Dear all,

The Research School in Biosystematics – ForBio – invites to the course
”Introduction to Bioinformatics for Biosystematics”.

Basic programming skills are becoming essential for handling large datasets and
performing complex analyses in biosystematics. This course aims to provide the
students with tools to solve practical problems often encountered in
biosystematic research. Course topics include Python, R, and SQL. An
introduction is arranged in connection with the course for participants without previous
experience of GNU/Linux and Bash.

Place and time: Natural History Museum, Oslo, Norway; September 16-20, 2013.
GNU/Linux and Bash introduction September 14-15, 2013.

Application deadline is August 4, 2013.

More information about the course and how to apply can be found at
www.forbio.uio.no/events/courses/2013/

The course is arranged by the Research school in biosystematics – ForBio. There
is no course fee, and PhD students/postdocs registered at Norwegian, Danish, or
Swedish  universities can become ForBio members and will then have travel
accommodation costs covered. For information about ForBio and membership etc,
please see www.forbio.uio.no/membership/

Welcome!

ForBio/Magnus

Dear all,

University of Oslo and ForBio are offering a field course focusing on the fungal diversity of eastern Norway. The two main aims of the course are to acquire more knowledge about fungal diversity, fungistics and systematics, and learn to use literature, stereomicroscope and microscopy to identify fungi based on micro- and macroscopic characters. We will also focus on the species ecology and phylogenetic relationships.

More information about the course and how to register can be found at http://www.forbio.uio.no/events/courses/2013/mycology.html

Time: September 16-20, 2013.
Application deadline: July 31.

Welcome!
ForBio/Magnus

Henrik Nilsson vid Göteborgs universitet tipsar om en ny reviewartikel!

Learning systematics: new review article
Systematics is a large, dynamic research discipline with a substantial methodological component. Learning the field is certainly not done in a flash. A group of international researchers – several of whom Swedish – have just published an open access introductory article aiming at lowering the learning threshold for Ph.D. students and others seeking to expand their knowledge in systematics. The article was written to cover all aspects of a molecular systematics study, from taxon sampling to the publication process. Particular care was taken to include recent trends in the field as well as aspects not regularly treated in other outlets. Although focusing on fungi, much of the paper is fairly general in nature.

Hyde et al. 2013. Incorporating molecular data in fungal systematics: a guide for aspiring researchers. Current Research in Environmental and Applined Mycology 3: 1.32.

URL: http://www.creamjournal.org/vol-3-issue1.php#article1

Abstract
The last twenty years have witnessed molecular data emerge as a primary research instrument in most branches of mycology. Fungal systematics, taxonomy, and ecology have all seen tremendous progress and have undergone rapid, far-reaching changes as disciplines in the wake of continual improvement in DNA sequencing technology. A taxonomic study that draws from molecular data involves a long series of steps, ranging from taxon sampling through the various laboratory procedures and data analysis to the publication process. All steps are important and influence the results and the way they are perceived by the scientific community. The present paper provides a reflective overview of all major steps in such a project with the purpose to assist research students about to begin their first study using DNA-based methods. We also take the opportunity to discuss the role of taxonomy in biology and the life sciences in general in the light of molecular data. While the best way to learn molecular methods is to work side by side with someone experienced, we hope that the present paper will serve to lower the learning threshold for the reader.

One of the co-authors of the study, Henrik Nilsson of the University of Gothenburg, with some recent mycological treasures.

The Research School in Biosystematics – ForBio – invites to the lab course
”Introduction to RADseq”

Restriction site Associated DNA (RAD) has recently made it possible to obtain
genome scale sequence data not only from model organisms, but also from species
without available genomic resources. RADseq techniques can be used to
address questions in a wide range of applications in biosystematics such as SNP
discovery and genotyping, genotype-phenotype association mapping, linkage
mapping, QTL analysis, hybridization and gene flow analysis, and population
genetics. More recently, RADseq data has also been used to address problems in
phylogeographic and phylogenetic studies by utilizing information from linked
SNPs in “mini-contigs” obtained from paired end sequencing. This is a
flexible method for people looking to work on both model and non-model
organisms.

The course will take place June 3-7, 2013 and use the RADseq platform at
Blindern, University of Oslo, Norway.

Application deadline is May 5, 2013.

More information about the course and how to apply can be found at
www.forbio.uio.no/events/courses/2013/radseq.html

The course is arranged by the Research school in biosystematics – ForBio. There
is no course fee, and PhD students/postdocs registered at Swedish, Danish, or
Norwegian universities can become ForBio members and will then have travel and
accomodation costs covered by ForBio. For information about ForBio and
membership etc, please see www.forbio.uio.no/membership/

More information about ticket refunds etc will be sent out after the
application deadline.

