Organised by Professor Alfonso Jaramillo and colleagues, the 1st International BioDesign Research Conference will be held 1-18 December 2020 via Zoom. The conference will showcase the latest achievements and research progress in the field of Biosystems Design and Synthetic Biology.
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Synthetic Biology UK: 9-10 December 2019, University of Warwick

Synthetic biology is a convergence of multiple fields that can generate both improved understanding of biological systems as well as cutting-edge biotechnology. The establishment of six UK centres focused on synthetic biology has significantly enhanced growth of this area, and there is accordingly a sizeable community in this country working on a diversity of projects. In addition, there are many companies in the biotech and pharma sectors that are incorporating synthetic biology technologies into their R&D programmes. In response to this growth, the community initiated a series of annual SBUK conferences. These have so far been hosted by the respective Synthetic Biology Research Centres at Edinburgh, Manchester and Bristol.

Warwick Integrative Synthetic Biology Centre (WISB) pursues a diverse and distinctive research programme of synthetic biology research, with strengths in both experimental and computational aspects. We have strong links to other international synthetic biology centres, including in the USA, Germany, Estonia, Denmark, China and Brazil as well as to multiple international companies.

The fourth SBUK, to be held on Warwick campus, will feature a wide range of themes presented by colleagues from the UK and from abroad. It will appeal to researchers from many other fields because of the state-of-the-art technologies and wide range of organisms and challenges that will be discussed. Colleagues are encouraged to look at the programme and to consider joining us at what is expected to be an exciting and informative event.

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Bacterial cell biology researchers from across the world gathered at The Pasteur institute in Paris at the end of September to attend the 6^th biennial Great Wall symposium organised by Professor David Roper and Professor Ivo Boneca (Pasteur). This three day meeting on all aspects of bacterial cell wall biosynthesis was attended by just under 200 interdisciplinary researchers on all aspects of bacterial cell wall microbiology.

Dr Adrian Lloyd from SLS provided an invited talk on his recently submitted research on 'Substrate and stereochemical control of cell wall crosslinking by E. coli PBP1B' as well as a posters from a number of Warwick PhD students from SLS and WMS.

The thirteenth annual meeting exploring the chemistry and biology of natural products will be held at the University of Warwick on 25 June.

Last year’s conference attracted 180 delegates. We believe this meeting will once again be an excellent opportunity for PhD students and PDRAs to present their work to an audience of experts. Registration is £15, including lunch, wine reception, dinner and prizes for best talks and posters. Further details can be found at: warwick.ac.uk/naturalproducts

For any enquires please contact: Matthew Jenner (m.jenner@warwick.ac.uk) or Fabrizio Alberti (f.alberti@warwick.ac.uk).

The 5th M4 meeting will be held at the University of Warwick on 13-14 September, 2018.

The Conference will present cutting-edge research on molecular and cellular microbiology. A wide range of topics will be covered, ranging from biofilms, quorum sensing, pathogenicity islands, host-pathogen interactions and antimicrobials.

The goal of this conference is to act as a conduit for fostering collaboration across Midlands and nationally among leading scientists and to promote the exchange of ideas between the next generation of molecular microbiologists. The conference will offer early career researchers an opportunity to present their research and connect with other scientists.

Registration open until 31 August

On the 6th & 7th May the University of Warwick held a highly successful first UK Autophagy Network Meeting entitled Autophagy in Health and Disease.

The symposium was organised by Dr Ioannis Nezis of the School of Life Sciences and Professor Sharon Tooze from The Francis Crick Institute and was generously sponsored by the Company of Biologists, British Society for Cell Biology, Science AAAS, Abcam Plc, Enzo Life Sciences and Abgent Ltd.

The delegates discussed the latest advances in Autophagy Research, from basic molecular and cellular mechanisms to pathophysiology of diseases such as cancer, neurodegeneration and other ageing-related diseases, studied in several model organisms (yeast, fruit flies and mice). The programme also included two poster sessions.

A number of collaborations are planned as a result of the meeting, and plans are already in place for a second meeting, possibly in Edinburgh next year.

Around 100 delegates attended from across the UK, including two overseas speakers, Professor Tom Neufeld (University of Minnesota, USA) and Professor Terje Johansen (University of Tromso, Norway).
Other invited UK speakers were Professor David Rubinsztein (University of Cambridge), Professor Katja Simon (University of Oxford), Dr Ian Ganley (University of Dundee), Dr Oliver Florey (Babraham Institute, Cambridge), Dr Rupert Beale (University of Cambridge), Dr Stephanie Kermorgant (Queen Mary University), Dr Sovan Sarkar (University of Birmingham), Dr Michelangelo Campanella (The Royal Veterinary College, University of London), Dr Niccolo Pengo (UCL) and Dr Elaine Dunlop (Cardiff University).