FUDAN INTERNATIONAL
SUMMER SCHOOL
LIFE SCIENCES
2023
The deadline for application is June 14 22:00, 2023 (Beijing time)
Fudan University, building on its past successes in hosting various summer programs, will launch an International Summer School of Life Sciences in 2023 to provide an accessible and high-quality scientific platform for outstanding graduate students & postdocs from all over the world, thereby promoting international academic exchange and communication. This program offers outstanding graduate students the opportunity to experience the charm of life sciences while also providing a sight of the stunning Fudan campus. Beginning their splendid academic journey here, students will take part in a wide choice of cutting-edge courses in life sciences and engage in exciting scientific activities.
//Introduction to International Summer School
The 21st century is the life sciences century. The new era has seen constant progress in life sciences, and its relevance has been increasingly emphasized as the engine of economic and social progress. “The New Era of Life sciences” summer school this year focuses on the genetics and developmental biology. This summer school also incorporates the state-of-the-art research in areas such as big data and Artificial Intelligence. It has designed three course modules for students : genetics and epigenetics, cell and developmental biology, and biological big data and computational biology.
The international summer school will be held at the Fudan University 's picturesque Jiangwan campus from July 12th to August 6th. It is hosted by Fudan University, organized by the School of Life Sciences and the State Key Laboratory of Genetic Engineering. It will provide a world-class learning environment for the outstanding students focusing on globalization, new frontiers, and interdisciplinary integration and collaboration. Over 20 internationally renowned scholars at the forefront of their fields and with extensive teaching experience have been invited to lecture at the summer school. The summer school will select and invite 100-200 outstanding graduate students and postdocs from applicants worldwide. The course will in English on the most up-to-date and popular topics in their respective fields. There will be oral and poster presentations and networking during the course and top students will be awarded.
In addition, participants will also have the opportunity to engage in intensive and interactive academic networking events through the summer schools' city tours, cultural excursions, together with a variety of extracurricular activities, such as visiting high-tech biological enterprises, Shanghai Natural History Museum, Nanjing Road Walkway, the ancient town of Xitang and other exciting destinations.
We hope you will join us at the Fudan International Summer School of Life Sciences this year. Spend your summer here at the cutting edge of life science, learning from world-renowned researchers and making academic friends who will be lifelong mentors and resources.
//Registration link of International Summer School
（1）Applicant Requirements:
Applicants must be master's or doctorate level students and postdocs in life sciences related field from any country. Applicants should have a good command of English.
（2）Tuitions & Fees:
The summer school is free of tuition and provides free meals for school activities. Transport and accommodation are not covered.
Scholarship:
The summer school program will select approximately 20 outstanding students and offer scholarships to share their international and domestic travel & accommodation expenses. If you have specific questions, please consult us.
（3）Application materials:
// Passport Photocopy (Personal Information Page)
// Personal Photo
// Transcript
// One reference letter
// CV
Students from non-English teaching schools shall provide proof of proficiency in English, such as scores of TOEFL, GRE, IELTS, or CET 4 and CET 6.
（4）Application Process:
Applicants can choose course module Genetics & Epigenetics and Cell & Development（ 7.12-7.25, tentative）or module Evolution & Computational Biology（8.1-8.6, tentative ）or both.
For international applicants, please log in to
https://istudent.fudan.edu.cn/apply to fill out the online registration form and upload required materials.
There are two ways to find our programs. The first, click onSenior Advanced Student, then search 2023 Fudan International Summer School- Life Sciences. The other way is to enter “741865”in quick channel.
We will follow up with admitted international applicants by mail about course selection and hotel reservations.
Native applicantsmay find registration link on the website homepage（https://fiss-lifesci.fudan.edu.cn）.
Deadline: June 14 22:00, 2023 (Beijing time). The admission results will be announced on June 17, 2023.
（5）Contact Information:
Mrs. Yuqing Dai
E-mail: fissl@fudan.edu.cn
Phone: +86-21-31246510
Mrs. Yamao Chen
E-mail: cyamao@fudan.edu.cn
Phone: +86-21-31246788
Please mention “2023 Fudan International Summer School” in the subject of your Email.
