ESF Research Conferences

ESF-UB Conference in Biomedicine

EUROPEAN CONFERENCE ON SYNTHETIC BIOLOGY (ECSB) II: DESIGN, PROGRAMMING AND OPTIMISATION OF BIOLOGICAL SYSTEMS

Chaired by

DavidGilbertE-Mail
Brunel UniversitySchool of Information Systems, Computing and MathematicsMiddlesexUnited Kingdom

CO-CHAIRS

AlfonsoJaramilloE-Mail
University of WarwickSchool of Life SciencesCoventryUnited Kingdom

ORGANISING COMMITTEE CHAIRS

SibylleGaisserE-Mail
Fraunhofer Institute for Systems and Innovation Research ISIDepartment of Emerging TechnologiesKarlsruheGermany
MarkusSchmidtE-Mail
Biofaction KG ViennaAustria

Dates

29 March - 03 April 2009

Location

Hotel Eden Roc, Sant Feliu de Guixols, Spain
The conference will take place in Sant Feliu de Guixols, on the Spanish Costa Brava, 120 km north of Barcelona and 30 km south of Girona. Group transportation will be arranged from/to Barcelona airport, on arrival and departure days.


Practical Information Guide PDF (195 KB)

Final Programme & List of Accepted Participants

The field of synthetic biology holds a great promise for the design, construction and development of biological systems (artificial or modified), by offering viable new routes to ‘genetically modified’ organisms, smart drugs and hybrid computational-biological devices.  The informed manipulation of such biological systems could have an enormous positive impact on our societies, with its effects being felt across a range of activities such as the provision of healthcare, environmental protection and remediation to the construction of smarter more ubiquitous bio-integrated computing systems, etc. 

The basic premise of synthetic biology is that methods commonly used to build non-biological systems, such as those employed in the computational sciences and the engineering disciplines that can deal with large and complex systems, could also be used to specify, design, implement, test and deploy novel synthetic biosystems.   Synthetic biology lies at the interface of a variety of disciplines ranging from biology through chemistry, physics, computer science, mathematics and engineering.  

Two communities are emerging within synthetic biology, namely top-down - i.e. knocking out or modifying functions of existing cells, and bottom-up - that is construction of artificial systems from first principles, protocells, etc.  The aim of this conference is to generate new vigorous interactions between the disciplines that impinge on (and contribute to) Synthetic Biology, and to bring together in the same context top-down and bottom-up researchers.

ECSB 2009 is the second conference in the series.  It will comprise invited talks by internationally known scientists who are leaders in their fields, tutorials to introduce young researchers to Synthetic Biology, contributed talks and posters.  We expect this to be a major international and multi-disciplinary scientific and educational event.  The conference will be limited to just over 100 participants, in a venue whose environment is highly conducive to networking and scientific interactions.

Some, but not all, of the topics to be presented in the conference include: DNA sequencing and synthesis, chemical and biological networks, computational techniques (modelling, data mining, optimisation) for synthetic biology, minimal genomes, evolution (natural, directed and simulated), origins of life, biological systems, cell cycles and circuits, and infrastructures for synthetic biology, minimal cells.

Applications are invited for contributed talks, and poster abstracts.  Limited funding is available – please apply early.  

Final Programme - PDF (272 KB) Last updated 27-March-2009

List of Invited Speakers and Accepted Participants

***Abstracts & Presentations ONLINE ***

Abstracts, Posters & Short Oral Contributions

There will be no short talks other than those listed on the final programme.

Recommended poster size is 150 cm high x 100 cm wide. Use letters and drawings that can be read from approximately 100 cm distance.

List of Accepted Posters PDF (211 KB) Last Updated 25-March-2009

Group Transportation & Practical Information Guide

Detailed information on all practical aspects of the conference (access to site, registration & fee payments, accommodation, travel reimbursements...) is available from the Practical Information Guide (above under Location Information). Please read it fully and carefully...

Practical Information Guide PDF (195 KB)

GROUP TRANSPORTATION
Three buses will be arranged on arrival day from Barcelona airport to Sant Feliu. The journey takes approximately 2 hours, depending on traffic.

Bus departure times – Sunday 29 March: 16.30, 17.30 and 18.30

Airport departure point: the buses will wait in the Bus Parking area located just to the left of Terminal A on exit. Each bus has been requested to be at the meeting point 20-30 minutes before scheduled departure. The coaches will have a sign in the window indicating “ESF Research Conferences” for easy recognition.

Group transportation back to Barcelona airport will be arranged in a similar way for the departure day.

Bus departure time – Friday 03 April: 08.30

ACCOMMODATION
Please note that SINGLE accommodation can only be guaranteed to invited speakers. All other participants will share a TWIN room. In case single rooms would become available at the time of the conference, rooms will be attributed on a “first come, first served” basis. Only the TWIN conference fee should be paid to the ESF when registering. The supplement for single should be paid to the venue directly. Should you wish to be put on the waiting list for single accommodation, please contact Ms. Jean Kelly.

Registration Form

All participants - including speakers & session chairs - are kindly expected to confirm their attendance (and, when applicable, to pay the conference fee) by filling in the Registration Form CLOSED

Closing date for Early Bird Registration & fee payment: 14 March 2009

FINAL closing date for ALL registration & fee payment: 21 March 2009

What conference fee covers

Basic expenses comprise:

  • registration and meeting costs;
  • accommodation in twin room sharing with another participant;
  • all meals, coffee breaks and drinks included;
  • participation at the excursion and the conference dinner;
  • group transportation from/to the nearest airport.
Name
Description
To Pay
Grantee
Conference fee will be covered by ESF and its partners0 €
AssistedConference Fee will be partially covered by ESF and its partners375 €
Early Bird
Registration and payment NO LATER THAN 14 March700 €
Normal
Registration and payment From 15 March till 21 March800 €
Non-Residential
Conference participation without accommodation550 €

Extra costs:

Name
Description
To Pay
Industry Supplement
For participants working in industry, 100 € will automatically be added to the fee
Plus 100 €
Single Room SupplementSome single rooms may be available upon request. An additional cost of 150 € will be charged for an upgrade to a single room. The supplement is payable directly to the hotel.Plus 150 €
Late Registration SupplementAn additional 150 € will be charged if participants register after the official registration deadline (21 March).Plus 150 €

Cancellation:

Should you need to cancel your participation, please contact the Conference Officer immediately. If notice of cancellation is received more than two weeks before the conference, all but EUR 100 will be reimbursed. No refund is possible if notice of cancellation is received less than two weeks before the conference.

ESF Contact

JeanKellyE-Mail
Conference Officer

Phone: +32 (0)2 533 2025
Fax: +32 (0)2 538 8486
Please quote 09-294 in any correspondence.

Partnership

This conference is organised by the European Science Foundation (ESF) in partnership with the University of Barcelona.

With Support from