Highlights

 

BIF-IGS organizes a broad variety of courses, events and retreats in the categories “Network” and “Training”. One focus are courses in the field of “Information”, namely courses in programming. Usually “Information” courses are online formats, transferable skill courses may also come in an onsite format.

COURSES

There are courses that repeat every year (e.g., Python-courses) complemented by some that are organized “on demand” of the Doctoral Researchers.
BIF-IGS boasts itself a flexible course programme, carefully aligned to the needs of the Doctoral Researchers, e.g., the workshop “Agile Project Management” was tailored according to the feedback of the Doctoral Researchers.

We are particularly proud of our cooperation with the Graduate Schools “HIDSS4Health” and “IHRS BioSoft (FZJ)”, resulting in several of the “Information”-Courses and Lecture Series (marked *)

“Information”-Courses:

  • Workshop „Python from Zero to Data Science” in November 2023 *
  • Workshop “Python Applications” in May 2023
  • Workshop “Machine Learning/Data Science (based on Python)” in March 2024 *
  • Workshop “Image processing with Python” in January 2024 *
  • Workshop “Editing, Processing & Analysis of Scientific Images” in May 2023
  • Workshop “Introduction to Statistics (based on Python)” in October 2022 *
  • Workshop “Introduction to R” in March 2023
  • Workshop “Introduction to Statistics (based on R)” in October 2023
  • Workshop on LaTeX in September 2023 *
  • Lecture series on “Artificial Intelligence” in summer term 2024 *
  • Workshop on "Next-Level Science using AI Assistants" in June and July 2024 *
  • Workshop on "Scientific Image Editing & Figure Creation" in May 2024
  • Workshop "Introduction to R" in November 2024
  • Workshop "Introduction to Statistics in R" in December 2024
  • Online Workshop in Python "From Zero to Data Science" (Fredo Erxleben) in November 2024*

“Elective” Courses

  • Workshop on “Visual Communication” in November 2023 *
  • Lecture Series “Cell Biology” in summer term 2022 *
  • Lecture Series “Imaging” in summer term 2022 *
  • Lecture Series “Six Main Tasks in Image Processing” in summer term 2023 *
  • Lecture Series “Nuclear Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy” in summer term 2023 *
  • Short lecture series “3D Printing” in December 2023 *
  • Workshop on “3D Printing” in March 2024
  • Course on Transmission Electron Microscopy in February 2024
  • Workshop on Size Exclusion Chromatography (Sven Schneider) in October 2024

Transferable Skills

  • Workshop “Basics of Leadership in Science“ in March 2024 - onsite
  • Workshop “Resolving Conflicts in your lab team“ in October 2023 - onsite
  • Workshop “Project Management” in January 2024
  • Workshop “Agile Project Management” in July 2023
  • Workshop “Scientific writing: Turning the blank page into a manuscript” in April 2023
  • Workshop “Presentation skills for scientists” in September 2023 – onsite
  • Workshop “Thesis Defense Training” in January 2024
  • Workshop on Conflict Management (Dr. Alexander Roggenkamp) in October 2024

BIF-IGS Retreat

Every year at the BIF-IGS Annual Retreat, a team of BIF-IGS Doctoral Researchers is elected that organizes the next BIF-IGS Retreat:

 