Welcome!
ForBio/Magnus

STIRS and ForBio proudly announces an advanced course on these fascinating organisms. The course will be held May 27-31, 2013, The Lovén Center for Marine Sciences, Tjärnö (Sweden). Application deadline: May 4, 2013.

Marine zooplankton is a term summarizing an incredibly high diversity of species from 18 animal phyla, partly spending their entire lifetime in the pelagic environment (holoplankton) or having a pelagic (usually larval) life stage (meroplankton). While some holoplanktonic organisms have high ecological impact on marine foodchains, lies much of the biodiversity in the meroplanktonic life stages of benthic animals. Knowledge of appropriate sampling and preparation techniques, identification skills – including a general awareness of changes in morphology due to ontogenetic stages-, and an understanding of taxonomic difficulties are prerequisite for all studies on planktonic organisms.

More information on this exciting course can be found here: http://www.slu.se/en/collaborative-centres-and-projects/artdatabanken/the-swedish-taxonomy-initiative/research/research-school/

Dear all,

The Distributed European School of Taxonomy (DEST, www.taxonomytraining.eu) continues to provide high-quality training to future taxonomists. Courses are open to participants from both inside and outside of Europe.

Upcoming courses within the Modern Taxonomy programme: http://www.taxonomytraining.eu/content/modern-taxonomy-course-programme-2012-2013

 – DNA-Barcoding course (Paris, 1-5 April 2013): registration open soon

– Zoological Nomenclature (Paris, 20-24 May 2013): registration deadline 31 January 2013

Upcoming courses within the Expert-in-training programme (Registration deadline 31 January 2013): http://www.taxonomytraining.eu/content/expert-training-programme-2012-2013

– Tropical Plant Identification Course (Kew, U.K.)

– Systematics of freshwater subterranean Malacostraca (Ljubljana, Slovenia) – Family level identification of Coleoptera (London, U.K.)

– Entomological research in protected areas (Firenze, Italy) – Training in Entomology (special. Hymenoptera Symphyta) (Ferrara, Italy)

– Elasmobranch teeth enameloid microstructure (Copenhagen, Denmark)

For both programmes, DEST is offering a number of grants to help defray expenses associated with course attendance, travel and accommodation. In allocating grants, priority will be given to selected participants coming from economically less-favoured regions.

Thank you for spreading the word,

Dr Hendrik Gheerardyn

Dr Isabella Van de Velde

— DEST Training www.taxonomytraining.eu

dest-training@naturalsciences.be

Royal Belgian Institute of Natural Sciences

Vautierstraat 29, B-1000 Brussel

Tel: 32 2 627 43 34 (336)

http://www.naturalsciences.be

Dear all,

As the world didn’t end December 21 there’s no reason why you shouldn’t
register and submit your abstracts for the third annual ForBio meeting before
the deadline January 20.

Below is the invitation again – hope to se you all!

The research school in biosystematics – ForBio – is happy to welcome you to
its third annual meeting March 4-6 2013 at Quality Hotel 33 in Oslo.

Our aim is to bring together scientist in Norway, Sweden, and Denmark from a
variety of backgrounds, all working with biosystematics. Leading experts in
several fields will give talks, and we invite you to use this meeting as an
opportunity to present and discuss your own research.

The meeting is open to anyone interested in biosystematics, and we especially
encourage ForBio members and their supervisors to participate. This year the
meeting will span three days in an attempt to accommodate all ForBio members
who want to give an oral research presentation.

ForBio will cover travel and accommodation costs for ForBio members who present
their research (oral or poster). There is no conference or dinner fee.

Please note that the conference will be followed by a bioinformatics workshop
(March 7-8) and you can register for the workshop when you register for the
annual meeting. More information on the workshop can be found at
http://www.forbio.uio.no/events/courses/2013/bioinfoworkshop.html.

Registration and abstract submission deadline is January 20, 2013. Please find
more information about the ForBio meeting and how to register at
www.forbio.uio.no/events/meeting/2013/index.html
Confirmed invited speakers:
Dr. Malin Strand, Sven Lovén Centre of Marine Sciences Tjärnö, Sweden
Dr. Julia Sigwart, Queens University Belfast, Northern Ireland
Dr. Sarah Bourlat, Gothenburg University, Sweden
Dr. Susan Weller, University of Minnesota, USA

All welcome!
ForBio