News & Events
4th internal nGICE meeting at Grand/Lundia, Lund, December 3rd-4th
December 2, 2024
Arrival day for non-local participants (check in at Grand or Lundia)
December 3, 2024
Venue: Grand Hotel in Lund (31 participants)
PIs, PDRs, Alumni and the external scientific board.
9.00-9.10 organizing talks for session 1
9.10-9.30 4 minutes, Christer: Welcome to Lund!
Session 1 chair: Dan-Dan
2x 5+3 minutes talks, new Doctoral researchers
Anna: Chemosensation in bark beetle larvae (supervision: Martin)
Josefine: Mechanistic basis of mosquito detection of human odor (supervision: Rickard, Sharon)
9.30-10.30 3x 15+5 min. talks, recent PDRs projects
Sina by Markus: The use of ozone for mating disruption of pest insects
Qi: Functional characterization of candidate chemoreceptors in the wasp spider Argiope bruennichi
Diego: Transgenic tools for the study of sexual communication in D. mojavensis
10.30-11.00 coffee
Session 2 chair: Mats
11.00-12.00 3x 15+5 min talks
Zaide: Chemosensory adaptations in arthropods: Unveiling insights into niche realization
Satyjeet by Peter: Exploring insect herbivore responses to increased CO2- levels
Jana: Preference performance mismatch of the Eurasian Spruce bark beetle, Ips typographus
12:00-13:30 Lunch at Grand
13:30-14:10 Session 2 continued 2x15+5 min talks
Vignesh: Deciphering the evolution of activity patterns in drosophilids
Topi: Structure of a sulcatone receptor from the malaria mosquito Anopheles gambiae
14:10-15:00 Group discussions
Group 1: PDRs plus scientific external board (evaluation and suggestions)
Group 2: PIs final report planning
15:00-15:30 coffee
15:30-17.00
Group 1: PDRs plus scientific external board (evaluation and suggestions)
Group 2: PIs final report planning
18:00-20:00 Dinner in town, 2 separate groups:
1. PIs plus external sci. board. Mat och Destillat
2. PDRs La Cucina
December 4, 2024
Venue: Hotel Lundia (34 participants)
PIs, PDRs, Alumni, external sci. Board and external invitees
9.00-9.10 organizing talks for session 3
9:10-9:30 Bill: MP-center background and purpose
Session 3 chair: Sharon
9:30-10:30 3 x 15+5 min. talks
Melissa: Functional characterization of the pheromone receptor OR67d in Drosophila
Sukritha: Mosquito adaptation in the Anthropocene -effects of elevated CO2 levels and extended egg quiescence in Aedes aegypti
Hamid by Marcus: Drosophila across space and time
10:30-11:00 coffee
11:00-12:00 Session 3 continued 3 x 15+5 min talks
Merybeth: Grapefruit-derived nootkatone potentiates GABAergic signaling and acts as a dual action mosquito repellent and insecticide
Venkatesh by Bill: Preference for and resistance to a toxic sulfur volatile opens up a unique niche in Drosophila busckii
Rohan: The genetic basis of host preference of Culex pipiens
12:00-13:30 Lunch at Grand
Session 4 chair: Martin
13:30-14:30 3 x 15+5 min talks
Steve: Sensing, surviving and mating: The temperature adaptation Story of Drosophila flies
Dinesh: Chemical ecology of Norway spruce, bark beetle, and its fungal symbionts
Somasundar: Associative learning in fruit fly generalists and specialists
14:30-15:00 coffee
15:00-15:40 Session 4 continued 2 x 15+5 min talks
Juliah: Interaction of temperature and diet on competition in mosquitoes
Nanji: Insect pheromone communication in the Anthropocene
15:40-16:40 Panel discussion:
How can we use the most important nGICE findings in our future research?
Moderators: Ext.sci. board, James and Astrid
Panel of active PIs: Rickard, Mats, Markus, Marcus, Sharon, Dan-Dan, Martin
16:40-17:10 Feedback: PIs plus Astrid and James only (All PDRs may leave after the panel discussion!)
Venue: Grand Hotel
17:30-18:30 Drinks in the Grand Bar
18:30 Grand Dinner in the restaurant, everybody, plus external invitees (34 participants)
December 5, 2024
Check out and departure for non-local participants
Second nGICE thesis defence
On Friday May 17th, Venkatesh Pal Mahadevan, very successfully, defended his thesis "Exploring the olfactory neurobiology of non-model drosophilids”. The chairman of the dissertation was Prof. Dr. Günther Theißen.
