© MPI-CBG
The third de.NBI “Learnathon” of DAIS (Dresden Analysis-of-Images Suite) chose the hottest June ever measured to take part at the Center for Systems Biology Dresden (CSBD). From 24th to 28th June, the hands-on course introduced 32 participants from 10 countries to developing within and for the Fiji, ImageJ2, and KNIME ecosystems. These open-source software applications can advance bioimage analysis for scientific projects. Besides how to stay focused at 39 degrees, the attendees learned about the core libraries and concepts behind those analysis tools, what software engineering infrastructure is commonly used, and how the existing community collaborates and communicates. During “hack-time” the attendees could bring their own ideas and/or solve their problems with the help of experienced leaders in the field.
Integrating newcomers into the existing community and presenting the synergetic exchange within the group is another declared goal of the meeting. A hot summer night out in Dresden's famous nightlife quarter added to this aspect of the agenda.
Gabriella Turek, one of the organizers from Florian Jug's group at the MPI-CBG and the CSBD said, “The Learnathon is a great place for beginners and experts to get together, learn and exchange ideas. Also learning how to contribute back to the community.”
The DAIS Learnathon series was first launched in 2017. Since then, it is repeated in annual intervals. We are already looking forward to hosting the fourth edition in 2020, maybe at slightly more moderate temperatures.