Qlife Quantitative Biology Winter School "Quantitative Approaches to DNA Damage and Repair"
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Master in Life Science, ENS
BIO-Q-Qlife Winter School | Quantitative Approaches to DNA Damage and Repair
Year and Semester: M2 | S2
Where: Biology department, ENS
Duration: 1 week (March 23rd -27th, 2026)
Credits: 3 ECTS
Maximum class size: 25 students
This course is open to external students ->Contact
Coordination
Patrick Charnay, ENS Biology Department, France
Chairman of the scientific committee:
Terence Strick, ENS Biology Department, France
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 chemistry, life science, physics, computer science and mathematics. Knowledge or experience in the fields of the school is recommended.
Course objectives and description
Aims and themes:
Recent technological developments in sequencing, imaging and image analysis have granted unprecedented access to the complex, dynamic, and sometimes even overlapping processes and pathways that nearly all organisms use to repair their DNA, thereby guaranteeing the integrity of their genome.
The Qlife program in Quantitative Biology of the PSL University organizes a 5-day winter school that will cover these emerging approaches through a series of lectures and digital workshops, using datasets from model organisms, both prokaryotic and eukaryotic. The dynamics of DNA repair processes will be explored using imaging approaches ranging from real-time single-molecule tracking of repair complexes to cellular-scale analysis. Quantitative analysis of the outcome of DNA repair pathways will be studied by overlaying sequence information with multiscale modelling of chromatin marks and contemporary understanding of the higher level physical organization of genomes into topologically-associated domains. These data will be integrated with the output of single-cell and spatial transcriptomic analyses to provide an unprecedented combined view of cell location, morphology, interactions, migration, expression pattern and fate.
Organisation
Each day will include two introductory lectures in the morning, followed by computer tutorials in the afternoon. 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 19th, 2026.
Registration fees
150 € (fees cover lunches from Monday to Friday and some dinners).
Application procedure
Register through this link https://forms.cloud.microsoft/e/h7Au5vMBmP.
In addition, provide a CV, a motivation letter and a supporting letter from a supervisor as a single pdf file with “Qlife DNA repair WS2026_LASTNAME” as subject header to qlife.events at psl.eu
Speakers and Instructors
Dana BRANZEI, Milan
Chunlong CHEN, Paris
Nicola CROSETTO, Stockholm
Marie DOUMIC, Palaiseau
Marina ELEZ, Jouy-en-Josas
Paolo FAGHERAZZI, Brno
Fabio IANNELLI, Stockholm
Corinne MINE-HATTAB, Paris
Leonid MIRNY, Paris
Raphaël MOURAD, Toulouse
Aurelle PIAZZA, Lyon
Hana POLASEK-SEDLACKOVA, Brno
Angela TADDEI, Paris
Martin TAYLOR, Edinburgh
Teresa TEIXEIRA, Paris