Accelerate your genomics career with Wellcome Connecting Science in 2024 

There has never been a better time to start your learning and training journey in genomics with Wellcome Connecting Science; our 2024 programme is ready and we have a stellar line-up of events to support your career – whether you are focused on discovery research, clinical research, healthcare practice, or all these things.

From microbiology, pathogen surveillance, and mitochondrial medicine to gene editing, cancer ecology, and the biomolecules of ancient organisms, these are just a few of the many topics to be covered by our 2024 conferences programme. All our meetings will introduce you to new and innovative research to inform your own project(s), and provide you with opportunity to present your research, and gain feedback from experts in the field.

Join globally leading scientists for networking, knowledge exchange, and collaboration, to strengthen your understanding of the genomics tools and approaches shaping the future for further ground-breaking research and practice, in your area of interest.

If you are in need of hands-on training in the technical aspects of genomics applications, our courses – whether held inside or outside the UK – will enable you to master the newest laboratory and computational approaches, and open access software tools, through real-world scenarios and case studies. Practical training in areas such as the application of genomics in clinical microbiology or a clinical virology context will all be covered by our 2024 course offer.

All our events foster communities of practice, which you automatically become a part of as a participant at one of our courses or conferences. These communities are home to like-minded peers, with whom you can continue the dialogue after the training has ended. At Connecting Science we are not simply focused on the event, instead we nurture learning environments that provide sustained mentorship and knowledge exchange.

In February, we are delighted to welcome back the microbiology community to our Hinxton Hall Conference Centre, for the twelfth Microbiome Interactions in Health and Disease meeting. Building on community discussion from previous meetings, our 2024 event will delve deeper into microbiota ecology, and the mechanisms by which microbiomes and their metabolites influence the immune system, and development and function of different organs.

March sees the return of our premiere conference exploring how genomics data can be used to tackle antimicrobial resistance on a global scale.

A particular highlight for 2024, is our immensely popular Single Cell Biology conference, which celebrates this interdisciplinary field with contributions from scientists working across cancer research, developmental genetics, immunology, and computational biology.

For our healthcare educator community, we will be running another ‘How to Teach Genomics’ workshop, focusing on best practice pedagogical approaches for those involved in teaching our future nursing and midwifery workforce, in the UK.

There will be another opportunity for scientists interested in interrogating aspects of chromatin biology at the gene and genome-wide levels, to develop experimental skills to apply novel laboratory and computational approaches to their work. As we continue to build strength in this emerging field, our expert instructors will lead Low Input Epigenomics course participants through intense wet-lab and bioinformatics training, using methods that require fewer than 1000 cells input.

Building on the success of our first Polygenic Risk Scores Analysis course (July 2023), held in Uganda, we will return to Africa in 2024, to build capacity among another cohort of scientists, in data generation and analysis for African populations.

For scientists based in Latin America and the Caribbean, there will be another chance to apply for our immensely successful Single Cell Genomics course. In 2023, we had the enormous pleasure of running this training – a first in this format – in Brazil, alongside passionate instructors from the Colombian Institute of Tropical Medicine (ICMT), Unicamp, Brazil, National Institute of Cancer (INCA), Brazil, Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile, Chile, Wellcome Sanger Institute, UK, Earlham Institute, UK, and many others.

Exploring everything from designing single cell experiments to spatial transciptomics, this course provided a comprehensive learning experience, fostering networking among participants to strengthen the single cell community in Latin America.

Find out more about the 2023 experience here.

We will continue to work with our trusted partners, worldwide, to deliver our learning and training events. In Africa, this includes the Pan African Bioinformatics Network for H3Africa; the African Centre of Excellence in Bioinformatics (ACE), based on the Makerere University Campus; and the Kenya Medical Research Institute (KEMRI). Across Latin America, we will nurture our relationships with the  Instituto Nacional de Câncer (INCA), in Brazil; the Institute of Hygiene, in Uruguay; and the Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile. In Asia, we will join forces again with Monash University Malaysia; both the Mahidol and Khon Kaen Universities, in Thailand, and the Oxford University Clinical Research Unit (OUCRU), in Vietnam.

Drawing on the expertise of our colleagues at the Wellcome Sanger Institute, many of our 2024 events will feature contributions from Sanger scientists.

Whilst the science continues to drive our programme, at the heart of all our activities is the commitment to removing barriers to participation for all scientists engaged in our activities. Some of the ways we do this includes, actively increasing the visibility of women in science, and placing a spotlight on the best practice approaches, as well as the significant scientific achievements, emerging from countries in Latin America, Africa, and Asia. This helps to encourage collaboration, inspire innovation, and promote a richer, more inclusive understanding of global scientific efforts.

All our events are underpinned by our bursary scheme and carer’s grant policy – supporting everyone to be in the room, whatever your circumstances and wherever you are based in the world.

Sign up to our LinkedIn newsletter ‘Beyond the Science’ to discover more exciting news and opportunities from our programme.

You can read about our career impacts on our blog page.

View our individual event pages for full details on opportunities to present your research, gain new technical skills, or meet connections valuable for future research collaborations.