Introduction to Phylogenomics: from Theory to Practice

6-7 February 2024

Charles Pouchon, Dr., University of Geneva & Conservatoire et Jardins Botaniques Genève (CJBG)

Charles Pouchon, Dr., UNIGE and CJBG

Understanding the relationships between organisms is essential to unravel their evolution and origins. Following Darwin's works, evolution can be represented in the form of a phylogenetic tree, where each modern species is related to an ancestral form from which they diverged and evolved. According to this principle, the similarity of traits among organisms can be explained by the divergence time among those organisms and their common ancestor, allowing for differences to accumulate. The more similar the species are, the more recent their common ancestor is. The discovery of DNA, the hereditary material of all living organisms, has greatly improved our understanding of the evolution of species through the study of similarities among genetic sequences.

For over 10 years now, more and more sequences can be generated and compared thanks to the advent of next generation sequencing (NGS). NGS brings advantages and complexities that pose new challenges that must be addressed to avoid misleading interpretation.

This course aims to introduce participants to the theory and bioinformatic tools used to infer phylogenies from multi-locus genomes in the era of NGS (i.e. gene alignments, trimming, phylogenetic inferences under different approaches, multi-coalescent inferences, data visualisation and interpretation, etc).

Participants will need to use command lines on their laptops. A basic knowledge of UNIX and familiarity with a scripting language will be helpful but not required. All participants must have a personal laptop with a terminal console (Putty for windows users).

More information will follow

University of Geneva, Sc II, room 4-419 (TBC)

This course is organized in collaboration with the CUSO Doctoral Program in Ecology & Evolution.

Questions? Please contact Catherine Suarez
@: [email protected]

Reimbursements for CUSO MPS Students: Train ticket, 2°class, half-fare from your institution to the place of the activity 

Reimbursement of your travel tickets can be asked online through your MyCUSO. 
See HERE for the procedure.

For any question concerning reimbursement please contact the CUSO MPS coordinator Debora Zoia

Please register through the CUSO Ecology and Evolution webpage: HERE

Deadline for registration: 16.01.2024

3 places available for CUSO MPS students

For cancellations after the 16.01.2024 or no show: 100 CHF administrative fees

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