EMBO Lab Leadership trainers come from many different backgrounds, and all have been working directly and extensively with leaders in the life sciences for many years. The training team includes scientists, organisational development experts, human resources professionals, MBA graduates, mathematicians, professional coaches, scientists from industry, and others with significant and relevant experience to supporting leaders in the life sciences to improve their leadership and develop their teams and strategies.

Two trainers deliver the workshops and work to balance their expertise and diversity to ensure that you receive the widest range of expertise, experience and insight possible from your training team.

The course is a conversation between you, the other participants, and the trainers, to explore and cultivate your leadership skills. The course relies on your critical thinking, intelligence, and personal experience to work with the tools and models offered to develop your own leadership approach. To facilitate the spirit of discussion and exploration, the trainers deliver the content with contributions from participants captured directly and integrated into the course. The course involves learning about models and tools from psychology, human behavioural science, and business, and a lot of small group work to explore ideas and practice with each other. The emphasis on discussion and interaction also makes the course a great opportunity to network with peers and share the joys and frustrations of being a leader in research.

Additional details about these and other workshops are also available on the EMBO Lab Leadership website.

For more information click here

Translational Frontiers in Discovery, Diagnostics and Therapeutics is an international forum dedicated to advancing the integrated understanding of human, animal, and environmental health. Rooted in the One Health paradigm, the conference will bring together leading researchers, clinicians, policymakers, and industry experts to explore cutting-edge developments across the full spectrum of health sciences.

The meeting will highlight interdisciplinary approaches spanning fundamental biology, disease mechanisms, emerging and re-emerging infections, and innovations in diagnostics and therapeutics. Emphasis will be given on translational research, bridging laboratory discoveries with clinical and public health applications, to accelerate the development of effective interventions and healthcare solutions.

The 49th All India Cell Biology Conference and Symposium is the annual meeting of the Indian Society of Cell Biology, co-hosted this year by IISER Pune and BRIC-NCCS Pune, 9–12 December 2026.

With a theme centred on “Architecture of Life”, the conference explores how cellular life is organised across space and time — from molecules and biomolecular condensates to organelles, cells, tissues, and the dynamics of development and ageing. It asks a single question across every scale: what design principles keep a living system organised, robust, and alive?

The programme is organised around broad areas of cell biology — Organelles and Trafficking, Host–Pathogen Interactions, The Nucleus, The Cytoskeleton, and Lipids and Metabolism — together with named endowment lectures, special seminars, and short talks by students and post-docs. It opens with pre-conference workshops at both host institutes on 9 December and closes at BRIC-NCCS Pune on 12 December.

Sathyabama Institute of Science and Technology is organising a short course on “Zebrafish Animal Model in Biomedical Research: In vivo and Molecular Approaches” from 23rd to 26th September 2026.

11th International Cell & Gene Therapy Conference (CGTCON 2026) aims to bring students, research scholars, postdoctoral fellows, scientist, clinicians, academicians, industry and regulatory experts together to exchange insights on recent advancements, translational challenges from bench to bedside, and future directions in cell and gene therapies for currently incurable diseases.

EMBO and IndiaBioscience are jointly responsible for processing the personal data collected through this application form for the purposes of reviewing applications, selecting participants, and administering and organising the course.

This series of four curated courses is designed to help the life science community in India build essential research and career skills, covering fellowship writing, scientific writing and presentation, manuscript writing and peer review, and a dedicated course for group leaders.

This year, based on the need of training and mentorship in the early years of building a lab, in addition to the in-person lab leadership courses, EMBO also accepted IBS’s request to have an online course.

The Starting Your Own Lab course will be held from 28–30 October 2026 targeted at junior group leaders. The course is split into three afternoons.

Day 1 & 2 from and Day 3 from 12:30 - 16:30 (IST).

