Here is a brief overview of our upcoming events: 1 .- EMBO Practical Course Extracellular vesicles: from biology to biomedical applications Date: 23 - 28 Feb 2025 Application deadline: 17 Nov 2024 Location: EMBL Heidelberg Link: https://www.embl.org/about/info/course-and-conference-office/events/exo25-01/ Course overview The extracellular vesicle (EV) research field is still growing with many researchers entering the field with a continued strength of demand for such specialized training. As research progresses, it becomes clear that EV's regulate an increasing number of (Patho)physiological processes and are harnessed in a variety of biomedical applications. Appropriate methodologies to prepare and characterize EV from biofluids are key to understanding the mechanisms that regulate their formation, composition and function. Given the large number of methods used, it is particularly important to provide practical hands-on training to new researchers covering the possibilities and limitations of the most widely used methods. This course will deliver such state-of-the-art training to participants, particularly those entering the field, and enable them to select the methodology which best fits their research question . 2.- EMBO | EMBL Symposium Wild frontiers of model organisms Date: 8 - 11 Apr 2025 Location: EMBL Heidelberg and Virtual Link: https://www.embl.org/about/info/course-and-conference-office/events/ees25-02/ Symposium overview The scientific community relies on a small number of model organisms to study larger themes in biology, with the assumption that gained insights can be extrapolated to most other organisms. However, recent advances in our ability to study organisms in the context of their natural environments have revealed that Jacques Monod's famous quote, 'What is true for E. coli is true for the elephant' does not do justice to the vast diversity of life on our planet. We will highlight research that challenges classical model organisms by looking at fluctuating, natural environments as a rich, relevant inspiration for new experiments in the lab and explore the challenges associated with the establishment of new model systems. This conference will showcase how exploring the wild frontiers of model systems is increasing our understanding of the biology, ecology, and evolution of organisms, ranging from microbes to plants and animals. We hope to bring together lab- and field-focused researchers from ecology, genomics, quantitative cell and molecular biology. Our aim is to debate the possibilities and limitations inherent to these disciplines and to develop unified approaches to gain comprehensive, mechanistic insights into the natural world. Mayra Gabriela Sanchez Ponce (to subscribe/unsubscribe the EvolDir send mail to golding@mcmaster.ca)