KNVM

On October 5th, 2023 we will hold the NAVE workshop in Amsterdam (UVA). The topic of our workshop this year is “Using models in virus ecology”.

The morning will include a number of talks related to this topic: talks on their research by Dr. Matti Gralka (Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam) and Rafael de Andrés Toran (Universidad Politécnica de Madrid), and a primer on using models by myself (Mark Zwart. NIOO-KNAW). In the afternoon, we will have a very interactive program in which we discuss and work together on tihs topic. A more detailed description of the workshop is provided below. The most important thing is that we aim to keep the discussions very accessible, so if you have no experience with modeling this is a great opportunity to get started with thinking about this topic!

You can register for the day here: https://forms.gle/JgEXFsBuzrm6LGPt7 If you register before September 16th, we can arrange a free lunch for you. A final program will be mailed to participants, but we will start with coffee at 09:30 and talks at 10:00.

Kind regards,
Mark and Corina

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NAVE Workshop

Modeling has become an essential tool in ecology and evolution. We can use a wide range of modeling approaches for many purposes including developing new ideas, testing theory, making predictions, and more. When studying viruses, their microscopic nature limits our opportunities for observation and, despite being relatively simple life forms, viruses often have complex interactions with their hosts and environment. As models can be extremely helpful when trying to understand complex systems with only limited data available, so they have a lot of offer the virus ecologist! In this year’s NAVE workshop, we will be looking at how we can better make use of modeling in our field.

Although modeling is very cool, it often makes us scientists feel uneasy. Our goal is to keep the discussion accessible for everyone! We will give an entry-level workshop that assumes no previous exposure to modeling and asks some simple questions:

1.            What kind of things can we do with modeling as virus ecologists?

2.            What modeling approaches are available?

3.            What can modeling do for my research?

4.            How do I get started with modeling?

In our workshop, we will have a general introduction to models in virus ecology and three short talks by researchers about how they use models in their work. We will also work in small groups in which we consider how models can be applied to your own work. There is no obligation, but we encourage all participants to share a challenge they are facing and get feedback from others on how to tackle this with models.