Seminars

UNIVERSITY OF CYPRUS

DEPARTMENT OF BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES

Dr Dora C. Stylianou

Postgraduate Seminars Coordinator

Email: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it., Tel: 22 892736, Fax: 22 895095, Address: P.O.Box. 20537, 1678 Nicosia, Cyprus

Please note that all seminars will be hosted via the Zoom platform which you have to download in advance and sign in using your UCY account by clicking the "sign in with SSO" button and then by typing "ucy.zoom.us" as your company domain.

You should then be redirected to the UCY login website where you should use your University credentials to login.

All seminars require registration in advance. Students who are registered in BIO 800-803 Postgraduate Seminars I-IV must follow specific registration steps when registering and when joining each seminar to ensure their attendance is recorded by Zoom. Please click here to view the registration guide.

Guests can register for a seminar using any account but UCY is prefered should they have one.

All registration links will be posted under the Ανακοίνωση/Announcement cell of each seminar on the table below.

After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the meeting.

ΒΙΟ 800-803 Μεταπτυχιακά Σεμινάρια/Postgraduate Seminars I-IV Πρόγραμμα Εαρινού Εξαμήνου/Spring Semester Programme 2020/2021 Τα Μεταπτυχιακά σεμινάρια διεξάγονται κάθε Τετάρτη, στις 17:00 διαδικτυακά μέσω της πλατφόρμας Zoom. The Postgraduate Seminars will be held every Wednesday at 17:00 online via the Zoom platform.
Ημερομηνία / Date	Ομιλητής / Speaker	Θέμα / Topic	Υπεύθυνος Καθηγητής / UCY Faculty	Ανακοίνωση/ Announcement
20/01/2021	---	Δεν θα διεξαχθεί Σεμινάριο/No Seminar	---	---
27/01/2021	Dr. Dora C. Stylianou Department of Biological Sciences University of Cyprus	How to Write a Scientific Review Paper	Pantelis Georgiades	Click here to Register in advance for this Seminar
03/02/2021	Dr. Dora C. Stylianou Department of Biological Sciences University of Cyprus	Scientific Poster Design and Format	Pantelis Georgiades	Click here to Register in advance for this Seminar
10/02/2021	Dr. David Cramb Dean of Faculty of Science Ryerson University, Toronto, Canada	Nanoparticles for medicine: How nanoparticles and blood proteins interact	Dr. Yiota Gregoriou Department of Biological Sciences & Lecturer Chrysafis Andreou Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering (For justified absences from BIO 800-803 for this seminar, please email your requests to the Coordinator of the Postgraduate Studes Committee Assist Prof. Chrysoula Pitsouli)	Click here to Register in advance for this Seminar
17/02/2021	Nikolaos Dimitriou, Ph.D. Student Department of Bioengineering, McGill University	Quantifying the biophysical mechanisms and geometric patterns of cancer progression: An integrated experimental and mathematical modelling approach	Katerina Starti	Click here to Register in advance for this Seminar
24/02/2021 This seminar starts as 16:00 (outside regular class hours)	Dr. Mihalis Verykokakis, PhD SNF Investigator BSRC "Alexander Fleming"	Understanding the function of the transcription factor BCL6 in innate T cell development	Vasilis Promponas	Click here to Register in advance for this Seminar
03/03/2021	Dr. Christos Arvanitidis, Ph.D. LifeWatch ERIC CEO, Seville, SpainResearch Director IMBBC, HCMR	LifeWatch ERIC: mission, recent developments and what is offered to the community for the study of climate change impacts on biodiversity and ecosystems research	Vasilis Promponas	Click here to Register in advance for this Seminar
10/03/2021	----	Δεν θα διεξαχθεί Σεμινάριο/No Seminar	----
17/03/2021	Assist Prof. George Souroullas Department of Medicine, Oncology Division Washington University, St. Louis, MO, USA	Understanding the role of EZH2 mutations on chromatin dynamics and oncogenesis	Katerina Strati	Click here to Register in advance for this Seminar
24/03/2021	Dr. Styliani Michael, Ph.D. Postdoctoral Researcher Tumor Viruses and Cancer Laboratory, University of Cyprus	Investigating the interplay between HPV16 and cellular stemness	Katerina Strati	Click here to Register in advance for this Seminar
31/03/2021	Dr. Nikos Psonis Post-doctoral researcher, Ancient DNA Lab, IMBB-ITE, Irakleion, Greece	Ancient DNA analysis and applications	Spyros Sfendourakis	Click here to Register in advance for this Seminar
07/04/2021	----	Δεν θα διεξαχθεί Σεμινάριο/No Seminar	----	---
14/04/2021	Dr. Georgios Tsiaoussis, MD, MSc, PhD, FESBGH Gastroenterologist, Nicosia General Hospital, Cyprus	Molecular genetics of colorectal cancer	Yiorgos Apidianakis	Click here to Register in advance for this Seminar

Students who register for ΒΙΟ 800-803 Postgraduate Seminars I-IV are required to attend all seminars. Attendance will be recorded on signup sheets. Students will receive a passing grade provided they attend all seminars or do not have any unjustified absences (103rd Departmental Council meeting, April 20, 2016).

