Pic Saint Loup Saint Martin de Londres
Theme and spirit
The subject is evolution, which is considered at different scales, from genes to populations. The focus is on the mathematical and computational tools and concepts, which form an essential basis of evolutionary studies. The rise of sound statistical and combinatorial approaches in evolutionary biology has seen considerable improvements of the original ad hoc methods and the ability of the new methods and algorithms to handle ever-larger data sets. Such advances involve increasingly sophisticated mathematical treatment of the problems at hand and the reliance on faster algorithms and powerful computers to answer important biological questions. To present these advances and to discuss open questions and problems, the meeting will bring together researchers originating from various disciplines: mathematics, computer science, phylogenetics and population genetics. Ten keynote speakers, two each morning, will introduce a field of research and discuss their own work in this field. Afternoon will be for short presentations and posters, with plenty of time for discussions. We will stop early every day, thus leaving time for hiking and visits. The number of attendees will be limited to favor exchanges (~60).
Organization
The meeting will take place at Hameau de l'Etoile, in the Montpellier region (France). The dates are June 18-22, that is, just before SMBE 2012, which starts on the evening of June 23rd in Dublin (Ireland). The first talk will begin at 11:00 on Monday the 18th and the conference will end at 16:00 on Friday the 22nd. We will organize a bus transfer from Montpellier downtown on Monday at 09:00 and a return on Friday afternoon (see the meeting point). Conference fees including accommodation (4 nights, 18 to 22), meals, coffee breaks, buses, etc., will range from ~300 € to ~425 € depending on the room type (see Hameau de L'Etoile). PhDs and postdocs will benefit of the cheapest rooms and some financial support for accommodation.
Keynote speakers
  • Cécile Ané (University of Wisconsin, US).
    Reconstructing species trees, concordance trees and testing the coalescent model.
  • Michael Blum (CNRS - TIMC, FR).
    Approximate Bayesian Computation: theory, algorithms and applications.
  • Oliver Eulenstein (Iowa State University, US).
    Supertrees and phylogenomics.
  • Arnaud Estoup (INRA - CBGP, FR).
    ABC (Approximate Bayesian Computation) methods to make inference about population history from molecular data: principles and applications.
  • Asger Hobolth (Aarhus University, DK).
    Understanding the coalescent-with-recombination in time and space: A review and unifying framework.
  • Vincent Moulton (University of East Anglia, UK).
    Recent progress on phylogenetic networks.
  • Noah Rosenberg (University of Michigan, US).
    Models and methods at the intra/inter species frontier.
  • Alexandros Stamatakis (Heidelberg, DE).
    High Performance Phylogenetics.
  • Mike Steel (University of Canterbury, NZ).
    Probabilistic models of evolutionary trees.
  • Edward Susko (Dalhousie University, CA).
    Testing phylogenies.
  • Asger Hobolth (Aarhus University, DK).
    Understanding the coalescent-with-recombination in time and space: A review and unifying framework.
Organizing Committee
  • Olivier Gascuel (Chair).
  • Jean-Michel Marin (Chair).
  • Elisabeth Greverie (CNRS - LIRMM).
  • Justine Landais (CNRS - LIRMM).
  • Vincent Lefort (CNRS - LIRMM).
  • Pierre Pudlo (University Montpellier II - I3M).
Previous conferences and meetings
CNRS Université Montpellier 2 NUMEV LIRMM I3M GDR BIM Region Languedoc-Roussillon

SMBE 2012