Tsinghua and UCL launch inaugural Summer School on Artificial Evolution

The inaugural Tsinghua-UCL Summer School on Artificial Evolution wrapped up this week after an intensive and rewarding three-week programme hosted at Tsinghua University in Beijing. Bringing together a diverse and enthusiastic group of young scientists, the programme marked a groundbreaking collaboration between leading institutions and provided students with hands-on experience in frontier research.

The summer school welcomed 11 undergraduate students from UCL, 25 students from Tsinghua University, and 5 others from institutions including Cambridge, Duke, and the University of Toronto. Despite varied academic backgrounds and limited lab experience, students quickly immersed themselves in a rigorous scientific environment focused on understanding how animals evolve and adapt to environmental challenges, such as mechanical stress and temperature shifts.

The research programme centered on cutting-edge experimental assays developed in Prof. Yanlan Mao’s lab (UCL) and Prof. Guangshuo Ou’s lab (Tsinghua). Students tackled real scientific problems, contributing meaningfully to active research fields in developmental biology and evolutionary adaptation.

A team of expert instructors — including Prof. Yanlan Mao, Dr. Giulia Paci, and Dr. Sam Warrington from UCL’s Laboratory for Molecular Cell Biology (LMCB), and Dr. Josh Greig from King’s College London — guided students through a wide range of topics. These included C. elegans and Drosophila genetics, advanced microscopy, image analysis, bioinformatics and molecular dynamics simulations.

In addition to lab work, the programme featured lectures from internationally renowned professors, and mid-way through the course, students participated in an International Symposium headlined by scientists including Prof. Tom Surrey (Centre for Genomic Regulation, Barcelona). This event provided students the rare opportunity to engage directly with top researchers over lunch discussions and networking sessions.

“Many of our students came in with little hands-on lab experience,” said Prof. Mao. “It was a steep learning curve, but they rose to the challenge, balancing wet-lab experiments and computational work every day.”

The culmination of the programme saw students deliver presentations showcasing their research findings and reflecting on their academic journeys. The experience wasn’t solely scientific — students also immersed themselves in Beijing’s vibrant culture, visiting iconic landmarks like the Great Wall and the Forbidden City, enjoying local cuisine, and forging lasting friendships in the dorms they shared.

The Tsinghua-UCL Summer School on Artificial Evolution stands as a shining example of international collaboration, offering students not only deep scientific training but also cultural exchange and personal growth. Organizers and participants alike hope this is just the first of many such collaborations in years to come.