Having navigated a PhD and a postdoc, junior group leaders face a new and exciting challenge: setting up their own laboratory and leading a team. The move from bench to PI's desk is a steep learning curve and one that most of us are rarely prepared for. This course is designed to help. Over two interactive days, participants will be introduced to the key concepts and practicalities of establishing their first laboratory, from allocating resources effectively to managing people and building a team culture. Sessions will combine discussion with hands-on practice.

The course has been curated by Leadership sculptor with Petra Pandur, PhD, and David Lescheid, PhD, as trainers.

The FABA–Shantha Excellence Awards recognise promising young scientists and doctoral researchers whose work is making a meaningful impact in biotechnology.

• Young Scientist Award: ₹5 Lakhs – for innovators under 40 with breakthrough commercial or policy impact
• Doctoral Award – Male: ₹1 Lakh
• Doctoral Award – Female: ₹1 Lakh
• Open to young scientists and doctoral scholars from academia and industry
• No application fee – Free to apply

Awards will be presented at the MCADDI 2026 Conference in Hyderabad.

As this is an award initiative intended to recognise and support young scientists and doctoral researchers, we would be grateful if IndiaBioscience could consider publishing the FABA- Shantha Excellence Awards announcement as a complimentary/free listing. 

AABC 2026 is an international platform jointly organised by FABA and the Arab Society for Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology (ASGEB), bringing together researchers, industry leaders, startups, policymakers, and young scientists from Asia and the Arab region.

The Congress will feature:

1. Keynote and plenary lectures
2. Parallel thematic sessions and panel discussions
3. Poster Presentations
4. Short Oral / Flash Presentations for young scientists
5. Oral Presentations
6. Biotechnology Startup & Industry Showcase
7. Industry matchmaking and networking
8. Genome Valley visit

Thematic areas include genome editing and CRISPR, AI-driven biotechnology, drug discovery and development, precision medicine, cell and gene therapy, agricultural biotechnology, and industrial and environmental biotechnology.

Selected papers presented at the Congress will also be considered for fast-track publication in a Special Issue of the Journal of Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology (Elsevier), subject to peer review.

BIOSPAN 2026: 3-day national symposium spanning diverse fields of Biological Sciences

BIOSPAN 2026 is a three-day national scientific meeting aimed at fostering scientific interactions among researchers working across diverse and interdisciplinary areas of biological sciences, including neurobiology, immunology, genomics and genetics, ageing biology, and biomaterials. The meeting aims to bring senior researchers, young investigators, and students from across the country onto a common academic platform. This meeting will help facilitate knowledge exchange and help the scientific community stay updated of emerging developments, techniques, and current trends in biological sciences. The meeting is supported by ANRF and will feature thematic sessions, invited lectures by senior researchers, oral and poster presentations by students and young investigators, and discussions on recent advances in the field.

The meeting will be held from 24–26 September 2026 at IIT Bhilai. Registrations are currently open and the abstracts can be submitted for oral and poster presentations under the following themes - (a) Genetics and Genomics; (b) Neurobiology and Ageing, (c) Immunology and Metabolic Disorders, and (d) Advances in Biological Sciences.

Ashoka Quantitative Microscopy Course (AQMC) is a one week intensive training program in light microscopy and bioimaging, designed for master’s, PhD scholars, postdoctoral researchers, staff scientists, and principal investigators, intended to equip participants with the skills to design, perform, and interpret quantitative microscopy experiments, moving beyond instrument operation toward rigorous and reproducible imaging-based research.

Ashoka Quantitative Microscopy Course (AQMC) 2027, a one-week intensive training programme in light microscopy and bioimaging, from 10–16 January 2027 at the Sonipat campus. Supported by ZEISS, the course is designed for master's students, PhD scholars, postdoctoral researchers, staff scientists, and principal investigators, and aims to equip participants with the skills to design, perform, and interpret quantitative microscopy experiments — moving beyond basic instrument operation toward rigorous, reproducible imaging-based research.

