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Basic Molecular Evolution Workshop: 1 - 2 July 2010
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 * Organized by the Regional Student Group - Eastern Africa (RSG-EA)**

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= = The  Regional students group of Eastern Africa  in collaboration with the International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI) and Biosciences East and Central Africa (BecA) are organizing a two day training workshop on Basic Molecular Evolution.

= **Date** = 1st - 2nd July, 2010 = **Venue** = Participants can join from the various hubs listed in the **confirmed hubs** section. The main hub will be the BecA-ILRI Hub in Nairobi, Kenya.

Molecular evolution can be defined as the study of nucleic acid and protein evolution, as well as the use of these molecules in studies of phylogenetics, population genetics , biogeography etc. The need for effective and informed analysis of biological sequence data is increasing with the explosive growth of  biological sequence databases and the next generation sequencing technology. Since a molecular evolutionary framework is central to many bioinformatics analyses, the explicit use of molecular evolutionary and phylogenetic analyses will provide important insights. These include for example the analysis of adaptive evolution in viruses such as HIV and their host molecules thus providing clues of their host-pathogen interactions.

This course aims to provide members already familiar with basic phylogeny the theoretical knowledge and practical skills to carry out informed molecular evolutionary analyses on sequence data. This will entail the latest algorithms in sequence alignment, phylogeny reconstruction, hypothesis testing , and population genetic approaches.

= **How to apply** = To apply and participate in the main ILRI/BecA Hub, kindly follow this link @http://hpc.ilri.cgiar.org/phylogeny/index.php. To participate in the satellite Hubs, kindly confirm with the person in charge.

= Key dates = **Application deadline:** 20th June 2010
 * Notification date:** Successful applicants will be notified by 21st June 2010.

Kindly note that successful applicants at the ILRI/BecA Hub are required to make their own travel and lunch arrangements. Satellite Hubs will have their own arrangements so kindly confirm with the person in charge below.

=Workshop program=

NB:  Kindly  note,  all  times  are  in  GMT  so  please confirm  the  correct  time  within  your  geographical region. P/S the satellite hubs will only participate in the presentations so note these times as shown below:

**Thursday July 1st 2010**
(Kenya) || SouthernAfrica (SouthAfrica) || NorthAfrica (Morocco) || West Africa (Nigeria) ||  ||
 * GMT || EastAfrica
 * < 0500 - 0600 || 0800 - 0900 ||  ||   ||   ||< Registration at ILRI/BecA Host HUB ||
 * 0600 - 0700 || 0900 - 1000 ||  ||   ||   || RSG presentation ||
 * 0700 - 0720 || 1000 - 1020 || 0900 - 0920 || 0800 - 0820 || 0800 - 0820 || Virtual Break ||
 * 0720 - 0800 || 1020 - 1100 || 0920 - 1000 || 0820 - 0900 || 0820 - 0900 || Introduction of the course, hubs and speakers ||
 * < 0800 - 1000 || 1100 - 1300 || 1000 - 1200 || 0900 - 1100 || 0900 - 1100 ||< **Carolin Kosiol** ||
 * < 1000 - 1100 || 1300 - 1400 ||  ||   ||   ||< Virtual break ||
 * 1100 - 1200 || 1400 - 1500 ||  ||   ||   || Practicals (Prank, Gblocks) ||
 * < 1200 - 1300 || 1500 - 1600 || 1400 - 1500 || 1300 - 1400 || 1300 - 1400 ||< **Maria Anisimova** ||
 * < 1300 - 1400 || 1600 - 1700 ||  ||   ||   ||< Practicals (PhyML, Dendroscope) ||