Professor Dr. Bill Hansson, Director at MPI-CE and board member of nGICE, has been the main supervisor of Venkatesh.
First PhD thesis defense under the nGICE Umbrella
On March 12, 2024, nGICE associate doctoral researcher Twinkle Biswas, Department of Biology Lund University, did an impressive performance defending her thesis “Olfactory genomics of bark- and ambrosia beetles-Evolution and function of chemoreceptors”. The very thorough examination was led by Professor Emmanuelle Jacquin-Joly, head of the Sensory Ecology Department at the Institute of Ecology and Environmental Sciences, INRA Paris.
nGICE PI & External Scientific Board meeting
(post ESITO 2023)
Villasimius, Sardinia, September 29th, 12:30-15:30
3d internal nGICE meeting in Alnarp June 17-19, 2023
Coordinator: Susanne Erland
- The main purpose of the meeting is for all involved to meet in person and to report the progress of all doctoral and postdoctoral projects. Talks 15 minutes + 5 minutes questions.
- All doctoral and postdoctoral co-workers get 35 minutes each with their whole group of supervisors. The aim being to plan the year ahead/ time left of the project. Especially decide if, when and in what form exchange between labs is desirable, plan publications and schedule zoom supervisor meetings.
- There will be an opportunity for visiting PDRs to look at the labs and work facilities in Alnarp and in Lund.
PROGRAM
Alnarp organisers: Peter, Rickard, Elin, local PDRs
Saturday June 17th
8:30 Breakfast for the visitors who stay in Alnarp. (PDRs org.)
Crafoord Hall:
Session 1: Chair: Peter Anderson
9:00 “Why do we differ in attractiveness -to mosquitoes?” (Rickard)
Talks by all Doctoral and Postdoctoral Researchers 15 min + 5 min q.
9:40 Somasundar Arumugam MPI
10:00 Melissa Diaz-Morales MPI
10:20 Satyajeet Gupta SLU
10:40 Coffee break
Session 2: Chair Martin Andersson
11:00 Nan-Ji Jiang MPI
11:20 Dineshkumar Kandasamy LU
11:40 Merybeth Fernadez Triana LU
12:00 Karen Rihani MPI
12:20 Lunch
13:20 Walk in the Park (swim in the sea?)
Session 3: Chair Mats Sandgren
14:00 Rohan Menon SLU
14:20 Topi Hatajaa SLU
14:40 Sukritha Nalikkaramal SLU
15:00 Venkatesh Pal Mahadevan MPI
15:20 Coffee break
Session 4: Chair Markus Knaden
15:40 Cassie Sims LU
16:00 Vignesh Venkateswaran MPI
16:20 Juliah Wanjiru Jacob SLU
16:40 Zaide Montes Ortiz LU
17:00 Twinkle Biswas LU
17:20 Summary and discussion (Bill)
17:30 ISOT Reykjavik 2024, nGICE symposium (Bill)
19:00 PIs + nGICE board: Dinner meeting in Lund at “Skissernas museum” (Christer org.) Theme: After nGICE, interest and possibilities for continued collaboration.
OTHERS: Dinner ( Alnarp PDRs org.)Task: elect new PDR representatives.
Sunday June 18th
8:30 Breakfast for the visitors who stay in Alnarp. (Alnarp PDRs org.)
9:00 Explanation of the day’s arrangements. Division in groups for lab visits (see below). Room 1 and 2 are for supervisor meetings.
Supervisor discussions / Lab visits
Juliah and Sukritha show the after-lunch PDRs around the labs
supervisors not in meetings are also invited.
9:10 R1: Satyajeet (Peter, Silke, Markus)
R2: Rohan (Sharon, Rickard, Martin)
9:45 R1: Somasundar (Silke, Markus, Sharon, Rickard, Marcus)
R2: Dinesh (Martin, Christer, Bill)
10:20 R1: Karen (Silke, Bill, Markus, Sharon, Rickard)
10:55 Coffee
11:30 R1: Melissa (Markus, Martin, Bill)
12:05 R1: Vignesh (Markus, Peter, Bill, Silke)
R2: Zaide (Christer, Martin, Dan-Dan, Rickard)
12:40 Lunch
Satyajeet and Rohan show the before-lunch PDRs around the labs
supervisors not in meetings are also invited, start 14:00
13:40 R1: Venkatesh (Bill, Marcus, Markus)
R2: Juliah (Rickard, Sharon, Silke)
14:15 R1: Steve (Bill, Marcus, Markus, supervisors only, or Steve on zoom)
R2: Cassie (Christer, Mats, Sharon)
14:40 R1: Nan-Ji (Markus, Christer, Bill)
R2: Merybeth (Marcus, Rickard, Silke)
15:15 Coffee
15:45 R1: Sukritha (Rickard, Sharon, Silke)
16:20 R1: Topi (Mats, Sharon, Rickard, Christer)
19:00 Conference Dinner at Flädie mat och vingård (Fladiematvingard.se) (Peter, Rickard, Elin, Alnarp PDRs org.)