//COURSE DESCRIPTION 2023 Shanghai
// EXPERT PROFILES
Genetics & Epigenetics
Prof. Jerry L. Workman
Prof. Jerry L. Workman is the member of the American Academy of Arts. He is a Senior Investigator at the Stowers Institute, USA. Dr. Workman is a pioneering scientist and made significant contributions in the field of gene expression research by uncovering the pivotal role of histones in both DNA packaging into chromatin and the regulation of gene expression. His seminal work involved the identification of diverse histone- modifying enzyme complexes, which has since been regarded as a landmark discovery in the realm of gene expression studies. Jerry L. Workman's invaluable findings have greatly enhanced our understanding of the intricate mechanisms governing gene regulation. He received the Maximizing Investigator’ Research Award 2018 from National Institute of General Medical Sciences.
Genetics & Epigenetics
Prof. Yi Zhang
Prof. Yi Zhang is the Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science. He is the Fred Rosen Chair Professor of Genetics at Harvard Medical School and Boston Children’s Hospital, Investigator of the Howard Hughes Medical Institute. Dr. Zhang is an internationally renowned scientist in epigenetics. Over the last decade, he has made significant contributions to the epigenetic field by identifying and characterizing many chromatin modifying enzymes that include: 1) the nucleosome remodeling and deacetylase NuRD; 2) the H3K27me3 methyltransferase PRC2; 3) the ubiquitin E3 ligase PRC1; 4) the JmjC histone demethylases; and 5) the Tet family of 5mC dioxygenases and novel nucleotides 5fC and 5caC.
Genetics & Epigenetics
Prof. Bing Ren
Prof. Bing Ren is the Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science. He is currently the Director of Center for Epigenomics at UC San Diego, and Member of Ludwig Institute for Cancer Research. Dr. Ren has been at the forefront of epigenomic research for over a decade. He has a long and influential record of scientific innovation and leadership as a driving force for multiple genomic consortia, including ENCODE, the NIH Roadmap Epigenomics Mapping Consortium, the International Human Epigenome Consortium, and the 4D Nucleome Consortium. Today, his laboratory is leading the study of how the epigenome regulates cellular function.
Genetics & Epigenetics
Prof. Xiang-Dong Fu
Prof. Xiang-Dong Fu is the Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science. He is the Chair Professor in Westlake University. Dr. Fu is a famous RNA biologist and a leading expert in neuron regeneration. He is responsible for co-discovery of SR proteins and discovery of a family of kinases specific for SR proteins, which are critical for RNA splicing. Dr. Fu’s research has been centered on understanding the functions of coding and non-coding RNAs in development and disease. His laboratory has also developed multiple technologies for high throughput analysis of gene expression, mRNA isoforms, and genomic interactions. One of their latest breakthroughs is the development of a new cellular reprogramming strategy to generate functional neurons from non-neuronal cells and the application of this approach to reverse the disease phenotype in a Parkinson’s disease model.
Genetics & Epigenetics
Prof. Bin Tian
Prof. Bin Tian is a professor and Program Co-Leader of Gene Expression & Regulation Program in Ellen and Ronald Caplan Cancer Center. He is also the Co-director of the Center for Systems & Computational Biology at Wistar Institute. Prof. Tian is a molecular systems biologist whose research is focused on understanding how gene expression is regulated at the RNA level. His lab was among the first to discover the widespread nature of alternative polyadenylation (APA) using bioinformatic and genomic approaches. They have also revealed multiple molecular mechanisms that regulate APA and cellular functions of APA isoforms in a number of biological systems.
Genetics & Epigenetics
Prof. Ting Wang
Prof. Ting Wang is the Sanford and Karen Loewentheil Distinguished Professor of Medicine, Professor of Computer Science and Engineering at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis. Prof. Ting Wang is an internationally recognized geneticist for his research on genetic and epigenetic impact of transposable elements on gene regulation. His lab developed widely-used DNA methylomics technologies, and apply integrative methods combining experimental and computational technologies for studying the evolution and adaption of human regulatory networks, particularly on the impact of these processes on human health and disease. His lab is home to the WashU Epigenome Browser, utilized by various large genomic dataset Consortia including the NIH Roadmap Epigenome Project, ENCODE Project, 4D Nucleome Project, and TaRGET Project. He currently directs the NIH 4D Nucleome Network Data Coordination and Integration Center and the NIEHS Environmental Epigenomics Data Center, and co-lead the latest Human Pangenome project.
Genetics & Epigenetics
Prof. Dinshaw J. Patel
Prof. Dinshaw J. Patel is the member of the National Academy of Sciences and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. He holds the Abby Rockefeller Mauzé Chair in Experimental Therapeutics at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center (MSKCC) and is a faculty member in the Structural Biology Program at the Sloan-Kettering Institute (SKI), USA. He has spent his career investigating structure-based mechanistic insights underlying biological macromolecular interactions, including the CRISPR-Cas and cGAS-STING surveillance pathways, histone and DNA methylation in epigenetic regulation and RNA-mediated processes ranging from riboswitches and ribozymes to those governing siRNA and piRNA pathways. He is the recipient of the inaugural C.C. Tan Life Science International Collaboration Award.
