Symbiosis is a key strategy for life on Earth. Nevertheless, although many research groups have long been committed to the study of symbiosis, its definition and functioning are not fully understood, and its ecological role and relevance are still underestimated.

Symbiotic associations vary from parasitism to mutualism and even simple persistent biological interactions, making the knowledge fragmented and focused on the details of single symbiotic systems. Knowledge of the various symbiotic relationships is rapidly increasing with the development of -omics tools, but without efforts to find common grounds.

In this course, we promote a different approach, in which different symbiotic systems are studied to highlight congruencies in symbiotic interactions. The integration and synthesis of existing knowledge on various symbiotic systems at genetic, biochemical, physiological, ecological and social levels can bring out models and tools for the research and exploitation of symbiosis concept in biotechnology, from agriculture to marine science, to global ecosystem functioning.

Date: February 4th, 2019 to February 8th, 2019
Deadline for Applications: December 14th, 2018