2nd Helmholtz Summer School on Chromatin Biology - a Great Success
The second "Helmholtz Summer School on Chromatin Biology: A Hands-on Expedition", organized by the Helmholtz Munich Institute of Epigenetics and Stem Cells (IES) and the Institute of Functional Epigenetics (IFE) in collaboration with the life science company Abcam, was held on the Helmholtz Munich campus in Neuherberg from August 11th to 24th, 2024. The event brought together 14 talented PhD students from five continents, offering them a unique opportunity to cutting-edge-techniques in the area of chromatin biology and epigenetics.
During the summer school, which is unique in Europe, the participants learned about the latest epigenomic technologies. The first week was dedicated to practical training in state-of-the-art techniques, including ChIP-seq, CUT&RUN, CUT&Tag, and ATAC-seq. In the second week, the students shifted focus to bioinformatic analyses. Using the high-performance cluster (HPC), participants learned to develop computational pipelines, allowing them to analyze the "-omics" data they generated in the first week of the course.
The Summer School offered an intensive, immersive learning experience, fully engaging the students through the entirety of the course. "It was fantastic to have students from all over the world, who brought a great deal of motivation and commitment to the course." remarked Maria Elena Torres-Padilla, director of the Institute of Epigenetics and Stem Cells. She also thanked all the instructors and guest speakers, whose enthusiasm and expertise were key to the program's success. Robert Schneider, director of the Institute of Functional Epigenetics, echoed this sentiment: "We are also grateful for the fantastic support from various departments at Helmholtz Munich, who helped us organize and run the event smoothly and efficiently."
Complementing the hands-on training were daily lectures delivered predominantly in person by world-leading experts in epigenetics, from Harvard, Cambridge, Seattle, London, Copenhagen, Edinburgh, Colorado, Stockholm and Munich. Career talks also offered invaluable insights, and students relished the opportunity to engage with the speakers, discuss fundamental concepts, improve their critical thinking skills, and network at this early stage in their careers. "The Summer School was a fantastic experience, not just for the participants but for the entire team. It provided early-career researchers with the tools they need to push the frontiers of epigenetic sciences," concluded Aloys Schepers, coordinator for “EpiCrossBorders”, an international research and training initiative focused on advancing the field of epigenetics.
