66 biotech companies
Scientific events
Ever since its creation, Genopole® has organized a lively program of scientific and business events for campus players and off-campus partners.
Scientific events
Genopole® Research favors interdisciplinarity and reciprocal knowledge of campus researchers’ work (notably for younger staff) by organizing events, concerted activities, a range of seminars and high-level teaching courses, either on its own initiative or in collaboration with campus labs.
A few examples:
- Regular campus seminars are great opportunities to exchange information, share know-how and forge collaborations between academic labs, technology platform managers and campus companies.
- Genopole® provides support for a range of workshops, such as the fifth International Workshop on Data Integration in the Life Sciences, organized from June 25 to 27, 2008 by the LRI Computing Science Research Laboratory, with additional funding from the University of Evry-Val d’Essonne and the University of Paris Sud 11.
- Certain events are dedicated to young researchers - for example a December 2006 seminar which attracted 273 postdocs, PhD students and student interns and a June 2007 Science Day for campus postdocs.
- One of the most notable high-level courses set up by Genopole® was a November 2007 event focusing on stem cells and their therapeutic applications (with support from Genopole®, AFM, INSERM, I-Stem and UEVE). The week-long course (run in English, limited to 40 participants and delivered by 17 internationally acknowledged specialists) was targeted at postdoc biologists of all nationalities wishing to move into stem cell research or to boost their knowledge in this field. Along with stem cells, the other main themes addressed by Genopole® high-level courses, colloquia and seminars are integrative biology, biomanufacturing and translational research.
The Epigenomics Program
For the last five years, the Epigenomics Program has organized (with help from Genopole®), an annual, week-long training course called “An Advanced Introduction to Post-genomics biology” for non-biologists. The goal is to enable modelers (computer scientists, mathematicians and physicists) to understand the basics of modern biology and thus facilitate interdisciplinary working.
In parallel and again with support Genopole®’s but also assistance from two European networks (Open Network of Centers of Excellence in Complex Systems (ONCE-CS) and General Integration of the Applications of Complexity in Science (GIACS)), the Epigenomics Program organizes a biennial, advanced course on “Networks of Biological Interactions”. The course is set up by an international steering committee which selects the high-level speakers and the attendees (forty or so scientists).
Besides these training courses, the Epigenomics Program also organizes (again with support from Genopole®) various other scientific events:
- Multidisciplinary think-tanks: these bimonthly events were initiated in 2001 in collaboration with the Institut des Hautes Etudes Scientifiques (IHES) and attract about sixty specialists from different disciplines. They inevitably result in fruitful collaborations. Four virtual laboratories were set up in 2001, plus a further six at the beginning of 2006 and there are now over a dozen running.
- “Nirvana” targeted think-tanks are week-long events which seek to sketch out answers to cutting-edge scientific question within the Epigenomics program’s fields of interest.
- The Spring School: this interdisciplinary event (entitled “Modeling Complex Biological Systems in the Context of Genomics”) has been every year since 2002. It is funded by Genopole®, in collaboration with the CNRS and the European Commission as part of ONCE-CS program, and attracts over 80 participants. The School is open to the PhD students, postdocs and faculty researchers and combines tutorials, research presentations, working groups and interactive, image-based seminars. It has become a benchmark for the European modeling community and contributes to a better understanding of the mechanisms underlying biological functions. The 2008 edition is the seventh in a series that started in Autrans in 2002 and continued in Dieppe in 2003, in Evry in 2004, in Montpellier in 2005, in Bordeaux in 2006 and in Evry in 2007. During previous editions of the school, a book of proceedings has been published.
The International Symposia on Biomanufacturing
On October 24 2006, Genopole® organized a symposium on “New Perspectives in GMP biomanufacturing” as a EuroBio 2006 satellite event. This international symposium brought together a large panel of worldwide specialists in biomanufacturing (researchers and businesspeople) in order to review the main innovations in GMP production of therapeutic biomolecules. The success of the event (250 attendees) marked a new step in the industrial development of the Genopole® biopark, which seeks to become a center of excellence for biomanufacturing in France.
A second symposium, (“Productivity and Operational Excellence in Biomanufacturing”) was held on October 6, 2008, as a EuroBio 2008 satellite event. The main theme was: “How can we lower production costs in biomanufacturing?”
www.genopole.fr/bioproduction08/index.htm
The “From Fundamental Research to Clinical Research” Day
From 2003 to 2006, a symposium entitled “From Fundamental Research to Clinical Research” was organized jointly by Genopole® and the South Ile-de-France Medical Center (Centre Hospitalier Sud Francilien, CHSF). It enabled scientists and physicians to discover their respective research programs and identify potential synergies that could lead to tomorrow’s therapeutics. This symposium laid the foundations for the future Clinical and Translational Research Center.
The Genopole® Symposia
On February 4, 2004, and in celebration of its fifth birthday, Genopole® organized a symposium on the current and future medical applications of life science technologies. The event was chaired by Jean Dausset (winner of the 1980 Nobel Prize in Physiology and Medicine) and constituted a comprehensive review of the medical applications of biotechnology and the future of technologies derived from large-scale biology.
For its tenth birthday, Genopole® organized a high-level, international scientific symposium on November 25, 2008. The event addressed a number of questions raised by genetic discoveries over recent years. What is their impact on human healthcare? How can we meet environmental challenges, foster the development of emerging countries and, ultimately, shape our future? The symposium ended with a round table (chaired by Jacques Attali and Marc Vasseur) on the impact of the genomic revolution on the future of humankind and the planet.
Other events
The Genopole® clubs
The Genopole® Clubs were created in 1999 and are coordinated by Genopole® Enterprise in collaboration with a partner from the campus or off-site (France Biotech, Biocitech, the Essonne Chamber of Commerce and Industry, the AFSSAPS, etc.). The events bring together company managers and academic researchers and focus on practical issues chosen according to feedback from campus stakeholders and the latest developments in the life science field.
Most of the “Genopole® Clubs” events feature a testimony or presentations from a campus company but can also showcase businesses from other bioparks (such as Biocitech), leverage important initiatives (such as the France Biotech campaign on France’s research tax credit) or raise awareness of important issues (quality assurance, human resources management, data security, etc.).
Moreover, Genopole® takes part in a number of relevant continuing profession education programs for entrepreneurs and researchers; the Genopole® Enterprise company incubator organizes information and training sessions on all the regulatory aspects of corporate life (labor law, market regulations, competition law, accountancy, etc.).
Events with a business focus
Genopole® also organizes business meetings and events. In 2004, Genopole® celebrated the milestone of its 50th campus company by organizing a debate on November 15, 2004, in collaboration with Essonne County Council, the Essonne Economic Development Agency, Bioteam Paris Region and the Essonne Chamber of Commerce and Industry. The event was based on 3 round tables featuring key French stakeholders in innovation and biotech.
