SynBio Centre for Doctoral Training Summer School

The second year students of the EPSRC & BBSRC Centre for Doctoral Training in Synthetic Biology are organizing a "Summer School - Workshop" on the 27-29 June 2016 in Oxford. On the 27th there will be talks from Industry and a workshop on commercializing research, while on the morning of the 28th there will be talks from invited academics and others. Lunch and coffee included. If you are interested, please register by filling in this form.

Global Challenges Research Fund: £600,000 Foundation Awards available

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The first three calls for proposals to the Global Challenges Research Fund are now open. The Fund, involving BBSRC, MRC, AHRC, ESRC and NERC, was created to ensure that UK research takes a leading role in addressing the problems faced by developing countries. Foundation Awards of up to £600,000 are available for multidisciplinary research in three areas:

• Global Agriculture & Food Systems Research
• Global Infections
• Non-communicable Diseases

Deadline for outline applications: 4pm, 22 June 2016 Awards would start on 1 April 2017, for applications for proposals of ~24 months’ duration.

All research funded through these awards will be part of the UK’s Official Development Assistance (ODA). Applications must be primarily relevant to near-term or long-term benefits to the health or prosperity of Low or Middle Income Countries.

Note for Cambridge researchers:Cambridge Global Food Security and CambPlants coordinate a large network and can help you find the collaborators you need across the University for a multi-disciplinary proposal that meets the funding criteria. In anticipation of further funding calls in this area with a short turnaround (GCRF, Newton Fund, etc),the Global Food Security SRI are planning a series of Sandpit events on themes within Global Food Security to support Cambridge academics in generating and developing new ideas, finding collaborators (both within Cambridge and from external organisations), and submitting bids. Please let Jacqueline Garget – Coordinator of the Cambridge Global Food Security SRI - know if you would like to be involved in the events or if any research ideas you’re thinking of submitting that fall within the remit of the Initiative (www.globalfood.cam.ac.uk).

Plant Synthetic Biology at GARNet2016: Innovation in the Plant Sciences

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Plant Synthetic Biology is the topic of a dedicated session at the GARNet2016 meeting this September, in addition to a workshop on CRISPR-Cas. If you missed out on the GARNet/OpenPlant CRISPR workshop last year, this is a great chance to get familiar with this increasingly important technique.

From the GARNet website:

GARNet2016: Innovation in the Plant Sciences. September 6th-7th 2016, Cardiff.

Registration is now open for the exciting GARNet2016 meeting. We have put together a set of talks on a broad range of subjects that are all linked by their use of novel experimental techniques.

Session 1: Frontiers in Plant Imaging

Session 2: Enabling the Translational Pipeline

Session 3: Plant Synthetic Biology

Session 4: Genomics tools for Gene Discovery

Session 5: Cell Signaling

In addition we will have three workshops that aim to support new technologies that are available to plant scientists:

* Pre-Meeting Workshop: Finding your Arabidopsis Gene in Wheat.

Organiser: Philippa Borrill and Cristobal Uauy

* Workshop 1: Usage and Application development within Araport.

Organiser: Agnes Chan and Chris Town

* Workshop 2: Introduction to CRISPR-Cas, troubleshooting target design and verification of mutants. Organiser: Vladimir Nekrasov and Amanda Hopes

We encourage young researchers to participate in our extended poster session and to apply to give a 2 minute flash presentation.

All information about registration, conference accomodation and the scientific programme can be found at: http://garnet2016.weebly.com/

GARNet will have at least £500 available to support travel of UK-based PhD students to the meeting. This money will be distributed on a first come, first-serve basis. Please contact Geraint Parry (geraint@garnetcommunity.org.uk) about the availability of these travel scholarships.

Please pass this information about GARNet2016 onto anyone who you think will be interested in this conference. If you have any questions please contact Geraint Parry geraint@garnetcommunity.org.uk

Syngenta offers iGEM Sponsorship for manufacturing Resilient RNA-based biocontrols

Syngenta are offering iGEM teams sponsorship funding to explore areas of innovation surrounding RNA-based Biocontrols. After the introduction of a Special Plant Prize into iGEM and adoption of the 'PhytoBricks' plant common syntax, championed by OpenPlant labs, several plant-focused iGEM teams are participating in this year's competition and may be interested in the opportunity. From Syngenta: "The challenge with RNA-based biocontrols is finding the balance between scaling up the use of this highly effective agricultural tool while also being able to clearly demonstrate the value to multiple stakeholders. Syngenta and other developers of this tool must show clear demonstration of value creation through both the technological development (what this tool is developed to support) and communication development (how the tool is effectively explained and rolled out).

We are looking for iGEMers to explore technical practices that take into account the implementation of such a tool, which also involves thinking through human practices."

For more information and instructions on how to apply, see the iGEM website.

Genome Editing and the Future of Farming (attendance sponsorship available)

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On the 6th September, leaders in the field of livestock genetics will gather at The Roslin Institute where they will discuss the future of farming and the implications of Genome Engineering. A series of talks and panel discussion sessions will examine the global scene and case studies from academia and industry, highlighting the opportunities and challenges in the field.

Who should attend?

Researchers in academia or industry and policy makers with interests in food security and the livestock sector, particularly in the genetic techniques to improve livestock and the regulatory issues surrounding these new technologies.

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Sponsorship for Early Career Researchers

The Biotechnology & Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC) is supporting this event with the offer of attendance sponsorship for UK university-based early careers researchers who register for this meeting and are working currently on BBSRC-funded research. BBSRC will consider sponsoring up to 10 individuals within this category, which is defined as BBSRC-funded post-doctoral research staff with five years or less of total active research employment.

• Sponsorship will be offered in the form of reimbursement of travel and subsistence costs after meeting attendance
• Researchers who may be eligible for BBSRC sponsorship should register via the process defined for all meeting attendees. Once registered, please request a sponsorship application form from Emilie Brady (emilie.brady@ed.ac.uk); the deadline for submission of completed applications is 5pm Wednesday 6th July 2016.
• Awardees will be selected by BBSRC Office, taking into account the need for scientific range and researcher / institutional diversity. Registrants for this meeting should therefore be prepared to meet their own attendance costs if unsuccessful. Sponsorship applicants will be informed of the outcome by Friday 22nd July 2016

Source: Genome Editing and the Future of Farming – The National Institutes of Bioscience