The was the second joint Birzeit-EMBO YIP workshop, following a first molecular biology workshop held in 2010. The meeting was co-sponsored by Birzeit University and UCL’s Global Engagement fund. It was aimed to bring together a diverse group of international scientists with undergraduate students from Birzeit University and other Universities in Palestine to engage in scientific discussions and exchange. The scientific program was divided into four sessions, with talks by international speakers and local faculty, and a poster session where students presented their work. The opportunities for experimental research are rather limited in Palestine due to the lack of funding and infrastructure and many local projects rely on theoretical work. Thus, the idea was to focus on the physics of living systems, which involves both theory and experiment. The ultimate goal was to inspire participating undergraduate students to extend their scientific education bridging theory and experiments in Palestine and abroad.
EMBO sponsors two summer fellowships for Palestinian students who wish to carry out a project in an EMBO YIP lab in 2019 or 2020.