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701-1676-01L 2 Credits DR , MSC D-USYS

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Genomics of Environmental Adaptation

Lecturers & Examiners: Prof. Dr. Rolf Holderegger, Dr. Felix Gugerli, Dr. Christian Rellstab

Number of participants limited to 14. Waiting list will be deleted January 20th, 2022. Prerequisites: good knowledge in population genetics and some experience in using GIS and R is required.

VVZ CR n/a

Last Updated: 2026-02-05 15:47:14

Abstract

This five-day winter school aims at teaching advanced Master students, PhD students and post-doctoral researchers on aspects of the genomics of environmental adaptation. It provides both theoretical background and hands-on exercises on major topics of contemporary environmental genomics such as signatures of selection, outlier analysis or environmental association analysis.

Objective

Genomics of environmental adaptation is an evolving scientific field of both basic and applied interest. Researchers make increasing use of diverse methodological approaches built on concepts from ecology, evolutionary biology and population genomics. This winter school introduces students to some major concepts and methods of environmental genomics, i.e., (i) how the environment and adaptive genetic variation relate and (ii) how signatures of genomic adaptation can be detected in natural populations. The winter school focuses on currently used methods and hands-on exercises, emphasizing an understanding of the underlying concepts and a discussion of benefits, limitations and pitfalls of environmental genomics. It is specifically aimed at the needs of advanced Master students, PhD students and early post-doctoral researchers.

Content

Topics: (1) How selection, drift, gene flow and isolation interact, affect neutral and adaptive genetic variation and influence the genetic structure of populations; genomic markers and next generation sequencing techniques. (2) Outlier analysis: concept and methodology of outlier analysis; diverse types of outlier analyses (3) Environmental data: which environmental data are available and used to identify signatures of adaptation; what are their limitations; collinearity. (4) Environmental association analysis (landscape genomics): concept and types of environmental association analysis; genomic offset. (5) Genotypes and phenotypes: GWAS; follow-up analyses

Resources

Lecture Notes

Hand-outs will be distributed.

Literature

The course requires 4 hours of preparatory reading of selected papers on the genomics of environmental adaptation. The papers will be distributed by e-mail.

General Information

Language: English
Levels: DR , MSC
Frequency: Yearly recurring

Examination

Type: graded semester performance

Full presence in the course is mandatory; grading will be according to a written report (6-8 pages) on one of the topics of the course (workload: about 8 hours) and according to student contributions during the course.

Registration & Places

Max Places: 14

Course Components

Type	Title	Time & Place	Hours
lecture with exercise	Genomics of Environmental Adaptation The lecturers will communicate the exact lesson times of ONLINE courses.	07.02. - 11.02 Date 09:00-17:00 (ON LI NE)	40 h semesterly