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\r\nThe MARVEL Junior Seminar series is continuing in hybrid mode, in order to maintain in-person contacts and allow off-campus attendees to follow the seminars remotely! The MARVEL Junior Seminars aim to intensify interactions between the MARVEL Junior scientists belonging to different research groups. The seminar consists of two 25-minute presentations, followed by time for discussion.
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\r\nZacharie Waysenson
\r\nLaboratoire de Physique de l’École Normale Supérieure, Sorbonne Université
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\r\nMaria Andolfatto
\r\nLaboratory for Materials Simulations, PSI
It is becoming increasingly common to issue forecasts that are probabilistic, in the form of probability distributions over all possible outcomes. To generate good probabilistic forecasts, we must first be able to evaluate how good a forecast is. The evaluation of probabilistic forecasts focuses on two aspects of forecast performance: forecast accuracy and forecast calibration. Forecast accuracy refers to how 'close' the forecast is to the corresponding observation, which can be quantified using proper scoring rules. Forecast calibration considers whether probabilistic forecasts are trustworthy. While most scoring rules and calibration checks treat all possible outcomes equally, some outcomes are often of more interest than others when evaluating forecasts, and one could argue that these outcomes should therefore be emphasised during forecast evaluation. For example, extreme outcomes typically lead to the largest impacts on forecast users, making accurate and calibrated forecasts for these outcomes particularly valuable. In this talk, we discuss methods to focus on particular outcomes when evaluating probabilistic forecasts. We review weighted scoring rules, which allow practitioners to incorporate a weight function into conventional scoring rules when calculating forecast accuracy, and we demonstrate that the theory underlying weighted scoring rules can readily be extended to forecast calibration. Using this, we introduce methods to evaluate the calibration of probabilistic forecasts for extreme events.
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You can apply to participate and find all the relevant information (speakers, abstracts, program,...) on the event website: https://www.cecam.org/workshop-details/challenges-in-modelling-ion-channels-simulations-meet-experiments-1369.
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\r\nRegistration is required to attend the full event, take part in the social activities and present a poster at the poster session (if any). However, the EPFL community is welcome to attend specific lectures without registration if the topic is of interest to their research. Do not hesitate to contact the CECAM Event Manager if you have any question.
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\r\nDescription
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\r\nThe human genome includes more than 300 genes coding for ion channel proteins, representing approximately 2% of the total number of genes. This abundance of ion channels highlights their critical role in numerous biological processes and their involvement in diseases, underscoring their importance as potential drug targets. Ion channels exert their biological roles through three main functional characteristics: the highly efficient selective conduction of ions; the capacity to open and close in response to chemical/physical stimuli (gating); and the decrease in conductance upon sustained stimuli (inactivation). In the last 20 years, the number of experimental atomic structures of ion channels has increased from a few units to hundreds, now including representative structures for most of the ion channel families. Simulations based on these experimental structures have significantly contributed to the current understanding of conduction, selectivity, gating, and inactivation [1-2]. Strengthening the quantitative agreement between simulations and experiments is now essential for advancing in this field. This effort is currently hampered by common issues in biomolecular simulations, such as the limited timescales for observing biologically relevant events and the sub-optimal accuracy of the underlying physical models. Both of these shortcomings are expected to be mitigated by recent methodological developments. For instance, atomic simulations of ion channels with polarizable force fields have been recently reported [3]. Lack of polarization is a well-known limitation of classical force fields, especially when describing ion-protein and ion-water interactions in a crowded environment like the pore cavity. Consequently, the usage of polarizable force fields is considered a promising strategy for improving the agreement with experimental data about ion conduction and selectivity. An alternative strategy for enhancing the model accuracy in critical channel regions is to combine molecular mechanics with quantum approaches. Thanks to the ever-increasing computational resources, now combined with advancements in codes for hybrid QM/MM models, this approach is becoming feasible for ion channel research [4]. Increasing computational resources, coupled with improved algorithms for accelerating rare events and potentially harnessing machine learning, are also opening new possibilities in the study of state transitions. Gating and inactivation events of ion channels are finally becoming accessible to atomic simulations, offering important insights into the mechanistic functioning of this important protein superfamily [5]. The proposed workshop will foster further developments in the field by bringing together leading scientists in the experimental methodologies and computational techniques used in ion channel research in a stimulating and collaborative environment.
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\r\nReferences
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\r\n[1] E. Flood, C. Boiteux, B. Lev, I. Vorobyov, T. Allen, Chem. Rev., 119, 7737-7832 (2019)
\r\n[2] C. Guardiani, F. Cecconi, L. Chiodo, G. Cottone, P. Malgaretti, L. Maragliano, M. Barabash, G. Camisasca, M. Ceccarelli, B. Corry, R. Roth, A. Giacomello, B. Roux, Advances in Physics: X, 7, (2022)
\r\n[3] V. Ngo, H. Li, A. MacKerell, T. Allen, B. Roux, S. Noskov, J. Chem. Theory Comput., 17, 1726-1741 (2021)
\r\n[4] F. Schackert, J. Biedermann, S. Abdolvand, S. Minniberger, C. Song, A. Plested, P. Carloni, H. Sun, J. Chem. Inf. Model., 63, 1293-1300 (2023)
\r\n[5] S. Pérez-Conesa, L. Delemotte, Free energy landscapes of KcsA inactivation, 2023
Join us for the third edition of the Lemanic Life Sciences Hackathon!
