As SPP 1991: TaxonOMICS draws to a close after six fruitful years, the Steering Committee wanted to fulfill its final promise — to ensure that the knowledge gained during the programme will continue to be used to its full potential long after the programme has ended. Thus, the idea of the TaxonOMICS Summer School was born…

By Anže Žerdoner Čalasan

After a rigorous selection process, 16 lucky participants from all over the world were chosen to spend two weeks in August 2023 at the Botanical Garden Munich-Nymphenburg, a 110-year-old building shared by the Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich, the Bavarian State Botanical Collection and the Botanical Garden Munich-Nymphenburg, where they had the unique opportunity to learn first-hand about the different concepts, approaches, methods, opportunities and daily challenges faced by organismic researchers. 

The participants started the summer school with active discussions on different species concepts, their caveats and practical applications, as well as the origins and development of integrative taxonomy. The second day began with a guided tour of the Bavarian State Palaeontological Collection and continued with taxonomy and nomenclature in one of the most problematic groups of organisms known to date — protists. Participants were confronted with some of the most complex taxonomic issues that cause heated debates at IBC nomenclature meetings, and had to work their way towards possible solutions to untie such taxonomic Gordian knots. The next two days were spent looking at curation in theory and practice, the importance of living and preserved collections, and different NGS approaches that use collections and tap into their under-utilised potential to address some of the most pressing issues in the current biodiversity crisis. The first week concluded with a crash course in an interactive toolkit for the assembly and analysis of restriction site associated genomic data sets for population genetic and phylogenetic studies. During the weekend the participants went on an excursion to the Murnauer Moos – the largest continuous natural boggy marsh in Central Europe. 

The second week began with an introduction to one of the most commonly used bioinformatic tools for target enrichment data, led by the developer himself, and continued with geometric morphometrics as a tool in taxonomy, systematics and evolutionary biology. Participants then learned about computational workflows and databases for the analysis of ecological samples using metabarcoding next-generation sequencing technologies. Towards the end of the second week, the participants learned about different approaches on estimating time divergence, fossil and non-fossil calibrations, and biogeographic reconstructions. With the increasing amount of data being generated daily in organismal research, the TaxonOMICS Summer School ended with a data management course on how to properly store and share such huge datasets in order to fulfil the basic scientific principles of reproducibility, collegiality and openness.

Participant feedback

“The Taxon-omics summer school was an incredible experience. Everything exceeded my expectations. We were able to learn many things even in a field we already knew about. Every lesson was an open dialog full of questions and interactivity. I can't avoid saying that the organizer and the group we were with really made the experience even better. I am really happy about how it went!” ~ LM from Germany

“I most enjoyed the very first day, when we went back to the origins and discussed species concepts. It was good to take a more philosophical approach and really think about what we are talking about.” ~ MR from The United Kingdom

“A course mixed with different flavourful spices, which was a good experience as a student working on topics like Systematics, Taxonomy, Phylogeny and Evolution.” ~ BK from The Czech Republic

“The most valuable aspect of this experience has been meeting all the wonderful people that attended the summer school. Hearing about their experiences in taxonomic research has made me gain a new perspective on my own PhD.” ~ MR from Serbia

“The two weeks I spent in Munich were an amazing and incredible experience. The knowledge I gained and the friendships I formed will stay with me forever.” ~ ET from Cuba/France

“I enjoyed meeting and working with enthusiastic professionals from so many different places. The Summer School did not only create a very positive and open atmosphere, but also pushed me to explore more approaches in taxonomy and plant science. I appreciate the eagerness of the lecturers who shared their views and skills, and responded well to requests from the group. I am grateful for the experience at Summer School and look forward to future meetings and potential collaborations.” ~ JFP from Germany

“The summer school was quite extensive, and the topics delved into a significant depth, which made each class day packed with a lot of content. Credit goes to the instructors for managing this aspect skillfully! The mix of classroom explanations and outdoor activities created a laid-back vibe, enhancing the summer school experience.” ~ VOÁ from Spain

“The TaxonOMICS Summer school was a great opportunity for me to dive deeper into some bioinformatic pipelines that I’m already familiar with, but I also learned about approaches that were new to me and that I might use in the future. What intrigued me especially is that the organizers were able to combine “work” with pleasure and we got to go on an excursion to a beautiful wetland area Murnauer Moos, tour the beautiful botanical garden of the University of Munich, the paleontological collection, the herbarium and we visited a beautiful exhibition Flowers Forever. It was also amazing to spend these two weeks with scientists dealing with questions in systematics and taxonomy and it definitely motivated me to continue my research in this field.” ~ PM from Germany

“Thank you once more for the amazing organization of the summer school! I can't stop telling people how much I enjoyed it. You asked for what I liked most: I loved the practicals that were included. The given hands-on-experience in various bioinformatic applications gives a perfect head-start for someone who intents using them in the future.” ~ PJ from Germany

“What I liked the most was the selection of specialist professors in every field that we were taught, as well as the unique opportunity to meet people from around the world that were interested in the same topics as me, which brought a new perspective of how science is different in every corner of the world.” ~ GPSR from Colombia