Justified absence from a seminar can be requested via email from the Departmental faculty member who is in charge of a particular seminar, cced the course coordinator (Dr. Dora C. Stylianou, at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.).

The course coordinator will assign a justified absence upon the written email approval sent by the faculty member.

Justified absence can also be assigned by a student thesis advisor by notifying Dr. Stylianou, provided that the student will be absent from a particular seminar for work related to the student’s thesis project.

Student requests that are not justified by a faculty member as indicated above, will be dismissed.

POSTGRADUATE STUDIES	RESEARCH	RESEARCH
STUDENT ACHIEVEMENTS	DEPARTMENT ACHIEVEMENTS	DEPARTMENT ACHIEVEMENTS

NEWSFEED (Click to expand)

Chairperson's Welcome Message
On behalf of the faculty and administration staff, I'd like to welcome you to the Department of Biological Sciences of the University of Cyprus.
Biology lies at the frontline of science...more

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Please visit the departments' supplementary website

TEACHING ASSISTANT POSITIONS FOR Ph.D. STUDENTS FALL SEMESTER 2021/2022 (01/09/2021 – 31/01/2022)

The Department of Biological Sciences accepts applications for Teaching Assistant positions in undergraduate courses for Fall Semester 2021/2022. The call is open to Ph.D. students only.
Interested applicants must submit their application online through the following link: https://applications.ucy.ac.cy/recruitment
Application dates:21/06/2021 - 02/07/2021

A new study from the Drosophila Development and Homeostasis Lab

The study was published in Nature Cell Biology and highlights the role of oxygen-transporting tracheae in intestinal stem cell regeneration and tumors.

Read the full article here: https://rdcu.be/ckBWe
and in the journal website: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41556-021-00674-1

Student Presentations for the Spring Semester of 2020-21.

Please see the Presentation announcements for the current Semester

Link : Onedrive

16th Educational Scientific Conference of the Association of Biologists OELMEK

The Association of Biologists OELMEK organizes on 17/4/2021, at 16.30, the 16th Scientific Training Conference, which is organized online this year, with the theme: "The cell reveals the secrets of life".
The Conference is under the auspices of the Ministry of Education and Science and is held in collaboration with the Department of Biological Sciences of the University of Cyprus and the Biology/Physiognomy Inspectorate.

Watch live from YouTube:
https://youtu.be/17uf0aApcDY

Watch live from Facebook:
https://fb.me/e/44WilEKd6

New Website of the Cell and Developmental Biology Laboratory

Visit the new website of the Cell and Developmental Biology Laboratory at: http://skourideslab.com/

CALL FOR EXPRESSION OF INTEREST FOR VISITING ACADEMIC STAFF

The Department of Biological Sciences is inviting applications for the position of Visiting Academic Staff at the rank of Assistant Professor, in the field of Biodiversity and Ecology for the Fall semester 2021-22 (1st September 2021 - 31st December 2021). The final offer of the position depends on availability of University funds.

More Info: Click here

An investigation of the effects of tape lures used in bird trapping.

A study from the Behavioural Ecology and Evolution lab investigated the effects of tape lures used in bird trapping. They show with the use of playback experiments that the number of target species caught in mist nets sky rockets when playbacks are in use (e.g. 14 times more blackcaps with playbacks in autumn, when migration is in full flow). However, contrary to popular belief, they also significantly increase bycatch and the number of species trapped, many of which are listed as conservation priority species. With capture rates being an order of magnitude higher when using tape lures, this is no longer a conflict between communities supporting traditions and conservationists. This is an industrial scale operation using non-traditional broadcasting apparatus that local communities need to be informed about and policy makers need to act on accordingly. The study was published in Biology Letters.

Link: https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/10.1098/rsbl.2020.0458

A gene on chromosome 8 mediates carotenoid-based feather colour across a natural hybrid zone.

Researchers from the Behavioural Ecology and Evolution lab have identified the genetic region underpinning differences between red and yellow feathers in birds across a hybrid zone in Southern Africa. A genome wide association study performed in collaboration with researchers from the University of California found SNPs associated with CYP2J19, the gene identified as the ketolase that catalyses the conversion of dietary yellow carotenoids to red ketocarotenoids in birds with red feathers. Raman spectroscopy, performed in collaboration with the Hayes lab in the Department of Chemistry at UCY, confirmed the presence of different carotenoids in red and yellow feathers. Asymmetric introgression suggests a female preference for males with red feathers over males with yellow feathers, consistent with the hypothesis that converted carotenoids are an honest signal of quality. The study was published in Molecular Ecology.

Link: https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/mec.15691

Researchers from the Cell and Developmental Biology lab developed a new strategy to to target cancer progression and metastasis.

