Efi Karakitsou
This semester I attended a Workshop on Computational Systems Biology, organized by my supervisor Prof. Marta Cascante and held at the University of Barcelona. More specifically, for a period of one month (24/4-23/5) two sessions were held every week and a broad spectrum of subjects related to Computational Biology were covered. Firstly, basic concepts and the mathematical description of enzyme kinetics, biochemical networks and gene regulation and expression were taught. Great emphasis was given to understanding the levels of organization, as well as the different types of dynamical behavior found in biological networks. After the mathematical grounds were set, several problems were solved both analytically and computationally. So, useful computational tools widely employed in the field of System Biology were explored. Using Copasi, OptFlux and programming in R were some of the skills taught during this workshop. Finally, it was very enriching attending lectures from visiting professors that are experts in their fields and then have the opportunity to discuss the latest developments in their research.