Practical Linux

Date: September 30 and November 25, register here

Time: 10:00 - 14:00

Location: LUMC, room J-01-082 (route 555)

Organizer: Mihai Lefter

After completing this short, half day, course attendees will be able to swiftly start using Linux both on a server as well as on their personal computer.

There are no prerequisites, but the Linux course is mandatory for the courses: Shark, Code management with Git, Scripting for life science researcher, and Python programming.

More information 

The course is free of charge. See cancellation rules at the bottom of this page.

Code management with Git

Date: December 1, register here

Location: LUMC, room J-01-082 (route 555)

Registration applies on a first-come, first-served basis. If fully booked your name will be put on a reserve list which gives you priority for next edition.

Organizer: Mihai Lefter

This course aims at everyone who works in the Bioinformatics field. We cover a version control system named Git. This system is widely used by software developers but can also be used for project management. By keeping track of all versions, history, etc. collaboration with colleagues is easy and your analysis will be reproducible. Knowledge of Linux is required to follow this course.

More information 

The course is free of charge. See cancellation rules at the bottom of this page.

Python Programming

Date: 21-26 January, register here

Location: LUMC

Registration applies on a first-come, first-served basis. If fully booked your name will be put on a reserve list which gives you priority for next edition.

Organizer: Mihai Lefter 

The course is targeted at PhD students, postdocs, or anyone willing to learn how to program in Python. Participants are assumed to have some experience with programming, but not necessarily in Python, and the UNIX shell. For this reason it is mandatory to follow the Practical Linux and Code management with git courses before.

There will be a focus on bioinformatics and programming to support scientific research in general. The program consists of four mornings with lessons and some assignments to be done in your own time (i.e., during the afternoons).

The course is free of charge for all personnel from MGC  and Erasmus MC institutes. Participants from outside these institutes pay €400. There is a maximum of 20 places. See cancellation rules at the bottom of this page. 

Genomics and Transcriptomics

Date: 21 October, register here

Location: EMC, OWR-55

Organizers: Susan Kloet and Linda Broer

The course is directed primarily at PhD students who just started their research or are not familiar with the topics below but other participants are welcome too. Topics that were discussed in 2025: Introduction NGS Illumina, PacBio Single molecule sequencing, 10X Genomics Chromium: single cell RNA Seq and genome haplotyping, WaferGen iCell8: single cell RNA Seq, Expression profiling and analysis , Oxford Nanopore sequencing, MED seq - genomewide DNA methylation, ChIPseq - 3C in research, LGTC and associated LUMC facilities, Biomics & Future developments.

The course is free of charge for all personnel of MGC associated institutes and Erasmus MC. Participants from outside these organizations pay € 100 for this course-day. There is a minimum of 14 participants.

Protein aggregation disorders: from clinic to therapy

Date: 19-20 November, registration will open soon

Location: Erasmus MC

Organizers: Ronald Buijsen, Laura Donker Kaat, Wim Mandemakers, and Vered Raz

For more information and preliminary program, click here 

Aberrant protein homeostasis can lead to accumulation and aggregation of proteins in insoluble cellular structures. Protein aggregation is a hallmark feature of many adult neurodegenerative and neuromuscular disorders although the genetic cause and symptoms of these diseases highly varied. Despite varied genetic causes for the protein aggregation disorders, many of these diseases sharing common cellular and molecular mechanisms. Accumulation of proteins and subsequently its aggregation is caused by malfunctioning of protein homeostasis and protein folding machineries. Also aberrant protein homeostasis is a hallmark of aging tissues, in neurodegenerative and neuromuscular disorders the effect is more pronounced and is associated with pathology. Some disorders, such as OPMD, FXTAS and polyglutamine disorders are rare and have a clear genetic component while for more common disorders such as ALS, Alzheimer and Parkinson, there is often no clear genetic cause. Thus, genetic variants of protein aggregation disorders are important in the unravelling of the molecular and pathological processes of more common protein aggregation disorders. This course will discuss the main molecular mechanisms regulating protein homeostasis and protein folding with a focus a mechanistic foundation in protein aggregation disorders. We will focus on four selected diseases and will discuss genetic, clinic, and current knowledge of disease mechanisms and models for examples. The end point of this course will be development of novel therapeutic strategies to combat protein aggregation in pathological conditions.

 MGC courses: general cancellation rules for MGC members 

 The courses are free of charge but please note that we have set up strict cancellation rules:

•            Free cancellation up to 1 week before the start of a one day course and up to 2 weeks before other courses

•            Cancellations after the mentioned time interval until one day before the start of the course: €50 per course day unless you have a replacement. In that case name and email address plus confirmation from the replacement is included in the cancellation email to the MGC secretariat nivard@lumc.nl 

•            In case of no-show up: €75 per course day

In collaboration with the Erasmus MC graduate school - see course program