Cell & Development
Prof. Jinsong Li
Prof. Jinsong Li is a professor of Center for Excellence in Molecular Cell Science, Chinese Academy of Sciences. He was elected as an academician of the Chinese Academy of Sciences in 2021. Li obtained his PhD degree from Institute of Zoology, Chinese Academy of Sciences followed by postdoctoral training at Rockefeller University before joining Shanghai Institute of Biochemistry and Cell Biology in 2007. His research mainly focuses on stem cells and embryonic development. He has made fundamental contributions to the establishment of androgenetic haploid embryonic stem cells (also termed sperm-like stem cells or artificial spermatids) that can be used as sperm replacement for efficient production of semi-cloned mice (so called SC technology). Li has made great efforts to promote the applications of SC technology and shown that it can be used for complex genetic analyses in mice, including efficient generation of mouse models carrying defined point mutations related to human developmental defects; one-step generation mouse models that mimic multiple genetic defects in diseases; and targeted screening of critical genes or nucleotides of a specific gene involved in a developmental process. Recently, Li initiated a project to tag every protein in mice based on SC technology (genome tagging project, GTP), which may enable the precise description of protein atlas in mice.
Cell & Development
Prof. Norbert Perrimon
Prof. Norbert Perrimon is the Member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, and the member of National Academy of Sciences. He is the James Stillman Professor at Harvard Medical School, and Investigator of the Howard Hughes Medical Institute. Dr. Perrimon has 30 years of experience in the fields of developmental genetics, signal transduction and genomics. His group developed many methods that have significantly improved the Drosophila toolbox and has characterized many key components of signaling pathways. His group established high-throughput genome-wide RNAi screens and pooled CRISPR screens in various cell-based and in vivo assays. He also studies the roles of signaling pathways in homeostasis and tissue remodeling in muscles and gut stem cells, as well as hormonal systems involved in inter-organ communication. Dr. Perrimon has trained more than 100 students and postdoctoral fellows, most of whom currently hold academic positions.
Cell & Development
Prof. Philip A. Beachy
Prof. Philip A. Beachy is the member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, and the member of National Academy of Sciences. He is currently the director of Siebel Investigator Program, Institute for Stem Cell Biology and Regenerative Medicine, and the Ernest and Amelia Gallo Professor at Stanford University School of Medicine. Dr. Beachy is a world leading developmental biologist. His research interests mainly focus on functional characterization of Hedgehog proteins and other extracellular signals in morphogenesis and in injury repair and regeneration. He also studies the functional roles of various signaling molecules in stem cell physiology and how they can induce cancer stem cells. He discovered how Cyclopamine and Smoothened are related to Itraconazole, thus linking diverse fields of scientific research.
Cell & Development
Prof. Jin Jiang
Prof. Jin Jiang is a professor at UT Southwestern Medical Center and McDermott Scholar in Medical Research. Dr. Jiang is a world-leading developmental biologist. His research interests mainly focus on the signal transduction pathways involved in embryonic development, tumorigenesis and stem cell maintenance. He has been carrying out systematic genetic screens to identify genes controlling pattern formation and growth of Drosophila adult organs, and has identified many novel components in the Hedgehog, Wnt, and Hippo signaling pathways. In particular, he made a number of pioneering discoveries in the field of Hedgehog signaling. He discovered the important role of cAMP-dependent protein kinase PKA in Hedgehog signal transduction, and analyzed the regulatory mechanism of Smo protein phosphorylation and activation. He received Leukemia & Lymphoma Society Scholar Award 2003.
Cell & Development
Prof. Liqun Luo
Prof. Liqun Luo is the member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, and the member of National Academy of Sciences. He is the Ann and Bill Swindells Professor of Humanities and Sciences, Professor of Biology, Professor of Neurobiology at Stanford University, and Investigator of the Howard Hughes Medical Institute. Dr. Luo has dedicated himself to developmental neurobiology research for a long time and is internationally renowned for his work in the field of synaptic branching, which is crucial for the establishment and maintenance of neural circuits. He made significant contributions to the understanding of molecular mechanisms underlying synaptic branching development using fruit flies, and discovered striking similarities between this branching mechanism and the weakening phenomenon observed in mammalian synapses after damage. His remarkable achievements have greatly advanced the fields of neural development, neural network formation, and the technological development of organizational neuroscience.
