MOLECULAR BIOLOGY TECHNIQUES (NEW DATES!)
LABORATORY BIOINFORMATICS
MOLECULAR BIOLOGY TECHNIQUES WORKSHOPS (SPRING 2012 PROGRAM):
To inquire about registration, please contact Dr. David Ng at db@interchange.ubc.ca
Reviews and Testimonies
Can be found here.
INSTRUCTOR: Dr. David Ng
DESCRIPTION: Updated for 2011: This intense 5 day workshop will focus on a myriad of different techniques used in the molecular manipulation of DNA, RNA and protein, as well as inclusion of exercises in some basic bioinformatics tools. Primarily aimed at researchers who are new to the area, familiar but require a quick updating, or would like more practical bench training.
PHILOSOPHY: Whilst molecular techniques have evolved at a speedy rate over the last few decades, the underlying biochemical principles behind the vast majority of them has actually changed little. This workshop therefore combines opportunities to perform the latest, as well as commonly used older techniques, with particular attention to the chemical nuts and bolts behind them. In all, this allows the researcher to not only gain needed familiarity with the techniques, but also achieve a comfortable theoretical level to allow for both (1) that all important skill of troubleshooting, and (2) the often undervalued skill of judging the utility of “tricks” that aim to speed up, or lower costs of a given methodology.
NOTE: The 2012 workshop takes the successul 6 day workshop offer in June 2011, and has compressed it to 5 days for easier scheduling. Finished materials will be available as the dates draw nearer. However, you can see our June 2011 editions of our lecture notes, and lab manual for a frame of reference.
Workshop now includes 2D protein gels as well as a computer exercises covering some basic bioinformatic tools
LOCATION:
Located in the heart of the UBC campus, the Michael Smith Laboratories is a testament to the vision of its founding Director, Dr. Michael Smith. Under his leadership, a gifted team of young scientists were recruited. These scientists have gone on to develop internationally renowned programs of research and training. The second and third floors of the new building are dedicated to the research facilities of the former Biotechnology Laboratory. The Stewart and Marilyn Blusson Education Forum is located on the ground floor and is open to the public. The molecular techniques workshops are held in the teaching lab, room 105 of this forum.
(click here for detailed directions)
REGISTRATION DETAILS:
Registration is essentially through first: an email inquiry for space (contact Dr. David Ng at db@interchange.ubc.ca), second: a verbal commitment and then third via payment. Your place is essentially secured with payment, which more or less equates to a first come first serve mechanism. This payment would be a CAN$1400 cheque (or equivalent) payable to “The University of British Columbia” and sent to
Dr. David Ng
Michael Smith Laboratories
301-2185 East Mall,
University of British Columbia
Vancouver, BC, CANADA V6T 1Z3
If you prefer us to send an invoice, please let us know and we can arrange that accordingly. Note that we can accommodate a maximum of 16 clients, but on occasion up to half of these spaces are already reserved for predetermined group clients. Therefore, it’s best to put your name down as soon as possible if you are interested in the workshop.
REFUND POLICY
Your spot in the workshop is secured when we receive your payment. The deadline for receipt of payments is 2 weeks prior to the workshop start date. Unfortunately, we are unable to issue any refunds after this deadline has passed.
DAY TO DAY SCHEDULING DETAILS:
Workshop will begin each day at 9am sharp and usually end around 5:30pm. A detailed final schedule and syllabus will be released to clients as the date draws nearer.
MATERIALS:
All paper materials will be provided on the first day of the workshop. Downloadable versions will be available a week before the workshop begins. Whilst we do not require the clients to “study” these documents, we do ask that clients take a moment to peruse the first day practical materials. Please also bring a lab coat – if one is not available, please let us know and we will make arrangements accordingly. All other safety gear is provided at the workshop.
ACCOMMODATIONS:
Here are some accommodation options that are basically on campus. Costs involved would vary (I think the most budget option would be the Vancouver Youth Hostel which is about a 15minute bus ride away). The closest would be those of Gage through UBC conferences. The others (except for point grey house) are all a relatively short walk away.
