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.

The concept itself of symbiosis can be faced by different points of view, spanning from biology to evolution, from philosophy to artificial intelligence.

In this course, we promote a multidisciplinary approach presenting the most recent findings on the topic and challenging the traditional way of considering symbiotic associations as exceptions and not as the rule.

Course dates: February 6th, 2023 to February 10th, 2023