The 10^th BioSpec's interdisciplinary summer school in machine learning for biosciences

BioSpec Norway, as part of Norwegian University of Life Sciences, is organizing an interdiciplinary summer school for Master and PhD students dedicated to analysis of biological data in infrared spectroscopy.

BioSpec summer school 2027

Date: June 14^th – June 18^th

Virtual component (pre-course): April 1^st - May 30^th

Where: At NMBU, Ås, Norway

Course credits: 5 ECTS (optional, see details)

Possibility for receiving funding: through Blended Intensive Program (BIP) within Erasmus+

BIP-number: To be announced

Questions? Contact biospec@nmbu.no

Registration opens later. Subscribe for updates.

About BioSpec summer school 2027

Participants will be given an introduction to fundamental concepts in cell biology, machine learning, and the physics of infrared absorption, delivered by distinguished scientists in these fields.

The primary objective of the summer school is to offer practical experience in tackling a complex research problem within a multidisciplinary team. Biology, physics, and computer science students will collaborate on a two-day project, culminating in a defense and a presentation session. This session will provide an opportunity for early-stage researchers to share their research findings with their peers.

• Hybrid format: Virtual pre-courses and in-person summer school week

  In previous years, the summer school has been held in different formats, including fully physical events in 2018 and 2019, fully digital editions in 2020 and 2021, and hybrid models with physical and digital attendance during summer school week from 2022 to 2026.

  The BioSpec Summer School 2027 will be organized in a hybrid format, combining virtual and physical components. The first part of the program consists of virtual pre-courses that is required to be completed online in advance. The second part is the Summer School week at NMBU (Norwegian University of Life Sciences), which requires physical attendance.

  The Summer School week is intensive and requires availability from approximately 08:30–17:30 CEST each day. All activities are compulsory, and full participation is expected. The detailed program will be provided at the beginning of June.

  All participants should bring their own computer, as we will be using the Quasar software throughout the course.

• Can I earn credits from this course?

  Starting from 2025, students from NMBU, other Norwegian universities, and non-Norwegian universities can enroll in the BioSpec Summer School as a standard NMBU course, which grants them 5 credits upon completion. The summer school is formally recognized as the NMBU courses FYS302 (for master's students) and FYS402 (for PhD students).  Bachelor students who are at the end of their bachelor studies can as well participate upon request. Bachelor students, please send a mail to biospec@nmbu.no and describe which studies you are enrolled in and your level.

• Participation options

  • 1. Students and guest students at NMBU who seek study points

    • a. NMBU Students: Please register for the course here AND via the Student Web by April 1st.
    • b. Guest Students: After successful application, you will be registered as a guest student. This requires providing certain information/documentation (including a copy of your passport, documentation from your home university/grade list, mailing address, physical address, phone number, etc.). We will reach out to you with instructions on how to submit this information.

  • 2. BIP within Erasmus+

    If eligible, it is recommended to participate in the BioSpec summer school through a Blended Intensive Program (BIP) within Erasmus+. This will give you funding for travel and accommodation through the BIP program. The BIP format enables students and teachers from partner universities to join the summer school with Erasmus mobility funding.

    Important steps for Erasmus/BIP participation:

    1. 1. Check Erasmus Agreement: NMBU has Erasmus+ agreements with more than 100 Universities (e.g. BOKU, WUR, SLU, SGGW, CZU, EMÜ, Tuscia University, and many others). Please verify with your Erasmus coordinator at your home university whether there is an Erasmus agreement with NMBU that includes BIP activities. If no such agreement exists, it is often possible to establish a new one or extend an existing agreement to cover BIP activities. Your Erasmus coordinator will be able to assist you with this process.
    2. 2. Confirm BIP Funding: It is essential to check with your Erasmus coordinator whether your university has funding available for BIP activities. Not all institutions have dedicated BIP funds, so please confirm this before making any travel arrangements.
       

