Aims and purpose

The course is intended for individuals wishing an in-depth introduction to the F-techniques and their application to the life sciences. Participants are normally graduate students or postdocs who are using fluorescence microscopy in their research. Most participants have some knowledge of fluorescence, typically in a specialized area. However, other individuals, from totally different research areas and industry, get the opportunity to enter this exciting field in a very effective way and benefit especially from the experimental section.

Course program

The course consists of lectures and practical sessions. Participation is possible by attending lectures only or attending lectures and practical sessions.

The lectures on Monday and Tuesday (July 16/17) will deal with fluorescence, theory of F-techniques (FRET, FLIM, FCS and FRAP), FCS variants, instrumentation and data analysis. The major FRET methods will be covered in detail. The lectures on Wednesday and Thursday (July 18/19) will cover research applications of F-techniques in cell and developmental biology. On Friday (July 20) lectures will focus on superresolution microscopy, PALM, STORM and structured illumination.

Practical sessions (afternoons of July 17-20) will cover steady-state and time-resolved experiments as well as data analysis on various instruments provided by market leading companies.

A poster session/welcome reception will be held on the first evening (Monday, July 16) to allow participants to meet instructors.

Course instructors (subject to changes, in alphabetical order)

Practical sessions

The course schedule includes 4 practical sessions of 120 minutes each. The sessions cover different experimental F-techniques on different instruments. Participants will be divided into groups that rotate through the experimental stations.

Experimental techniques covered:

• FCS, FCCS and FLCS
• FLIM
• FRAP, AP-FRET
• FLIM-frequency domain

Please note that due to the expected number of participants, not every participant will have the possibility to work directly with the instruments. The practical sessions will be limited to a number of 24 participants, so early registration is recommended.

Poster session

The course schedule includes a poster session/welcome reception on the first evening (Monday, July 16). All participants are therefore encouraged to display posters presenting their latest research results. Please indicate in the registration form if you want to present a poster and if yes, please send us your abstract via email to events@picoquant.com. Note: there will be no selection of abstracts - all posters will be accepted.

Fees and payment

Registration

To participate in the course you need to register prior to the event. Deadline for the registration is June 9, 2012.

Please fill in the form below to register for the course. As places are limited, we encourage an early registration. Places are assigned on a first-come first-served basis.

Location

The course will be hosted by the Institute of Medical Biology Microscopy Unit (IMU), based in Biopolis, Singapore. It will be held at the Immunos/Neuros Complex, located at 8A Biomedical Grove, #06-06 Immunos, Singapore 138648.

Local area map:

Accommodation

We have negotiated special rates for a limited number of rooms in the Park Hotel Clarke Quay. Please note that the number of rooms and the booking time are limited and we therefore advise to reserve your room as soon as possible.

Hotel address	Prices and Booking
Park Hotel Clarke Quay 1 Unity Street, Singapore 237983 phone: +65-6593-8888 fax: +65-6593-8893 Website of the hotel	Superior room: SGD 210++ Deluxe room: SGD 230++ Room prices include unlimited broadband internet access and buffet breakfast. To book a room, please fill out the booking form (DOC file) and send it via fax or email directly to the hotel. The rooms are bookable at this rate until May 31, 2012. We can not guarantee any reservations to these prices or any reservation at all after this date.

The course location is easily accessible from the Park Hotel Clark Quay by train or bus. The train lines are very frequent and connected well. There is a train station, Buona Vista (please see map on course website) that is closest to our place from which is a 10 min walk to Biopolis or you can catch the free shuttle bus service from Buona Vista train station to Biopolis if you don't want to do the walk.The frequency is every 15 min in the morning till 9.30 am and again runs from 5 pm till 7 pm in the evenings.

Previous Course

The course was organized for the first time in 2011. The list of speakers and topics is still available on the dedicated website.

Contact