Cell & Development
Prof. Lieping Chen
Prof. Lieping Chen is the Member of National Academy of Sciences. He is the United Technologies Corporation Professor in Cancer Research and Professor in Yale University. Dr. Chen is an internationally renowned scientist in caner immunobiology and a leading expert in immune co-stimulatory and inhibitory molecules. He discovered the immune checkpoint molecule PD-L1, and has elucidated the PD-L1-mediated evasion mechanism by which cancer cells avoid immune killing. Dr. Chen also pioneered the cancer immunotherapy strategy with anti-PD-1/PD-L1 antibody, which has revolutionized cancer treatment ever since.
Evolution & Computational Biology
Prof. Li Jin
Prof. Li Jin is the President of Fudan University, professor of genetics in Fudan University. Professor Li Jin is a leading scientist of the model of recent African origin of modern humans and the study of human phenomics. His research encompasses genetic structure and migrations of human populations, genetics of human complex diseases and computational biology. He has served as a board member of HUGO, co-founded Genographic Project, Pan-Asian SNP Consortium, and International Human Phenome Consortium (IHPC), and co-founded National Human Genome Center at Shanghai, Shanghai International Human Phenome Institute. He received numerous well-known awards including State Award of Natural Sciences twice, C.C. Tan Life Science Achievement Award, Distinguished Academic Achievement Award of Human Genome Organization (HUGO), Prize for Scientific and Technological Progress of Ho-Leung-Ho-Lee Foundation.
Evolution & Computational Biology
Prof. Mark Stoneking
Prof. Mark Stoneking is the member of the National Academy of Sciences, the group leader of Human Population History Group at Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology. His research interests involve using molecular genetic methods to address questions of anthropological interests concerning the origins, migrations, and relationships of human populations, and the influence of selection during human evolution. He, along with his doctoral advisor Allan Wilson, contributed to the Out of Africa Theory in 1987 by introducing the concept of Mitochondrial Eve, a hypothetical common mother of all living humans based on mitochondrial DNA.
Evolution & Computational Biology
Prof. Scott V. Edwards
Prof. Scott V. Edwards is the member of National Academy of Sciences, the member of American Academy of Arts and Sciences, the fellow of American Association of the Advancement of Science, the fellow of American Philosophical Society and the fellow of American Ornithologists’ Union. Prof. Edwards’ research focuses on the evolutionary biology of birds. He is one of the founders of the species tree theory and methods based on the multispecies coalescent model, and produced some of the first continent-wide phylogeographic analyses based on DNA sequencing, which have currently been widely applied in phylogenomics. He helped develop the House Finch (Haemorhous mexicanus) as an emerging model system for studying the evolutionary consequences of pathogens on animal hosts. Comparative genomics analyses published by Prof. Edwards’ team suggested that the evolution of genes involved in feather formation occurred much earlier than the common ancestor of modern birds, supporting the hypothesis that non-avian dinosaurs had feathers.
Evolution & Computational Biology
Prof. Jean Yang
Prof. Jean Yang is a professor at University of Sydney. She is an applied statistician with expertise in statistical bioinformatics. She was awarded the 2015 Moran Medal in statistics from the Australian Academy of Science in recognition of her work on developing methods for molecular data arising in cutting edge biomedical research. Her research stands at the interface between medicine and methodology development and has centered on the development of methods and the application of statistics to problems in omics and biomedical research. She has made contributions to the development of novel statistical methodology and software for the design and analysis of high-throughput biotechnological data including that from microarrays, mass spectrometry and next-generation sequencing. Recently, much of her focus is on integration of multiple biotechnologies with clinical data to answer a variety of scientific questions. This includes developing various approaches and methodologies in statistical machine learning and network analysis.
Evolution & Computational Biology
Prof. Roded Sharan
Prof. Roded Sharan is a professor in School of Computer Science at Tel-Aviv University. He has developed multiple highly-cited algorithms for modelling gene expression data, mutational data and constructed network models that are in broad use in the field of computational biology. His research focuses on networks- and clustering-based approaches, and applying graph algorithmic and machine learning techniques to mine biological data and extract patterns of biological significance. His most cited paper has received over 1000 citations to date. He received the Wolf Foundation Krill Prize, Test of Time Awards in RECOMB'16 and RECOMB'17, the Thomson-Reuters Highly Cited Researcher Award and the Kadar Prize 2007.