Lund organisers: Christer, Martin, Erling, local PDRs
Monday June 19th
8:00 Check out and Breakfast for the visitors who stay in Alnarp. (Alnarp PDRs org.)
8:30 Transportation for Alnarp visitors to dept. in Lund (either by Erling or Markus)
Big meeting room (entrance hall):
9:00 “Something completely different: The evolution of biofactories” (Christer)
9:25 Introduction to lab visits (Martin)
9:40 Lund lab visits (Mery, Dinesh, Cassie, Zaide, Erling org.)
9:40 Board meeting- summary and preparation of the report to the external scientific board. (Christer, Bill, Rickard, Susanne)
11:00 Coffee and sandwiches (big meeting room, entrance hall)
11:30 END and departure for the Germans
11:30-12:30 Continued meeting time for the board if needed
16:00-17:00 Zoom meeting between the Board and the External Scientific Board.
2nd Internal nGICE Meeting, Jena October 16-19, 2022
The main purpose of the meeting is for all involved to meet in person and to report the progress to the external scientific board.
We start with an introduction of the external scientific board and updates of all doctoral and postdoctoral projects. Talks 15 minutes + 5 minutes questions.
All doctoral and postdoctoral co-workers get 35 minutes each with their whole group of supervisors. The aim being to plan the year ahead/ time left of the project. Especially decide if, when and in what form exchange between labs is desirable, plan publications and schedule zoom supervisor meetings.
There will be an opportunity for visiting doctoral and postdoctoral researchers and the external board to look at the labs and work facilities at the department.
Workshop: Introduction to Phylogenomics, May 22-25, 2022
In this workshop at Lund University, Sweden, we will cover the basics of phylogenetic methods with a focus on genomic data.
It will be a short and intense opportunity to get used to phylogenetic concepts, learn basic bioinformatics and analyse and interprete genomic data.
The students will be asked to bring their own personal laptops. The course is intended for students with very limited knowledge of phylogenetics and bioinformatics.
In order to register please send an email with your CV and a short description of your project, no later than 1st May to hamid.ghanavi@biol.lu.se.
17th European Symposium for Insect Taste and Olfaction, May 15-20, 2022
The 17th European Symposium for Insect Taste and Olfaction (ESITO) will be held from May 15th until May 20th at Bäckaskog Castle in Sweden. We will provide a rich program of lectures and posters - and an enthusiastic and happy crowd of insect chemical ecologists and sensory biologists– to make this an unforgettable week of cutting-edge science and joyful camaraderie in the care of our wonderful hosts at Bäckaskog Castle.
Contact: contact@esito-2022.se
Chemical Ecology for Sustainable Insect Pest Control, SLU, January 17 - March 23, 2022
The Department of Plant Protection Biology at SLU is running an insect chemical ecology course for Master's students called “Chemical Ecology for Sustainable Insect Pest Control" from January 17 - March 23, 2022, as a hybrid (online and in-person) course. The main objective of the course is to give the students a broad knowledge of chemical ecology. The focus will be on the impact of chemical stimuli on insect behaviour, function of smell and taste in insects, evolutionary aspects, behaviorally active chemicals, chemical analyses and the use of behaviorally active compounds in plant protection. More information is available here.
1st Internal nGICE Meeting, Bäckaskog Castle, Sweden, September 2-4, 2021
In September 2021, despite delays due to the COVID-19 pandemic, all 18 doctoral and postdoctoral nGICE researchers have arrived at their respective institutes.
The main purpose of this first meeting of all involved was to meet in person and get to know each other, thereby facilitating joint supervision and exchange of doctoral and postdoctoral researchers.
All doctoral and postdoctoral projects were be presented by the respective researchers.
All doctoral and postdoctoral co-workers got 30 minutes each with their whole group of supervisors to plan the coming year, especially decide if, when and in what form exchange is desirable and to schedule Zoom supervisor meetings.
Group theme discussions was used to prioritise among the activities / courses that have been postponed on account of the pandemic. Viable Zoom alternatives were also discussed in case new travel restrictions are introduced during the autumn.