course will include introductory lectures, a series of hands-on computer tutorials run by experts in the field, seminars from prestigious researchers. In poster sessions, the students will have the opportunity to present their research and to obtain feedback from teachers.
Application Deadline
January 8th, 2025
Registration fees
150 € (fees cover food and lodging from Monday morning to Friday afternoon. Some travel grants will be available).
Application procedure
Register through this link https://forms.office.com/e/1VySeNcY0Y.
In addition, provide a CV, a motivation letter (including justification for travel grant if requested) and a supporting letter from a supervisor with “Qlife Polygenic Adaptation Winter School 2025_LASTNAME” as subject header to Aida.Fakhr chez curie.fr
Speakers and Instructors
Neda Barghi, Vienna
Nicholas Barton, Vienna
Timothée Flutre, Paris
Frédéric Guillaume, Helsinki
Susan Johnston, Edinburgh
François Mallard, Paris
Katrina McGuigan, Brisbane
Luisa Pallares, Tubingen
Patrick Phillips, Eugene
Christian Schlötterer, Vienna
Bertrand Sevin, Toulouse
Erik Svansson, Lund
Jacqueline Sztepanacz, Toronto
Henrique Teotónio, Paris
Céline Teplitsky, Montpellier
Ben Wölfl, Vienna
Pierre de Villemereuil, Paris
Suggested readings in relation with the module content
N. Barghi, J. Hermisson and C. Schlötterer. Polygenic adaptation : a unifying framework to understand positive selection Nat Rev Genet 2020 DOI : 10.1038/s41576-020-0250-z
G. Sella and N. Barton. Thinking about the evolution of complex traits in the era of genome-wide association studies. Ann Rev of Genomics and Human Genetics 2019 DOI : 10.1146/annurev-genom-083115022316.