Tromsø Museum (University of Tromsø, Norway), Forest Research Institute, Karelian Centre, Russian Academy of Sciences (Petrozavodsk, Russia), ForBio (Research School in Biosystematics), and SIU (Norwegian Centre for International Cooperation in Education) jointly offer an International Course in DNA Metabarcoding. The course will link its teaching program to the current research projects at the partner institutes to strengthen the connection between education and cutting age research methodologies by taking students through consecutive stages of the research process such as field collecting, plant community descriptions, laboratory set up and bioinformatic data analyses.
DNA metabarcoding is a rapid method of biodiversity assessment utilizing environmental DNA (DNA obtained from sediments, soils, water etc) which combines two technologies: DNA based species identification and high-throughput DNA sequencing. We include applications of DNA metabarcoding to ancient and recent plant community or species composition assessment using lake sediments as well as in diet study of the reindeer - one of the last remnants of the Beringian megafauna in the Arctic, keystone species, with high cultural and economic value for indigenous residents. The field collecting will be done in Karelia and Murmansk region of Russia, the laboratory work will be partially conducted in the field as well as using molecular laboratory facilities at the UiT. The computer classes for data processing and bioinformatic analyses will be held at the Tromsø Museum. The Tromsø based Part 2 of the course will be organized in February 2018 and announced later.
The detailed schedule of the programme including field work itinerary is upcoming.
Teachers: Alexey Kravchenko (alex.kravchen@mail.ru) Forest Research Institute, Karelian Centre, Russian Academy of Sciences; Charlotte Clarke (C.Clarke@soton.ac.uk), University of Southampton; Eric Coissac -for Part 2: Data processing and Bioinformatics- (eric.coissac@metabarcoding.org), LECA, Grenoble; Stefaniya Kamenova (stefaniya.kamenova@gmail.com), CEES, UiO; Galina Gusarova (galina.gusarova@uit.no), Tromsø museum.
Financial aid: Only students from partner countries in the High North Programme https://www.siu.no/eng/Programme-information/Cooperation-outside-the-EU/high-north-programme (Norway, Canada, China, Japan, Russia and US) may be funded through the project funds. All expenses of the participants from the partner countries including travel, accommodation, meals and bench fees are fully covered. Other applicants will have to cover return travel to St Petersburg (Russia). Additional expenses, including the local train tickets as well as food and lodging at two nature reserves, amount to 660 EUR in total. This amount will have to be transferred to the Tromsø Museum, University of Tromsø, before 1 July 2017, as we will book travel within Russia for all the participants together.
Registration: Please fill in the online application here
Find out about how to become a ForBio member here.
Maximum number of participants is 15.
Application deadline is June 1, 2017.
Results announced by e-mail 8 June 2017
Contact Galina Gusarova (galina.gusarova@uit.no) for more information