REGISTRATION IS NOW OPEN for the workshop “Inferring natural selection from genomic data”, which will be held in Ferrara, Italy, December 16-18, 2016.

Invited speakers include Andrea Betancourt, Dan Graur, Rasmus Nielsen, Ludovic Orlando, and Pavlos Pavlidis. The titles of their presentations are available at the site www.sibe2016.it, and reported at the end of this message.

Three round tables are planned with the following themes: ENCODE and the functional fraction of the genome; The most influential (and useful) papers in adaptation genomics; Genomics for non-model organisms: pros and cons.

A few spots are available for the participants to present their data and results.

Please, register at http://www.sibe2016.it/index.php/registration. The maximum number of participants is 70, so register ASAP (first-come, first-served; we encourage participants to submit an abstract and present an oral communication).

Accepted participants will be asked to confirm not later than the end of October.

The workshop is supported by SIBE, the Italian Society of Evolutionary Biology, in collaboration with the University of Ferrara. Registration is free for SIBE members; non-members can easily and cheaply become SIBE fellows (30 EUR for academics and 15 EUR for students/postdocs).

Invited Speakers Presentations (A: Seminar; B: Lecture)

Andrea Betancourt
A: Transposable element evolution in Drosophila
B: Analysing pooled sequencing data

Dan Graur
A: Can animal and plant genomes be devoid of junk DNA? An answer based on mutational genetic load, mean fertility, and effective population size.
On December 15, Dan Graur will also give an open lecture at the University of Padova (about 70 km North of Ferrara) with the title: Lies, Damn Lies, and Statistics: Three Misconceptions about Genetics (Determinism, Perfectibility, and Naturalness)

Pavlos Pavlidis
A: Story-telling in genome scans for selective sweeps. Should we believe the results because they make sense?
B: Detecting selective sweeps in full-genomes: what methods to use?

Rasmus Nielsen
A: Physiological adaptation in humans
B: Selection scans using Next generation Sequencing data

Ludovic Orlando
A: TBA
B: TBA