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\r\nOrganized by EPFL School of Life Sciences, EPFL AI Center and the University of Bern, we aim to bring together clinicians, life scientists, and data scientists to test ideas, drive innovation, and tackle real-world challenges in healthcare and research.
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\r\nExplore the untapped potential of AI in life sciences and clinical research\r\n
\r\nFrom digital puzzles to space simulations, play has become a major arena for creation, innovation, and reflection. Through a curated selection of video games, history books, essays, and academic research, the Library invites you to discover the many dimensions of games and gaming culture. Borrow the documents and keep the experience going at home!
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\r\nThrough this annual call for projects, CROSS provides competitive grants to support new seed research endeavors that have the potential to grow into full–scale interdisciplinary research projects.
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\r\nThe 2024 CROSS call is open to all topics.
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\r\nPROPOSALS:
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\r\nProposals must come from joint UNIL-EPFL teams, which bring together specialists in the human and social sciences on the one hand, with specialists from life sciences, natural sciences or engineering on the other. Up to six projects will be selected, with a maximum of CHF 60,000 awarded per project.\r\n
A reason for the interest in multiferroics is that magnetic and electric orders do not simply exist side by side, but exhibit \"added value\" in the form of magnetoelectric interactions and functionalities between the ordered states. Likewise, in a ferroic material, regions with different orientation of the order parameter, the domains, do not simply exist side by side, but they exhibit new phases and properties in the domain walls. Because of their discontinuous, confined, and topological nature, domain walls exhibit functional states that are not possible in the bulk. Continuing this line of thought, one should expect domain walls in multiferroics to be a particularly rich source of novel phenomena. Here one must distinguish between (i) \"domain walls in multiferroics\", where only the ferroelectric (or magnetic) order is considered so that little is learned about the multiferroic state, and (ii) \"multiferroic domain walls\" where the ferroic phase coexistence of the wall itself is of interest. The latter are rarely studied, and I will discuss some of their intriguing features in my talk.
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\r\nBio: Professor Manfred Fiebig is known for his work in light-matter interaction in systems with strong electronic correlations. (Multi-) ferroics are of particular interest to him. After obtaining his doctoral degree in physics at the University of Dortmund, he worked at the University of Tokyo, the Max Born Institut Berlin, and the University of Bonn before he was appointed as Professor of Multifunctional Ferroic Materials in the Department of Materials at ETH Zurich in 2011. In 2021 he also became a member of the National Research Council of the Swiss National Science Foundation (SNSF), and he was elected as Corresponding Member of the Academy of Sciences and Literature | Mainz. Most recent distinctions include the 2022 APS Frank Isakson Prize for Optical Effects in Solids as well as the of the Stern Gerlach Medal in 2023, the highest distinction in Experimental Physics of the German Physical Society. He is one of the founders of the ETH Spinoff Company “3Wave Instruments”.
In this seminar, I will discuss our efforts to design conformationally constrained helical macrocyclic peptides and outline the principles that enable effective targeting of protein–protein interactions beyond classical stapled peptides. In the second part, I will show how a subtle isosteric backbone modification—thioamidation—can be used to impart oral bioavailability to bioactive macrocyclic peptides. I will further illustrate how conformational restriction enhances membrane permeability and highlight the critical role of metabolic stability in achieving oral bioavailability.
","image_description":"Prof. Jayanta Chatterjee","creation_date":"2026-03-30T19:14:23","last_modification_date":"2026-03-30T19:24:00","link_label":"Publications Prof. Jayanta Chatterjee","link_url":"https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=r0aQPNIAAAAJ&hl=en","canceled":"False","cancel_reason":"","place_and_room":"BCH 3118","url_place_and_room":"https://plan.epfl.ch/?room==BCH%203118","url_online_room":"","spoken_languages":["https://memento.epfl.ch/api/v1/spoken_languages/2/?format=json"],"speaker":"Prof. Jayanta Chatterjee, Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore, India","organizer":"C. Heinis","contact":"C. Heinis","is_internal":"False","theme":"","vulgarization":{"id":2,"fr_label":"Public averti","en_label":"Informed public"},"registration":{"id":3,"fr_label":"Entrée libre","en_label":"Free"},"keywords":"cbseminar","file":null,"icalendar_url":"https://memento.epfl.ch/event/export/120241/","category":{"id":1,"code":"CONF","fr_label":"Conférences - Séminaires","en_label":"Conferences - Seminars","activated":true},"academic_calendar_category":null,"domains":[],"mementos":["https://memento.epfl.ch/api/v1/mementos/9/?format=json","https://memento.epfl.ch/api/v1/mementos/5/?format=json","https://memento.epfl.ch/api/v1/mementos/14/?format=json"]}]}