BASIL Week 2026

Stay tuned for information about a great week of workshops, professional development, and networking events to learn more about CURES and the BASIL curriculum.

Summer 2026

BASIL Week 2026 will be held June 22-26, 2026. Register now!

Monday, June 22 (all times ET)

12:00-2:00 pm EDT: Visualizing proteins in Mol* and Chimera

Learn how to use Mol* and ChimeraX for visualizing results from BASIL modules. We will work through selecting resdues to display, different display modes, and saving pictures relevant to the different BASIL modules.

2:30-4:30 pm EDT: Student assessment strategies

Discover how to define clear and meaningful learning outcomes for your CURE that align with your course objectives and expectations. Learn how to choose the right assessment instruments that best match your learning outcomes. Understand the importance of tailoring assessments to the specific needs and nuances of your CURE, and explore strategies for developing your own assessments when needed.

Tuesday, June 23

12:00-2:00 pm EDT: Protein alignment tools

Learn about the different alignment methods, both structural and sequence-based (e.g., SPRITE, CLEAN, FoldSeek). What information can you get from each of them, what the limitations of each are.

2:30-4:30 pm EDT: Beyond the starter set: designing BASIL projects with novel proteins

Move beyond starter set hydrolases and explore how to incorporate novel proteins into BASIL projects. This workshop will cover strategies for identifying candidate proteins using public databases, designing and obtaining plasmids, and developing assays for non-hydrolase activities.

Wednesday, June 24

12:00-2:00 pm EDT: What can you publish with BASIL

BASIL can be a very rich source of publication opportunities. This session is right for you if you want (or need) to publish your work with BASIL. We will discuss venues for publishing and how best to identify a "publishable unit" of your work whether you are using BASIL in your courses or with research students.

2:30-4:30 pm EDT: Getting started with BASIL in the lab

This workshop will cover the fundamentals of starting your BASIL course, including creating your syallbus and determining your course structure and schedule. We will also talk about what supplies and equipment are needed for the wet lab modules.

Thursday, June 25

12:00-2:00 pm EDT: Molecular docking

Does a substrate-like molecule fit where you think the active site should be? Does your predicted substrate fit where you think it should be? Come find out how to use SwissDock to address these questions.

2:30-4:30 pm EDT: What’s new for BASIL? Tools, technologies, and use cases

Come explore new tools we’re evaluating for BASIL. We’ll look at what these tools produce, discuss when they could be useful, and consider how they might fit into courses and student projects.

Friday, June 26

12:00-2:00 pm EDT: Start up funds; BASIL using Python notebooks (M-M kinetics)

We will review how you can leverage your involvement in BASIL for travel, supplies and summer stipends. We will also look at Python notebook versions of the Protein Assay (with integrated linear regression and plotting) and Enzyme Kinetcs (with integrated nonlinear regression and plotting) for better computation and graphing.

PRIOR BASIL WEEK EVENTS

BASIL Week 2025 Sessions

Monday, June 9 (all times ET)
12:00-2:00 pm EDT: Student assessment strategies

Assessment of research skills is not easy. This workshop is designed to empower STEM faculty members with the skills and knowledge needed to effectively evaluate student learning outcomes in CUREs. Participants will work on learning objectives and goals for their BASIL students. Assessment examples will be shared and time set aside to develop course assessments.

2:30-4:30 pm EDT: Selecting a protein structure

This workshop will explore ways to use the Protein Data Bank and AlphaFold databases to select proteins with no experimental data or annotated function. These proteins can serve as the basis of the BASIL modules to predict protein function.

Tuesday, June 10
12:00-2:00 pm EDT: Structure alignment with SPRITE and Foldseek

Participants will study a protein structure of unknown function using SPRITE and FoldSeek to perform 3D structure alignments. Participants will learn how to interpret the results obtained from SPRITE and use them to identify a possible active site in the protein.The strengths and weaknesses of each tool will be discussed.

2:30-4:30 pm EDT: Using CLEAN to predict function

Participants will study a protein structure of unknown function using CLEAN to predict an enzyme classification number.

Wednesday, June 11
12:00-2:00 pm EDT: Publishing with students

There are multiple ways to publish student results when using the BASIL curriculum. Participants will learn about Proteopedia and microPublication publishing options, along with ways to empower students to create a first draft of a paper.

2:30-4:30 pm EDT: Student panel and presentations

Hear directly from the students in this interactive session. Learn from and support the accomplishments of students from acoss the country through a panel discussion followed by individual oral presentations.

Thursday, June 12
12:00-2:00 pm EDT: BASIL wet lab tips and tricks

Participants will learn how other faculty have developed a course using the BASIL curriculum. This will include information about setting up the course schedule, how long various experiments take, and alternative protocols. Sample syllabi and schedules will be provided.

2:30-4:30 pm EDT: Creating supplemental materials for BASIL modules

Friday, June 13
12:00-2:00 pm EDT: Using SwissDock for ligand binding

Participants will use results obtained from sequence and structure alignments (workshops 1-3) to select ligands or substrates that could be used to test enzyme function. They will then use SwissDock to identify whether these bind near the proposed active site of their selected protein.

BASIL WEEK 2024 Sessions

Monday, June 24 (all times ET)
12:00-2:00 pm: Introduction to PDB, Chimera, and SPRITE
2:30-4:30 pm: Getting ready for the semester: syllabus/schedule, etc.

Tuesday, June 25
12:00-2:00 pm: Interpreting results from SPRITE, BLAST, and Interpro
2:30-4:30 pm: Student assessment strategies

Wednesday, June 26
12:00-2:00 pm: Using Dali, CLEAN, and FoldSeek to predict function
2:30-4:30 pm: Introduction to the lac operon system and protein expression

Thursday, June 27
12:00-2:00 pm: Using SwissDock for ligand binding
2:30-4:30 pm: Protein purification strategies and metal-affinity chromatography

Friday, June 28
12:00-2:00 pm: How to select a structure to study using PDB and AlphaFold
2:30-4:30 pm: Enzyme activity, kinetics, and data analysis

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