EMBL Monterotondo, 1 - 3 March 2010

Aims

Direct observation has been the most long-lived approach to the study of living organisms. The introduction of optical devices enabling scientists to observe how cells behave and organize in vitro as well as in vivo has greatly contributed to our current understanding of several critical biological processes.

In most recent years, however, more sophisticated technologies were demanded in order to be able to reconstruct 3D structures in space and time, to analyze immensely small structures at high resolution, or to follow cellular processes in live specimen. This pressure has forced science and technology world not only to build more powerful microscopes, but also to develop new reagents for microscopy studies and entirely novel microscopy approaches and applications.

EMBL has greatly contributed to the development of some of the current cutting-edge microscopy applications and its current and former scientists are now putting such technologies to challenge some of the most urgent question in the study of living cells. This course, organized in collaboration with the Italian Association of Science Teachers (ANISN), will offer the participants the opportunity to dive in the field of modern microscopy, meeting some of the actors of such an old and still revolutionary field.

Through the 3-day program participants will:

• explore together with scientists some of the cutting-edge technologies associated to today microscopy
• develop inquiry-based microscopy practical experiences that can be translated into classrooms
• discuss how different technologies can be used in modern Life Science Education

Topics

Seminars:

held by eminent speakers and aimed at understanding how much microscopy has evolved from a mere observatory to one of the most powerful exploratory tool available to today’s Science

Demonstrations:

held by scientists on some state-of-the-art advanced microscopy applications

Hands-on activities:

aimed at adopting microscopy-based experiments in the classroom to spur observations on the mechanisms underlying critical biological processes

Programme

Preliminary programme

Invited Speakers

• Peter Lenart, EMBL Heidelberg - Germany
• Alberto Diaspro, Italian Institute of Technology (IIT) Genoa - Italy
• Julien Colombelli, Institute for Research in Biomedicine (IRB) Barcelona - Spain
• Pedro Moreira, EMBL Monterotondo (RM) - Italy
• Petra Haas, University of Heidelberg - Germany

Registration

Deadline: January 24^th, 2010

Only online registrations will be accepted. To register please fill in the application form and send it to ells@embl.it.

You will need Adobe Acrobat Reader application in order to open the Registration Form. Download Adobe Acrobat Reader.

Registration Fee: 50 Euro. This fee includes accommodation expenses for three nights, catering and course material. Participants are expected to meet their own travel expenses.

Additional Info

Target Audience

The course is open to all European high-school science teachers.

Language

English.

Number of Participants

The course is limited to 20 participants.

Hotel

Accommodation is included in the registration fee for the default dates of 1-3 March 2010 (arrival on February 28^th, departure on March 3^rd). All additional nights (beyond the 3 nights twin room paid by EMBL) will be charged extra.

Travel to EMBL

EMBL Monterotondo
Adriano Buzzati-Traverso Campus
Via Ramarini 32, 00015
Monterotondo (Rome) Italy

Map of Monterotondo and EMBL

For instructions on how to reach the institute, please click here

Scientific Organizers

Rossana De Lorenzi, ELLS, EMBL Monterotondo - Italy

Tommaso Nastasi, ELLS, EMBL Monterotondo - Italy

Collaborations and Sponsorships