Ancient DNA: A Time-Machine to Study Evolution

29 August - 1st September 2022

Prof. Laurent Excoffier, UNIBE
Prof. Daniel Wegmann, UNIFR

Prof. Daniel Bradley, Trinity College Dublin, Ireland
Prof. Joachim Burger, Johannes-Gutenberg University of Mainz, Germany
Prof. Eline Lorenzen, Natural History Museum of Denmark, Denmark
Dr. Benjamin Peter, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Germany
Prof. Serena Tuci, Yale University, USA

While the sequencing of DNA extracted from fossils has been attempted since 1983, several technological revolutions such as rigorous lab practices and the availability of next-generation sequencing now make it possible to obtain high-quality ancient DNA data for many organisms. This opens up an unprecedented opportunity to include data from multiple time points when studying evolutionary processes such as past demographic events or the action of selection. In this workshop we will explore the range of evolutionary questions that will benefit from ancient DNA, and discuss important considerations in designing and executing research projects using ancient DNA, as well as best practices in analyzing ancient DNA data. While the ancient DNA field had arguably its largest impact on the study of human evolution, we want to focus on its broader implications: how can ancient DNA help to disentangle the effect of selection and demography? How should modern population genomic analyses be tailored to be applicable to ancient DNA? What are appropriate samples sizes for ancient DNA to make a real contribution? And the ultimate question for participants: would the inclusion of ancient DNA data make a difference in answering my evolutionary research questions? In order to address and discuss these questions, we will bring together renowned international experts working with ancient DNA in various organisms.

Each speaker will be giving
1) a full length talk on his/her latest research,
2) a full length talk on his/her view how the ancient DNA field will contribute to our understanding of evolutionary processes, and
3) chair a breakout session discussing one of the main questions we hope to address during this workshop.

Prior to these discussions, we will also offer a hands-on session focusing on the analysis of ancient DNA data for 1.5 days. The workshop is aimed at students in evolutionary biology that are using or are planning to use genetic data for their research. All participants will have the opportunity to present their work either in a short talk or a poster, and to discuss questions regarding their work with the invited experts and organizers.

Schedule (TBC):

Sunday August 28: Arrival

Monday August 29: Hands-on Session on bioinformatic tools particularly useful for ancient DNA:
- ATLAS (https://bitbucket.org/wegmannlab/atlas)
- fastsimcoal2 (http://cmpg.unibe.ch/software/fastsimcoal27/)

Tuesday August 30: - Research Talk by invited speakers (30 min each)
- Selected Participant talks (15 min each)
- Poster session for remaining participants

Wednesday August 31: - Perspective Talk by invited speakers (30 min each)
- Break-out sessions

Thursday September 1st:
- Synthesis (combined with a small hike if the weather permits)
- Departure

Gemmi Pass, Leukerbad

Map

Fees

• Free for StarOmics PhD students. Please note that a deposit of 100 CHF will be asked to StarOmics PhD students. This deposit will be returned at the end of the workshop.
• Other CUSO participants (postgraduates, postdocs, etc. from CUSO universities = UNIL, UNIBE, UNINE, UNIFR and UNIGE): 444 CHF
• External participants, i.e. from non-CUSO universities: 444 CHF (if spaces are available)
  

The registration fees cover full board from Monday to Thursday (4 nights).

Reimbursements

Reimbursements for CUSO StarOmics students:- Train ticket, 2nd class, half-fare from the central train station of your university to the place of the activity.

NEW since 2021: reimbursement of your travel tickets can be claimed online through your MyCUSO account.
See HERE for the procedure.

For any question regarding reimbursements please contact the CUSO StarOmics coordinator Corinne Dentan at staromics(at)cuso(dot)ch

Deadline for registration: (June 15) CLOSED FOR NOW

Free for participants enrolled in the CUSO doctoral programmes.

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