The curriculum spans three core tracks. Microscopy covers optics fundamentals, fluorescent molecules, brightfield, widefield, confocal, TIRF, light-sheet, two-photon, and multispectral imaging, along with super-resolution techniques (SIM, Airyscan, STED, SMLM) and advanced live-cell imaging methods (FRET, FRAP, FLIP, photoactivation). Image Processing includes digital image fundamentals, Fourier transformation, object segmentation, and machine learning. Quantitative Analysis covers colocalization, ratiometric imaging, phasor analysis, intensity measurements, morphometric analysis, and motion tracking.

Teaching faculty are drawn primarily from Janelia Research Campus (HHMI, Virginia) — Dr. Teng-Leong Chew, Dr. Hari Shroff, Dr. Jesse Aaron, Dr. Harikrushnan Balasubramanian, and Dr. Owen Puls — along with Dr. Michelle Itano from UNC Chapel Hill.

Biomedical optics has become one of the most inevitable field in the recent research in clinical diagnosis and treatment. In this course, we will learn about the fundamentals of biomedical optics, starting from how the photon interacts with a single atom, to a diatomic species, and then with polyatomic species such as haemoglobin. You will learn the basics of spectroscopy and different imaging modalities such as fluorescence, UV-Vis-NIR, diffuse optics, polarization, Speckle contrast, and multimodal imaging. You will also learn about fundamental and advances in the field of optical biosensors and various plasmonic resonances. IIITDM Kancheepuram will also discuss the principles and details along with demonstration of various microscopic imaging such as brightfield, phase contrast, fluorescence and polarization-based microscopy.

IIITDM Kancheepuram is an Institute of National Importance established by the Ministry of Education, Government of India to pursue design and manufacturing-oriented engineering education and research and to promote the competitive advantage of Indian products in global markets. The Institute offers B Tech, M Tech and M Des programmes and PhD programmes in Computer Science and Engineering, Electronics and Communication Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, Interdisciplinary Product Design, Mathematics, Physics and English.

This is an intensive 4-day school on the following thrust areas: 

1. Biophotonics and Sensing: Fundamentals, radiative transfer functions, monte-carlo techniques, and tissue polarimetric, and optical fiber sensing techniques. Fundamental of Optical Biosensor: Plasmonics, Raman scattering, Plasmonics, SPR, LSPR, SPP, Raman spectroscopy, SERS, SORS. Introduction to Artificial Intelligence (AI) in Medical Imaging. 

2. Spectroscopy Methods in Life Science: Basics of spectroscopy methods, Vis-NIR-MIR spectroscopy, Raman spectroscopy, and Fluorescence spectroscopy. 

3. Tissue Imaging and Image Processing: Diffuse Optical Imaging, Laser Speckle Imaging, Fluorescence, Optical Coherence Tomography, Photoacoustic Imaging, Medical Image Processing, key feature extraction. The fundamental of biostatistics for clinical diagnosis will also be discussed in this day. 

4. Microscopic Imaging: Principles of microscopic imaging, polarization-based microscopy, Phase contrast and Fluorescence microscopy, and nanoscopy.

BRIC–National Institute of Animal Biotechnology (BRIC-NIAB), Hyderabad, will be hosting the Frontiers in Animal Biotechnology (FiAB 2026) conference.

FiAB is envisioned as BRIC-NIAB's premier annual flagship conference. Please check out for more details at https://fiab.niab.org.in/. 

The conference will provide an international platform for scientists, researchers, clinicians, industry experts, and innovators to discuss recent advances, emerging challenges, and future opportunities in animal biotechnology. The scientific programme will cover livestock health, genomics, transgenics, reproductive biotechnology, precision livestock farming, and One Health.

The inaugural edition, FiAB 2026, is dedicated to the theme, 'Mastitis – Diagnosis, Therapy and Beyond', and will be held from 3 – 6 November 2026 at the BRIC-NIAB campus, Hyderabad, India. 

The meeting will focus on one of the most important diseases affecting dairy animals worldwide. It will cover the complete spectrum of mastitis research—from early diagnosis and advanced therapeutics to novel preventive and alternative intervention strategies—while promoting translational research to improve animal health and dairy productivity.