Source: Professor Graham Beards (Wikipedia)

When: 12-16 May 2025
Where: Biology Department, Lund University, Lund, Sweden
Registration deadline: 10 March 2025

Content Overview

• Suggested ECTS: 2 ECTS (this must be discussed with your home university)
• Level: PhD students and postdocs in the field of medicine, microbiology and virology
• Language: English
• Course leaders: Vasili Hauryliuk (vasili.hauryliuk@med.lu.se) and Marcus Johansson (marcus.johansson@med.lu.se)
• Course lecturers: National and international renowned researchers
• Course schedule: TBA
• Participant limit: 20 students/postdocs

The aim of this NDPIA course is to provide the participants with a comprehensive theoretical overview of both fundamental and applied phage biology, complemented with a set of experimental skills that would allow introducing phage techniques directly into an ongoing research programme.

Lectures cover phage diversity and classification, phage diversity in different environments, from human gut to ocean, ecological role of phages, phage-bacteria interactions and anti-phage immunity systems, development of phage-based treatments of bacterial infections.

Practicals cover isolation of phages from environment, determination of the phage titre, phage infectivity / immunity assays, and isolation of spontaneous mutant phages through selection.

Expected Learning Outcomes

After completing the course the PhD student / postdoc is expected to be able to

• Describe the general diversity of bacteriophages and principles of their classification
• Describe biological roles of phage from an ecological standpoint
• Describe the molecular mechanisms involved in phage-bacteria warfare
• Describe the opportunities and challenges acuminated with applications of phages for treatment of antibiotic-resistant bacterial pathogens
• Perform standard laboratory techniques for phage work including: phage isolation from environmental samples, phage immunity assays, selection of phage escape mutants.

Course Details

1. Notebook and pen
2. Laboratory gear (labelled clean lab coat and closed comfortable shoes)

Types of instruction:
The course consists of lectures, laboratory work, group discussions.

Type of examination:
Oral examination in the form of group discussions based on the course aims

Grades:
The grade Pass (G) or Fail (U) is given in this course.

Course evaluation:
Course evaluation will be performed both orally (discussion between course participants and instructors) and via digital questionnaire platform.

Accommodations:
Will be arranged and paid by the organizers.

Travel:
Must be organized and paid for by the student/the student’s supervisor.

Registration

NDPIA members can register below and NDPIA full members have priority to attend the course.

Non-NDPIA members: please contact anna-sara.lenman@umu.se to announce your interest in attending the course.

PLEASE NOTE: You must submit a signed letter of support below before filling out the registration/booking form at the bottom of the page.

Bookings