A meeting focusing on Chinese researchers’ use of AIRR-seq data to study the adaptive immune response – especially in COVID-19 patients – was held recently by the AIRR Community and Tsinghua University.
The purpose of this co-organized meeting was to expose AIRR-seq researchers in China to the philosophy and tools developed by the AIRR Community and help integrate researchers from all over the world through the AIRR Community.
Although collaboration and sharing data internationally is complicated and difficult, this successful meeting was an important step in forming the relationships necessary for overcoming many of these challenges.
Tsinghua University is a major research university in Beijing and a member of the C9 League of Chinese universities. Since its establishment exactly 110 years ago, it has produced many notable leaders in science, engineering, politics, business, academia, and culture. The university is ranked as the 15th best university in the world in the QS World University Rankings and No.1 in Asia by the Asia University Rankings and the U.S. News and World Report.
The meeting followed a hybrid format, combining online lectures by AIRR Community members in the US and Europe in conjunction with an in-person meeting in Shenzhen, China that was organized by Professor Xiao Liu of Tsinghua University’s Shenzhen campus.
The in-person, all-day meeting was held on December 6, 2020 in Shenzhen, which corresponded to Saturday evening December 5 in North America.
The full meeting agenda can be found on the meeting web page and the meeting recording has been posted on the AIRR-C YouTube Channel.
The Friedrich Alexander University in Erlangen (Germany) is looking for PIs working in the AIRR-seq space to take on intern students. The internship should be a short scientific project spanning 8 weeks to 6 months. The application process starts in March and the internship is expected to start in October to December. You can read more information about it at 