Events

Online Event: Digital Twins in the Life Sciences from April 24, 2025
Digital twins are digital representations of physical objects, systems, or processes connected to their physical counterparts.
This technology enables the creation of an accurate virtual model by integrating data and models, which can be monitored, optimized, and used to make predictions.
Only the massive increase in computer processing power and machine learning programs made it possible to develop them.
Digital twins of biological entities are therefore mathematical descriptions of cells, tissues, organs and systems that can range from the immune system to a complete organism.
They simulate the behaviour of their living partners, but do not communicate directly with them.
Another playground for digital twins is pharmaceutical research.
Many new active ingredients flop at late stages of development - even if they were successful in preclinical analyses. This costs huge sums of money.
Drug researchers would be happy if they could recognize at an early stage whether a drug delivers what they expect from it.
In addition to companies, academic groups are also working on digital twins for drug research.
One example is that of Fabian Theis at the Helmholtz Zentrum München.
His team has developed a so-called Compositional Perturbation Autoencoder (CPA).
The CPA is designed to predict how a cell will react to combined changes, such as the administration of active substances, at different times and in different doses (Mol. Syst. Biol. 12, e11517)
Time schedule of the online lectures:
Date
Topic
Speaker
24.04.2025
Digital Twins in the Life Sciences
Liesbet Geris
(VPH Institute)
08.05.2025
Acquisition, Processing, and Provision of Data
Nicole Jung
(KIT)
15.05.2025
Mechanistic Models
Dmitry Fedosov
(FZJ)
22.05.2025
Data-driven Models
Steffen Rulands
(LMU Munich)
05.06.2025
Building Trust in Medical Digital Twins
Christian Niklas
(Heidelberg University Hospital)
26.06.2025
Uncertainty Quantification in Machine Learning
Vincent Fortuin
(Helmholtz AI)
10.07.2025
Building Digital Twins of Development and Disease
Dagmar Iber
(ETH Zürich)
17.07.2025
Towards a Virtual Cell
(The lecture starts at 1:30 pm)
Fabian J. Theis
(Helmholtz AI)
24.07.2025
Bayesian Optimization for Digital Twins
Pascal Friederich
(KIT)
31.07.2025
Next-Generation Surgery
Stefanie Speidel
(TU Dresden)
07.08.2025
The Virtual Humans Factory
Jazmin Aguado-Sierra
(ELEM Biotech)
Further information about these online lectures can be found via this link:
Additionally, there is another link for an interesting podcast on this lecture series:
 
Career-Event on 10.10.2024 with Prof. Shiva Faeghinezhad

Event Recap: Career Journey of Prof. Dr.-Ing. Shiva Faeghinezhad – A Story of Determination and Success
 
 
 
On October 10, 2024, the BioInterfaces International Graduate School (BIF-IGS), in collaboration with HIDSS4Health and KSQM, hosted a captivating career talk with Prof. Dr.-Ing. Shiva Faeghinezhad. In the Physics Tower at KIT’s Campus South, Prof. Faeghinezhad shared her inspiring academic journey, which led her from studying civil engineering in her hometown of Tabriz, Iran, to a professorship at the University of Twente in the Netherlands.
Participants from 12 different institutes across KIT gathered to hear Prof. Faeghinezhad discuss her challenges and achievements as an international scholar, the rewards of her doctoral studies at KIT, and her transition into a successful European academic career. Attendees were inspired by her resilience and encouraged by her insights into navigating an international research career. The event concluded with lively discussions, refreshments, and networking among students, early-career researchers, and colleagues from the three graduate schools.
The event was a wonderful opportunity for the KIT community to come together, exchange ideas, and learn from the journey of a distinguished alumna. We look forward to hosting more events that continue to inspire and connect our research community.
Gender & Career Event on 08.11.2023

Gender & Career Event with Prof. Yolita Eggeler and Prof. Jasmin Aghassi on 08.11.2023 open for female scientists after graduation with 56 registered participants:

Presentations were given by Prof. Yolita Eggeler (KIT/Laboratory for Electron Microscopy (LEM)) and by Prof. Jasmin Aghassi (KIT/Institute of Nanotechnology (INT)), about their personal career path to a professorship at KIT. After an extended Q&A, Nicole Merkle, the graduate school manager of HIDSS4Health, gave a presentation on the topic of "Power Abuse in Science", followed by a lively discussion with the participants of the event.

Gender & Career Event on 06.05.2024

Gender & Career Event with Prof. Stefanie Dehnen on 06.05.2024 open for female scientists after graduation:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A presentation was given by Prof. Stefanie Dehnen (KIT/Head of Institute of of Nanotechnology (INT)), about her personal career path including a professorship at Marburg University towards her current position as a head of institute at KIT.

The presentation was followed by an extended Q&A round and some networking among the Doctoral Researchers.

 

Awards and Prices

Student Poster Award at SLAS Europe 2024:

Razan El Khaled El Faraj was awarded the BIF-IGS Travel Award for visiting SLAS Europe 2024 in Barcelona.

There she presented her work with a poster "Miniaturizing Drug-Induced Differential Gene Expression Analysis for Precision Oncology on Droplet Microarray"

- and immediately won a Student Poster Award for it. Congratulations, Dear Razan!