International Youth Hostel at Jericho Beach
UBC accomodations (on campus – note there are only 47 available)
St. John’s College (on campus)
Green College (on campus)
St. Andrew’s Hall (summer only)
Point Grey House (off campus, but only 10 minute bus ride away)
Alternatively, Downtown Vancouver offers a variety of accommodation options, but would entail about a 30-40minute bus ride each way. Depends on your preference since the Campus is pretty quiet at night time, whereas other areas would be more interesting. Go to www.expedia.ca, and select:
hotel > near an attraction/vancouver > type in “University of British Columbia”
Usually the out of town clients make use of a little extra time after or before the workshop in visiting some of the sights Vancouver has to offer. I often strongly recommend this since the city and surrounding locale are really quite spectacular. In particular Whistler-Blackcomb is a world famous ski/outdoor resort, and is only a 2 hour drive away. Ski season usually opens in mid November (click here for more info)
LABORATORY BIOINFORMATICS (SPRING 2010 PROGRAM):
Now accepting registration
To register, please contact Dr. Joanne Fox at joanne@msl.ubc.ca(1) THREE DAY VERSION
Dates: May 31-June 2, 2010
Price: CAN$750 (does not include room or board)
Reviews and Testimonies
Can be found here.
INSTRUCTOR: Dr. Joanne Fox
DESCRIPTION: This Bioinformatics Workshop is a three-day intensive training workshop that AMBL offers to a professional audience. The focus is on bioinformatics techniques for practical use in the laboratory. Current topics in bioinformatics, genomics and proteomics are covered. Participants are introduced to common tools and database resources for bioinformatics. Practical exercises and guided tours give workshop participants hands-on experience with retrieving data, tools for primer design, for BLAST searching, and for navigating genomics data. The individual bioinformatics searches, tasks, and analyses covered can be tailored to your own individual laboratory needs. Primarily aimed at researchers who are new to the area, or familiar but need a quick updating.
WORKSHOP LECTURE NOTES
(2009 lecture notes available):
2010 CONTENTS (will be tailored to audience needs):
2009 Syllabus:
SEQUENCE DATABASES – Public Resources at the NCBI
GUIDED TOUR – Advanced Tips & Tricks for Searching Entrez
PRACTICAL EXERCISES – Navigating Links, Retrieving Data with Entrez, and Searching Literature Databases Efficiently
BLAST – Finding Function by Sequence Similarity
GUIDED TOUR – Advanced Tips & Tricks for Using BLAST
PRACTICAL EXERCISES – Solving a Biological Problem with BLAST – The Jurassic Park Detective Story.
PRIMER-BLAST – Designing and Testing Primers with NCBI’s Primer-BLAST
MULTIPLE SEQUENCE ALIGNMENTS – Comparing Sets of Protein Sequences
GENOME BROWSERS – Accessing Genome Annotations
PRACTICAL EXERCISES – Three Different Views of the BRCA1 gene in MapViewer, the UCSC Genome Browser, and Ensembl
DISCOVERING GEO, the Gene Expression Omnibus
GUIDED TOUR – Navigating Microarray Data Using GEO
PATHWAY RESOURCES for Systems Biology
BIOINFORMATICS LINKS DIRECTORY, Conducting Research on the Web
LOCATION:
(click here for detailed directions) The exact room location for the Bioinformatics Workshop will be provided to participants with their registration confirmation information.
REGISTRATION DETAILS:
Registration is essentially through first: an email inquiry for space (joanne@msl.ubc.ca), second: a verbal commitment and then third via payment. Your place is essentially secured with payment, which more or less equates to a first come first serve mechanism. This payment would be a CAN$750 cheque (or equivalent) payable to “The University of British Columbia” and sent to
Dr. Joanne Fox
Michael Smith Laboratories
225-2185 East Mall,
University of British Columbia
Vancouver, BC, CANADA V6T 1Z3
If you prefer us to send an invoice, please let us know and we can arrange that accordingly. Note that for the bioinformatics workshops, we can accommodate a maximum of 10 clients. Therefore, it’s best to put your name down as soon as possible if you are interested in the workshop.
REFUND POLICY
Your spot in the workshop is secured when we receive your payment. The deadline for receipt of payments is 3 weeks prior to the workshop start date. Unfortunately, we are unable to issue any refunds after this deadline has passed.
DAY TO DAY SCHEDULING DETAILS:
Workshop will begin each day at 9am sharp and usually end around 5:00pm. A detailed final schedule and syllabus will be released to clients as the date draws nearer.
MATERIALS:
A portable laptop computer will be provided for your dedicated on-site use during the Bioinformatics Workshop. Wireless network connections will also be available. All paper materials will be provided on the first day of the workshop. Downloadable versions will also be available at the workshop.
ACCOMODATIONS:
Please see the accomodation information listed above for the Molecular Techniques workshop for more information about Vancouver, and accomodations at/near UBC.