Evolution & Computational Biology
Prof. Dong Xu
Prof. Dong Xu is the Curators' Distinguished Professor, Paul K. and Dianne Shumaker Professor at University of Missouri-Columbia. Dong Xu has conducted research in many areas of computational biology and bioinformatics, including single-cell data analysis, protein structure prediction and modeling, protein post-translational modifications, protein localization prediction, computational systems biology, biological information systems, and bioinformatics applications in human, microbes, and plants over the past 30 years. His research since 2012 has focused on the interface between bioinformatics and deep learning. He has published more than 400 papers with more than 21,000 citations and an H-index of 73 according to Google Scholar.
Evolution & Computational Biology
Prof. Jian Ma
Prof. Jian Ma is the fellow of American Association for the Advancement of Science, and Ray and Stephanie Lane Professor in School of Computer Science at Carnegie Mellon University. Prof. Ma develops machine learning algorithms to study the structure and function of the human genome and cell organization, as well as their implications for evolution, health, and disease. During his Ph.D. and postdoc training, he developed algorithms to reconstruct the ancestral mammalian genome. His research group has recently pioneered a series of new machine learning methods for 3D epigenomics and spatial genomics. He leads an NIH 4D Nucleome Center, and has received several awards, including being named “Tomorrow’s PI” by Genome Technology (2011), the National Science Foundation CAREER award (2011), and the Guggenheim Fellowship (2020).
Evolution & Computational Biology
Prof. Igor Ulitsky
Prof. Igor Ulitsky is a distinguished researcher specializing in non-coding RNA from Weizmann Institute of Science. His groundbreaking work focuses on unraveling the roles of long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) in various biological processes and diseases. Through innovative approaches, His studies on lncRNA behavior showed that some lncRNAs affect the regulation of genes found within close physical proximity in the genome, whereas others control thousands of genes at a distance, in part during the maturation of their sequences. These discoveries have unlocked the potential of using lncRNAs as both therapeutic agents and targets with promising leads for the treatment of diseases such as cancer, brain injury, and epilepsy. Ulitsky's expertise bridges genomics and molecular biology, positioning him as a leading figure in the field of non-coding RNA research.
Evolution & Computational Biology
Prof. Chaolin Zhang
Prof. Chaolin Zhang is currently working in Department of Systems Biology, Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biophysics, and Motor Neuron Center at Columbia University Irving Medical Center. He is a renowned and highly accomplished RNA biologist, recognized for his exceptional expertise in deciphering the RNA splicing code. His laboratory employs a highly integrative and multidisciplinary approach, combining high-throughput biochemistry, genomics, and computational methodologies to dissect the intricate RNA regulatory networks within the nervous system. Furthermore, his research endeavors encompass the translation of fundamental discoveries into RNA-based precision medicine solutions for neurodevelopmental disorders. Chaolin’s research has made significant contributions to the field by mapping protein-RNA interactions with remarkable precision at the single-nucleotide level. These advancements have significantly enhanced our understanding of the specificities exhibited by RNA-binding proteins and the fundamental organizational principles governing neuronal RNA regulatory networks. Prof. Zhang received Maximizing Investigators' Research Award (MIRA/R35, 2022) from NIH, and Scientific Innovations Award from the Brain Research Foundation (2023).
Introduction to Fudan University
Fudan University was established in 1905 as Fudan Public School. It is the top 3 university in Chinese mainland and ranks No.34th in the QS world university rankings of 2023.
Fudan has 35 schools and departments with 18 affiliated hospitals, which offer 70 bachelor degree programs, 154 doctoral degree programs and 224 master degree programs to students across the world. Meanwhile, Fudan has 77 research institutes, 112 interdisciplinary research institutes and 5 State Key Laboratorie that can provide top research sources and platforms for teachers and students. Currently, there are approximately 50000 students, 3602 faculty and staff, 59 academicians of Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) and Chinese Academy of Engineering (CAE) in the university.
As a national key university in China, Fudan University has a history of 118 years, and it has developed into a comprehensive research university including 12 discipline categories. 40 disciplines become nation key ones, which are very competitive in the nation.
Moreover, there are 21 disciplines ranks in the ESI 1% in the world. Material Science, Clinical Medicine, Chemistry and Pharmacology & Toxicology has even being the top 1‰ of the world.
Fudan has cooperative programs with over 250 universities and institutes in close to 50 countries and regions. Now Fudan University offers student exchange opportunities to over 200 partners such as The University of Chicago, University of Toronto and etc. Every year, over 3000 students travel overseas to gain their first-hand experience.
(END)
Presented by Fudan University Media Center
Source: School of Life Sciences, Fudan University
Designer: Jia Yingyue