    If both these points are in place, you will be eligible to receive Erasmus funding for participating in the BioSpec Summer School 2027 physically.

    If you have questions regarding the Erasmus program and agreements, please take contact with us.

  • 3. Junior researchers

    Master/PhD students who do not seek study points awarded by NMBU and who are not formally registered as guest students at NMBU.

  • 4. Postdoctoral and senior researchers

    Postdoctoral and senior researchers from all sectors who do not seek study points.

  Before following the procedures described above, please make sure you have registered using the registration form once registration opens.

  All students who complete the course (pre-course and one-week summer school) will receive a participation certificate.

  Information on pricing

• Pre-course

  You'll receive a link to the pre-course material on April 1st. This material includes several videos that you're required to watch, followed by a test after each video. Please note, passing the pre-course is mandatory for participation in the summer school.

  The deadline for submitting pre-course tests is May 30th, 2027. Be aware that the pre-course material is quite comprehensive and time-consuming. We strongly advise against leaving it until the last day.

• Temporary program and topics

  The following topics will be covered during the summer school:

  • Cell biology
  • Spectroscopic methods
  • Light scattering and pre-processing
  • Data pre-treatment
  • Analytical methods used in biology
  • PCA
  • Clustering
  • Basic regression, multi-block, PLC
  • Machine learning
  • Deep learning
  • FTIR Imaging

• Prerequisites

  The summer school will dive extensively into selected topics from cell biology, machine learning, and spectroscopy. Participants are expected to have intermediate-level English proficiency to effectively engage in and benefit from the learning process. Strong reasoning skills, the ability to quickly understand interdisciplinary relations, and experience with group work are highly valued.

  We encourage individuals from all natural science backgrounds to register for the course. Please note that to attend the summer school, you must have completed at least a bachelor's degree.

• Price

  Places fill quickly, so please register early. For paying participants, registration is completed once the payment is received.

  Option	Description	Price	Deadline for registration
  1	Students and guest students at NMBU a. Students who are enrolled in a study program at a Norwegian university/ University college and have paid semester fee (NMBU and others) b. Students seeking study points (who will be registered as guest students) and who have not paid the semester fee at Norwegian University/University college (See description above)	Semester fee*	April 1st
  2	BIP Within Erasmus+ Teachers and Students (bachelor, master and PhD students) and who are participating through a BIP (Blended Intensive Program) within Erasmus +. Must participate in both digital and physical components. (See BIP steps)	Free (paid through BIP)	April 1st
  3	Junior researchers (Master/PhD students) Who do not seek study points awarded by NMBU and who are not formally registered as guest students	1500 NOK	May 1st
  4	Postdoctoral and senior researchers (all sectors) Who do not seek for study points and who are not formally registered as guest students	2500 NOK	May 1st

  * The university will provide information for payment of the semester fee (option 1).

• Accommodation

  The fee will not cover accommodation and food expenses.

  The closest accommodation options to NMBU are SiÅs in Ås and Thon Hotel Ski in Ski. SiÅs has limited availability, so early booking is recommended. Airbnb also usually offers a range of options in Ski, Drøbak and Oslo. All these cities have frequent train and bus connections to Ås.

  For information on how to get to NMBU from Ski and Oslo, please see https://www.nmbu.no/en/research/groups/biospectroscopy-and-data-modeling-biospec#find-us

Partner institutions

BOKU University, Tulln, Austria

Contact person: Dr. Stephan Freitag

Ruhr University Bochum, Germany

Contact person: Prof. Dr. Axel Mosig

University of Paris-Saclay, France

Contact person: Dr. Ariane Deniset

University of Cordoba, Spain

Contact person: Prof. Dolores Pérez Marín

Brno University of Technology, Czech

Contact person: Dr. Simona Dzurendová

Contact us

If you have any questions, please contact us at biospec@nmbu.no, or send an e-mail to Achim Kohler or Volha Shapaval: