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UBC Flow Course
Application Deadline: July 15, 2025
Course Dates: September 30 – October 3, 2025
Location: Vancouver, BC (University of British Columbia)
The application process is now closed.
Please note: This course will be offered as an in-person event, held at the Biomedical Research Centre, University of British Columbia (UBC).
Traditional flow cytometry continues to develop. Not only has the number of channels and colours increased over the last few years, allowing researchers to fine-tune rare cell populations or measure production of multiple intracellular cytokines, but also the number of applications has increased.
The Stem Cell Network is pleased to once again offer financial support to enable trainees to attend the ever popular UBC Flow course, presented by Andy Johnson, Fabio Rossi, and the team at the Biomedical Research Centre at UBC. This four-day course will take participants’ flow cytometry skills to the next level. Participants will come away from the course comfortable with flow cytometry samples, and with a full understanding of the problems, fixes and trouble-shooting strategies to enable the production of high-quality flow data ready for publication. This unique training opportunity is suitable for graduate students, post-doctoral fellows and other highly qualified personnel.
The facility at the Biomedical Research Centre at UBC is offering a comprehensive Flow course covering a wide variety of topics, including:
- Panel design
- Instrument QC and validation
- Compensation: manual vs. auto with beads or cells
- New dyes and fluorochrome chemistry
- Spectral cytometry
- Cell proliferation, tracking and viability
- Flowjo analysis
- Basis of cell sorting and CyTOF mass cytometry
This will be an intense four-day course and will maximize hands-on experience. The course will build up participants’ competency through working in small groups of three on different instruments. The goal of the course is to allow participants to be confident performing flow analysis on 4-12 colours with the knowledge of learning how to make it to 24+ colours. Application talks will be presented by BD, Beckman Coulter, Thermo Fisher and Cytek to support the concepts.
Who should attend?
This course is for all trainees interested in doing flow cytometry. Somebody new to flow will learn to go from a 4 colour panel through to a 12 colour panel during the week. A more experienced user will be able to fine tune their skills and learn to become a more confident flow cytometrist to return to their institute and train colleagues in flow techniques.
Dates & Key Details
Dates: September 30 – October 3, 2025
Course Location: Biomedical Research Centre, University of British Columbia
How to Apply
The application process is now closed.
- Complete the application form here by July 15, 2025 at 5:00 p.m. (sender’s time).
- Your current supervisor should provide a full letter of support detailing how your attendance will benefit your research and the lab’s stem cell research program as a whole. Letters should be e-mailed by supervisors directly to trainingSCN@stemcellnetwork.ca before the deadline.
A confirmation email will be sent within 24 hours of SCN receiving the submitted support letter. If a confirmation email is NOT received from SCN within 24 hours of submission, it is the responsibility of the applicant to contact SCN and ensure that all application materials have been received by SCN.
The SCN Training & Education Committee will review all complete applications, and applicants will be informed of the competition outcome by late August.
Eligibility
- Applicants must be a highly qualified personnel (i.e. a graduate student, post-doc, research associate and/or technician) currently working on a research project in the field of stem cells and regenerative medicine in a Canadian lab. Non-academic applicants are welcome to apply, however academic applicants are prioritized. A $1,000 fee will apply to all non-academic applicants.
- Applicants must clearly demonstrate that they will apply the techniques learned at the course to their own research project within one year.
- If you’re unsure whether you are eligible, please email trainingSCN@stemcellnetwork.ca for confirmation.
The Stem Cell Network is offering a limited number of awards to enable eligible trainees who are not based in Vancouver to attend this course. Additional spaces that are not covered by an SCN award may also be available for this course. Please email trainingSCN@stemcellnetwork.ca for more details.
Conditions
- The SCN award will cover:
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- The full cost of the course registration fee of $1,000 (paid directly to the organizers). If the successful recipient confirms their place in the course but fails to attend (in the absence of mitigating circumstances), their academic supervisor will be responsible for covering the cost of the registration fee.
- The full cost of up to to five nights accommodation at our designated hotel (the night before the course, days 1, 2, 3, and 4 with departure on the day after the course.)
- Limited travel costs to/from the course location and meals not provided during the course. Up to a maximum specified in the award email, depending on where the participant is travelling to Vancouver from.
- Successful applicants will be automatically registered for the course by SCN upon confirmation of their acceptance of the award.
- Reimbursement will be processed following the course, in accordance with the SCN Travel Booking & Reimbursement Policy (policy will be provided to the selected applicants).
- By accepting a place in this course, the recipient agrees to complete a survey describing the value of the training and networking opportunities made available through the award. This information will be used at SCN’s discretion on its website, newsletters and for the purpose of reporting to their funding agencies. Please note that expense reimbursement will be processed only once the survey is completed.
Certificate
SCN is pleased to offer a Certificate of Completion for this event.
To be eligible to receive a certificate, participants must:
- Attend the entire workshop; and
- Complete the post-event survey.
Questions:
For further information on course content, please contact Andy Johnson at ubcandyjohnson@gmail.com
For further information on applying for a SCN award to attend this course, please contact trainingSCN@stemcellnetwork.ca