**Friday July 2nd 2010**
(Kenya) || Southern Africa (South Africa) || North Africa (Morocco) || West Africa (Nigeria) ||  ||
 * GMT || East Africa
 * 0500 - 0630 || 0800 - 0930 ||  ||   ||   || Practicals (PAML: baseml, codeml) ||
 * 0630 - 0700 || 0930 - 1000 || 0830 - 0900 || 0730 - 0800 || 0730 - 0800 || Virtual Break ||
 * 0700 - 0930 || 1000 - 1230 || 0900 - 1130 || 0800 - 1030 || 0800 - 1030 || **Aidan Budd** ||
 * 0930 - 1020 || 1230 - 1320 ||  ||   ||   || Virtual break ||
 * 1020 - 1050 || 1320 - 1350 ||  ||   ||   || Practicals (Splitstree) ||
 * 1100-1200 || 1400 - 1500 || 1300 - 1400 || 1200 - 1300 || 1200 - 1300 || **Rasmus Nielsen** ||
 * 1200 - 1400 || 1500 - 1700 ||  ||   ||   || Practicals (PAML: codeml) ||
 * 1400 - || 1700 - ||  ||   ||   || Feedback/Closing ||

You can download a copy of the workshop program here:

[[file:Program for Basic Molecular evolution course.pdf]]
=Invited speakers (in alphabetical order) =

Each invited speaker will present an online tutorial during the course. See the timetable for their talk schedule.
 * ~ Speaker ||~ Affiliation ||~ Topic ||
 * **[|Aidan Budd]** || EMBL Heidelberg || Advances in Phylogeny trees and phylogeny networks ||
 * **[|Carolin Kosiol]** || Department of population genetics Veterinary university of Vienna || Trends in Evolutionary Models ||
 * **[|Maria Anisimova]** || Institute of Computational Science, ETH Zurich || Branch supports in Phylogeny ||
 * [|**Rasmus Nielsen**] || Department of intergrative biology University of Berkeley || Human adaptation ||

Course materials
[|Practicals for interpreting and estimating phylogenies]



= Hubs =

Confirmed hubs
1. ILRI/BecA Nairobi-Kenya : Main hub 2. SMBI Tangier-Morocco : Satellite hub 3. SMBI Casablanca-Morocco: Satellite hub 4. SMBI Rabat-Morocco: Satellite hub 5. SANBI UWC South Africa: Satellite hub 6. UCT South Africa: Satellite hub 7. University of Pretoria: Satellite hub 8. University of Mauritus: Satellite hub

As renowned scientists in the field of molecular evolution will be presenting their research, our aim is to have many students from Africa benefit from this opportunity, therefore, we will be happy to assist anyone willing to set up a hub in their respective institution. There are **no hub fees!**

Requirements for a hub

 * 1) Good internet connection
 * 2) Hub coordinator
 * 3) Audience

Videoconferencing platform
We will use Cisco webex platform If you wish to form a satellite hub in your institution, please write to us using the addresses on the **contact us** section

=** Contact us **= Sheila Ommeh : s.ommeh@cgiar.org Mtakai Ngara : ngaravald@gmail.com

=The Team=

**Organizers**
Sheila Ommeh - ILRI Mtakai Ngara – IITA/University of Manchester Isaac Njaci – University of Manchester Allan Orth - ILRI/BecA Sonal Patel - STPHI/ILRI Nelson Ndegwa - University of Manchester George Githinji - KEMRI/Wellcome Trust Center for Georgaphical Medicine

Volunteers at ILRI/BecA Hub
Kimita Gathii - Question Taker all hubs Geoffrey Mtenyo - Question taker ILRI/BecA hub

Hub coordinators
Kavisha Ramdayal - SANBI Dale Gibbs - SANBI Ayton Meintjes - CBIO Fouzia Radouani - Institute Pasteur di Cassablanca Morocco Amina Elgo - Institute Pasteur di Cassablanca Morocco Ahmed Elamrani - Raouf Alami Benjamin Kumweda - University of Pretoria Yasmina Jaufeerally Fakim - University of Mauritius

**Supporting mentors**
Dr. Etienne de Villiers - ILRI/BecA Dr. Amal Maurady - SMBI Morocco Prof. Alan Christoffels - SANBI Prof. Nicola Mulder - UCT Prof. Winston Hide - Harvard

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