The 2012 Edition of Webvalley, The Fbk Summer School For The Dissemination Of Research Among Teenagers, Wraps Up

06 July 2012 — 06 July 2012 Fondazione Bruno Kessler

Location: Trentino, Italy

Building a new geo-bioinformatic software able to study cells as if they were geographic data: this was the challenge that 20 Italian and international students faced during the three weeks at the “WebValley” school. During the meeting, after the introductory talks by Cesare Furlanello, Head of the MPBA research unit at FBK (Predictive models for biomedicine and the environment) and organizer of the initiative, by the major of Transacqua, Marino Simoni, and by FBK President Massimo Egidi, the kids will present, in English, the results of the geo-bioinformatic project developed at Transacqua. The goal was to create the prototype of an online collaboration platform for researchers dealing with the exploration of micro- and nanoscale cell images, that would characterize the spatial properties and dynamics of biological data.

Marco Depaoli, vice-president of the Regional Council, Cristiano Trotter, president of the Primiero Valley Community Agency and Andrea Simoni, FBK Secretary General will be attending the event. The work of the students will be evaluated by international expertsthat will either be present in the room or connected via teleconference from Oxford (UK) and Ann Arbor (Michigan -USA).“WebValley” 2012 took place from June 17 to July 7 sorrounded by the Trentino region Dolomites and involved nine female and eleven male teenagers aged 17-18 years old that lived an unique experience, in direct contact with research professionals.Numerous scientists visited the school and worked wirth the students. Among them,Denise Kirschner from the University of Michigan, Russ Butler from the Florida Hospital, Philippe Rocca-Serra from the University of Oxford (UK), Daniel White from Landcare Research (New Zealand), Duccio Cavalieri from the Edmund Mach Foundation, Daniele Arosio from the CNR, Sheref Mansy and Paola Torrefrom the CIBIO, University of Trento. Classes and research activities were held at a computer lab that FBK installed at theIstituto Comprensivo del Primiero, connected via teleconference with international and national centers thanks to the support from Trentino Network. Some of the events had been scheduled for the night: under the stars, Cesare Furlanello gave a lecture on the scientific reproducibility problem, while directorVittorio Ducoli presented the Paneveggio – Pale di San Martino Natural Park.Students experimented with new tablet and internet tv based interfaces and talked about their experiences at the campus through a blog.

The grants offered by the Bruno Kessler Foundation made the participation offive students from the Trentino Region possible. This was the second time that WebValley hosted a number of international students (six from the U.s., one from Ucraine, one from the Check Republic). They were the finalists of the Intel International Science and Engineering Fair (Intel ISEF), the biggest contest worldwide that awards each year in the U.S. the best scientific-technological inventions proposed by students. Other selected participants were two students from the Bolzano Province and five out-of-region students supported by the “National Program for Scientific Area Degrees” (PLS) of the MIUR (Ministry of Education, University and research). The grants covered all costs for lab specialized activities, meals, housing, transportation, sports and recreational activities.

For information: http://webvalley.fbk.eu

Programm:
2012 WEBVALLEY LABORATORY

Transacqua, Via delle Fonti,10

Friday, July 6 2012

Moderators: Cesare Furlanello, Riccardo De Filippi5.30 p.m. Lab open to the public

6.00 p.m. Presentation
• Local organization greetings: Cristiano Trotter (Pres. Primiero Valley Community Agency)• FBK institutional greetings: Massimo Egidi (President FBK)

•Presentation of results: WebValley 2012 Team (45’)

• Questions/Technical comments by expertsDenise Kirschner (Univ. Michigan), Russ Butler (Florida Hospital), Sheref Mansy (CIBIO, Univ. Trento), Florian Seebeck (University of Basel, Switzerland), Gabriele Anzellotti (UniTN and CUN).

7.15 p.m. End of Presentation

7.30 p.m. Refreshments

Partecipants via teleconference: Giulio Maria Busulini, Scientific Affairs Office Italian Embassy Washington DC, Philippe Rocca-Serra (Univ. Oxford and ISA-tab consortium), Paolo Traverso (Director FBK Information Technology center), Simeone Marino (Univ. of Michigan).

Attendees Marco Depaoli (vice-president of the Regional Council), Andrea Simoni (Secretary General, FBK)
In partnership with: ACSM Energia, Trentino Network, Edutech, Istituto Comprensivo Primiero, Fondazione Mach.

http://www.fbk.eu/webvalley_2012_conclusion