The study was published in the journal Cell Communication and Signaling:
https://biosignaling.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s12964-020-00671-1?fbclid=IwAR1mg0IOPyPIZngJMgDzm0N4qEnRZZaDcvyR4fhQTrM1in6oUhkm3Yf5z_Y#Sec33

New website of the Epigenetics and Gene regulation Laboratory

Visit the new website of the Epigenetics and Gene regulation Laboratory at: https://www.kirmizislab.com/

Brand-new website of the Molecular Biology and Biochemistry Laboratory

Visit the brand-new website of the Molecular Biology and Biochemistry Laboratory www.mbblab.net and our accounts on Twitter (@LabSantama) and Instagram (mbblabucy)!

The role of ecological specialization in shaping patterns of insular communities.

The recently published work of the Ecology and Biodiversity Lab and colleagues from abroad, proposes a new index for the study of how biotic communities are shaped. Until now, research on the response of species richness to area and environmental heterogeneity had not addressed possible effects of species’ differences in ecological specialization. In this work Herein the new metric, ‘ecorichness’, is introduced, that combines species richness and the position of each species in the specialists-generalists spectrum. As a case study, a data set with terrestrial isopods from 43 Aegean islands and the habitats they exploit was used. The response of ‘ecorichness’ to area, habitat diversity and the K-parameter of the Choros model, as well as its relation to the ‘Small Island Effect’ (SIE) was evaluated. The best model describing ‘ecorichness’ response to area and habitat heterogeneity was found to be a quadratic one, with peaks located at an area similar to the SIE threshold. The response of ‘ecorichness’ to area was found to be shaped mainly by the increasing contribution of specialists in the assemblages of islands larger than the SIE threshold. Overall, ‘ecorichness’ will facilitate exploration of the role of ecological specialization in the shaping of biotic communities and is expected to become an important tool for the study of the patterns they exhibit.

Link to paper: https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/jbi.14012

A new study from the Epigenetics and Gene Regulation Lab uncovers the widespread association of protein N-terminal acetyltransferases in cancer.

A multi-omics data analysis demonstrates that protein N-terminal acetyltransferases (NATs) are commonly misregulated in different types of cancer implicating them in carcinogenesis.
The study titled 'N-Terminal Acetyltransferases Are Cancer-Essential Genes Prevalently Upregulated in Tumours' is reported in the journal Cancers (Basel).

Link to paper : https://doi.org/10.3390/cancers12092631

Researchers in the Skourides Lab secured a grant from Cyprus Seeds

Researchers in the Skourides Lab secured a grant from Cyprus Seeds to help commercialize an innovative device designed in the lab that can faithfully recapitulate the tumor microenvironment and allow drug screening for anti-metastatic agents as well as research on tumor cell invasion and metastasis.

Link to website : http://www.cyprusseeds.com/2020/10/09/cyprus-seeds-announces-the-2020-21-grantees-who-are-selected-for-the-second-funding-cycle-of-the-program/

A new study by the Epigenetics and Gene Regulation laboratory was reported in the journal "Molecular Cell".

The study identifies regulators of maintenance and inheritance of transcriptional memory using high-throughput genetic and single-cell approaches."

Link to paper : https://www.cell.com/molecular-cell/fulltext/S1097-2765(20)30258-6

NEW FINDINGS FOR THE REGULATION OF CHOLESTEROL LEVELS IN THE HUMAN CELLS.

New discovery by researchers at the University of Cyprus in collaboration with the University of Heidelberg, the University of Munich and the Cyprus Institute of Neurology and Genetics, in relation to the metabolism of cholesterol in the human cells.

Please click here for the full announcement (in Greek)

The Department of Biological Sciences is inviting applications for the position of Visiting Academic Staff at the rank of Assistant Professor, in the field of Biodiversity and Ecology for the Spring semester 2020-21 (15th January 2021-31st May 2021). Announcement

The Department of Biological Sciences accepts applications for Teaching Assistant positions in undergraduate courses for Fall Semester 2020/2021. The call is open to Ph.D. students only. Application dates: 06/07/2020 - 17/07/2020

Interested applicants must submit their application online through the following link: https://applications.ucy.ac.cy/recruitment

New provisional patent filed by members of the Cancer Biology and Chemoprevention Laboratory.

Reporting New U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 63/035,415 - Our Ref. 33303/55652/US
Title of invention: Therapeutic nanocarrier system and methods of use
Inventors: Dr. Yiota Gregoriou, Gregoria Gregoriou, Emeritus Prof. Andreas I. Constantinou

New paper published by graduate students Ouranio Anastasiou and Rania Hadjisavva in Science Signaling! Article was selected as the cover story of the journal.
Mitotic cell responses to substrate topological cues are independent of the molecular nature of adhesion.

https://stke.sciencemag.org/

Fecebook: https://www.facebook.com/SkouridesLabUCY/

AVAILABLE POSITIONS (TEACHING) FOR THE DEPARTMENT OF BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES

Extended Deadline for applications, April 3rd 2020

Click here for more information

Departmental Events

POSTGRADUATE SEMINARS SCHEDULE

ANNOUNCEMENTS