On April 18, the OLISSIPO project will host its 4th Twin Seminar titled “Algorithms and software for phylogenetic analysis”, presented by Cátia Vaz from ISEL / INESC-ID, and Daniel Huson from University of Tübingen.

The Olissipo Twin Seminars contribute to disseminate the scientific work and expertise of INESC-ID and all the Consortium that includes Inria, ETH Zürich and EMBL. These seminars comprise two short presentations, one researcher from Lisbon and one from a twin international institution working on similar topics in Computational Biology. The seminars are open to everyone interested and will include a discussion to further promote the interaction between all the participants.

Date & Time: April 18, 13h00-14h30
Where: Online via zoom here

Summary: “Phylogenetic analysis is a key step in several areas of biological research. Although there is a wide range of advanced methods to address different evolutionary questions, the design and implementation of new algorithms for phylogenetics remains an active field of research. Here we present some new developments in the area of phylogenetic networks, in particular the concept of a phylogenetic outline (a new type of phylogenetic network), and will illustrate them using the new —SplitsTree iOS app.

When performing large-scale phylogenetic analyses of microbial population genetics, it is often needed to sequence and type isolates, and afterwards to apply a set of phylogenetic inference methods to produce a diagrammatic hypothesis about the evolutionary history. The computation and analysis of microbial population genetics often produces phylogenetic trees or networks. Usually the analysis includes the visualization and exploration of inferred results, integrating epidemiological and ancillary data, such as demographic and clinical information, related to the isolates under study.

In this seminar, we will briefly present some tools developed by us and the main challenges that we have been faced due to the substantial growth in the amount of genomic and typing data. We will also present new recent developments that we have made to overcome some of these challenges, exploiting succinct representations and graph databases.”

Bios:

Cátia Vaz, ESEL and INESC-ID (Portugal)

Cátia Vaz completed her PhD in Computer Science and Engineering in 2010, her MSc in Applied Mathematics in 2004, and her Degree in Applied Mathematics and Computation in 2002, at Instituto Superior Técnico. She has been an Adjunct Professor at the Instituto Superior de Engenharia de Lisboa since 2010, where she is responsible for and/or teaching curricular units focusing on the design, analysis and implementation of algorithms and data structures, in particular in bioinformatics. She is also a researcher at the Institute of Systems and Computer Engineering – Research and Development in Lisbon (INESC-ID Lisbon), participating in several national and international projects, and developing its work in the areas of algorithm engineering, mathematical modeling, computational science, and data science, with applications in computational biology and bioinformatics.

Daniel Huson, University of Tuebingen (Germany)

Daniel Huson studied mathematics at Bielefeld University, obtaining a PhD in 1990 and a Habilitation in 1997, working with Andreas Dress. He was a postdoc in bioinformatics with Tandy Warnow at Princeton University 1997-99, before joining Gene Myer’s group at Celera Genomics to work on the assembly of the human genome. He has been a professor of Algorithms in Bioinformatics at the University of Tuebingen since 2002 and was a visiting professor at NTU and then NUS in Singapore 2011-20. His main field of research is the design and implementation of algorithms in bioinformatics.

On April 19, the OLISSIPO project will host an 8-hour workshop titled “How to design a graphical abstract” with Dr. Rita Félix, a science communicator, illustrator and designer from CNC Center for Neuroscience and Cell Biology (Coimbra, Portugal). Registration is free and seating is limited.

Registration Deadline: April 5 | Register here (free but mandatory)
Date & Time: April 19, 09h00-18h00 ( 8-hours)
Where: INESC-ID, R. Alves Redol 9, 1000-029 Lisboa | Room 9 (Auditorium), Ground Floor

Summary: “How to design a graphical abstract” Workshop aims to explain what a graphical abstract is, and give you design tools and tips on how to create a better, clear and engaging graphical abstract. This workshop is tailored to give you tools and improve your graphical abstract, without having to learn how to use a new software program (like Adobe Illustrator). Bring your graphical abstract, share it with the class, work on it and take home a new version.

Short Bio: Rita Félix is a science communicator, illustrator and designer, with life sciences research experience. Currently working as the Institutional Communication Manager and Designer at CNC-UC. She completed her PhD in Neuroscience in 2020, in the Champalimaud Neuroscience Programme. After that, she enrolled in a Digital Illustration Specialization Course to further develop her visualization and design skills. Worked as a Scientific Graphic Designer at Science Crunchers, a science communication company, where she developed multiple graphical abstracts, article figures, infographics, diagrams, illustrations, visual identity, logos and webdesign for companies, scientific institutions and Horizon 2020 consortia. More information at https://ritallfelix.wixsite.com/portfolio .

On April 19, INESC-ID will host a talk by Ed Ayers and Andy Gordon from the startup Cogna. The talk is titled “Rise of the AI-Empowered End User Software Engineer” and is organised by INESC-ID researcher Nuno Lopes.

Date & Time: April 19, 15h00 -16h00
Where: INESC-ID, Rua Alves Redol, 9, 1000-029 Lisboa | Room 9 (Auditorium), Ground Floor

Summary:
“What if natural language really is the new programming language? Inspired by the transformation of professional software engineering by generative AI, let’s take the next step: empowering end users. We can boost their productivity with hyper-customized software generated from natural language. This challenge needs research right across software engineering: requirements, architecture, coding, testing, verification, repair, and maintenance. We will survey current progress and open research questions in this exciting new area of programming language research.”

(Photo: Cogna website)

On June 6 and 7, The United Nations Office for Disarmament Affairs (UNODA) and the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) are offering a selected group of technical students the opportunity to join a 2-day educational workshop on Responsible AI for peace and security.

The third workshop in the series will be held in Porto Salvo, Portugal, in collaboration with GAIPS, INESC-ID, and Instituto Superior Técnico. The workshop is open to students affiliated with universities in Europe, Central and South America, the Middle East and Africa, Oceania, and Asia.

Date & Time: June 6 a 7
Where: IST – Tagus Park, Porto Salvo

Registration deadline: April 8

Summary: “As with the impacts of Artificial intelligence (AI) on people’s day-to-day lives, the impacts for international peace and security include wide-ranging and significant opportunities and challenges. AI can help achieve the UN Sustainable Development Goals, but its dual-use nature means that peaceful applications can also be misused for harmful purposes such as political disinformation, cyberattacks, terrorism, or military operations. Meanwhile, those researching and developing AI in the civilian sector remain too often unaware of the risks that the misuse of civilian AI technology may pose to international peace and security and unsure about the role they can play in addressing them. Against this background, UNODA and SIPRI launched, in 2023, a three-year educational initiative on Promoting Responsible Innovation in AI for Peace and Security. The initiative, which is supported by the Council of the European Union, aims to support greater engagement of the civilian AI community in mitigating the unintended consequences of civilian AI research and innovation for peace and security. As part of that initiative, SIPRI and UNODA are organising a series of capacity building workshops for STEM students (at PhD and Master levels). These workshops aim to provide the opportunity for up-and-coming AI practitioners to work together and with experts to learn about a) how peaceful AI research and innovation may generate risks for international peace and security; b) how they could help prevent or mitigate those risks through responsible research and innovation; c) how they could support the promotion of responsible AI for peace and security.”