Education and Science, Estonia, Technology

The undertaking, first of its kind in the Baltic region, will be attended by several top scientists from Europe and is a part of the Estonian Genome Center's OpenGENE project.

According to Riin Tamm, a PhD student and event organizer, the main aim of both the OpenGENE project and the workshop is to bring foreign lecturers to Estonia and the Baltic region as well as to attract Estonian researchers who have left to work abroad. Tamm says the small audience of thirty enables lively discussion and closer contact between participants and the lecturers, a strong plus over more formal regular conferences.

The workshop brings together young scientists researching complex phenotypes in various genome-related disciplines from all over Europe, and gives them an opportunity to meet and hear world-renowned experts.

Among the notable lecturers are Dr. Peter Campbell and Dr. Nicole Soranzo from the Sanger Institute, Prof. Valeriya Lyssenko from Lund University, Prof. Ann-Christine Syvenen from Uppsala University, Dr. Vardhman Rakyan from the Blizard Institute of Cell and Molecular Science in London, and Prof. Heiner Boeing from the German Institute of Human Nutrition.

The OpenGENE project is funded by a European Commission grant, one of the largest grants ever received in Estonia. The project's aim is to raise Estonia`s scientific potential and enhance its capacity as a partner in international scientific research by opening the resources of the Estonian Genome Center of the University of Tartu to the European Research Area.