The BERC Skill School is a 5-day training, held in BIOTEC, from 26th November 2018 (Monday) till 30th November 2018 (Friday).
Topics covered
Topics covered in the BERC Skill School include –
Lectures:
- Enzyme discovery and application in integrated biorefinery process (from pre-treatment to fermentation)
- Biorefinery of palm oil biomass to bio-based products and the role of lignocellulolytic enzymes
- Development of Excelzyme for pulp bioprocessing: structure and function relationship
- From idea to product: development of novel products for bioindustry (experience sharing)
- The future of enzymatic biorefining in SEA
- Enzyme market, applications & challenges (Global perspective)
- Exploring novel enzymes for workiing under extreme conditions
- Enzyme engineering 1: Mutagenesis
- Enzyme modelling and simulation
- Enzyme engineering 2: Screening & selection
- Enzyme engineering for improving performance of industrial biocatalysts
- Enzyme production
- Designing cell factory: selection and construction of enzyme-catalysed pathways for production of renewable chemicals
Practicals:
- Biomass pre-treatment
- Tips & tricks of directed enzyme evolution
Computational sessions:
- Enzyme modelling
- Computational tools useful for enzyme engineering


Instructors
All lectures, practicals and computational sessions will be delivered by experts in the field. Confirmed speakers include –
- Assoc. Prof. Dr. Tuck Seng Wong (University of Sheffield)
- Dr. Verawat Champreda (BIOTEC)
- Dr. Kang Lan Tee (University of Sheffield)
- Dr. Margarita Salazar Pena (Novozymes)
- Dr. Somchai Laohverapanich (CP Thailand)
- Bas Melssen (Novozymes)
- Dr. Artur Góra (Silesian University of Technology)
- Dr. Kajornsak Faungnavakij (NANOTEC)
- Dr. Weerawat Runguphan (BIOTEC)
- Assist. Prof. Dr. Chakrit Tachaapaikoon (King Mongkut's University of Technology Thonburi)
- Assoc. Prof. Jirundon Yuvaniyama (Mahidol University)
- Prof. Suraini Abd-Aziz (University Putra Malaysia)
- Prof. Ni Nyoman Tri Puspaningsih (Airlangga University)
Methods of delivery
In contrast to most summer schools or skills schools that rely mainly on lectures, the BERC Skill School incorporates hands-on experience through lab practicals and computational session.