• Format: Face-to-face

• Date: 9-11 March 2026 (three days)

• Location: Museo de Ciencias Naturales de la UNLP, El Bosque s/n, La Plata, Argentina

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Overview

Minimal Replicators in Extreme Environments: The Search for the First Universal Common Ancestor​

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This third and final DYNALIFE Training School aims to advance the frontiers of research on extremophiles and newly identified microorganisms, including viruses and other DNA and RNA-based biological entities that may shed light on the origin of life on Earth. Specifically, it focuses on the search for putative precursors of LUCA—the Last Universal Common Ancestor—through the molecular identification of known and unknown Minimal Replicators.

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The Training School will be hosted by the Universidad Nacional de La Plata (UNLP) at the Natural Sciences Museum, the largest institution of its kind in Latin America. The city of La Plata, capital of the Buenos Aires Province, is characterized by a dynamic academic environment covering all major fields of knowledge. Beyond the challenging content of the Training School, the choice of location in Argentina is motivated by a twofold objective:

1. To obtain samples instrumental to achieving DYNALIFE’s main scientific goals through fieldwork and sample collection at three extreme environmental sites with exceptional biological potential;

2. To take advantage of the essential expertise of Argentinian researchers in metagenomics, environmental microbiology, and biogeology, particularly concerning these underexplored biotopes.

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Hosting the Training School in Argentina will foster interdisciplinary collaboration between local and European experts across fields such as theoretical biology, genetics, geology, physics, artificial intelligence, statistics, and coding theory. This convergence of knowledge holds strong potential for scientific breakthroughs in understanding the origins of life and for the internationalization of DYNALIFE’s research objectives.

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Despite their scientific relevance, metagenomic—and especially metatranscriptomic—data from extreme environments in the Southern Cone remain scarce. However, the region is increasingly recognized as a hotspot for novel RNA entities such as viruses and viroid-like agents, with discoveries comparable to those recently reported from submarine fumaroles in Japan and geothermal sites like Yellowstone National Park.

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The main part of the DYNALIFE Training School, hosted at the Natural Sciences Museum of La Plata, will last three days. The Argentinian team will present the biodiversity of Southern Cone extremophiles, the biogeology of the sampling sites, and current and potential applications stemming from these ecosystems. European trainers will contribute expertise in theoretical modeling, bioinformatics for metagenomic data, and the identification and classification of novel RNA-based biological entities, such as viroids, obelisks, zeta viruses, and other minimal replicators.

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The 3rd DYNALIFE training school represents an exceptional opportunity to gain cutting-edge knowledge and practical skills while contributing to a rapidly evolving field with significant interdisciplinary impact.

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Related Events

The importance and exceptional nature of the event in Argentina will be further emphasized by the organization of several related and synergistic initiatives:

• An International Higher Educational School (IHES) within the framework of the DeSK Project, financed with EU funds, and directed to integrate international academic cooperation between Italian Universities and Universities of East Europe (Balkan zone) and Latin America

  • Focus: Green Materials, AI and Digital Technologies for Sustainability

  • Coordination: Università di Bari - UNLP

  • Dates: 12-17 March 2026

  • Place: Museo de Ciencias Naturales, FCNyM, La Plata

• A second International Higher Educational School (IHES) - https://bionam.unisa.it/school/

• 4th BIONAM: International Conference on Bio and Nanomaterials - https://bionam.unisa.it/bionam2026/
  Both events aimed to promoting research and international collaboration among the researchers of the BIONAM Centre (Università di Salerno) and similar structures in Italy and abroad.

  • Focus: Biologic and Advanced Materials

  • Coordination: Università di Salerno - UNLP

  • Dates: 5-7 May 2026

  • Place: University of Salerno, Via Giovanni Paolo II, 132 Fisciano (SA) Italy

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Audience of the Dynalife Training School

The Dynalife Training School is specifically designed for early-career researchers, including doctoral and postdoctoral students from the life sciences, as well as the physical and natural sciences and engineering, but, because the very frontier level of the content, will be open also for updating and to senior scientists. The Training School welcomes participant’s eager to explore the profound challenges and opportunities that modern theoretical biology can offer to attack these challenging problems with approaches that are at the very intersection of biology, physics, mathematics, computer science, and engineering.

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Registration and financial support

The DYNALIFE COST Action will offer financial support to a limited number of participants with affiliation in COST countries; The number of trainees is limited to 28 with 14 places reserved for Argentinian participants; both COST and Argentinian applicants will be selected through a competitive evaluation of merits and alignment with the DYNALIFE objectives.

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All interested participants should fill the registration form at the school website: https://www.dynalife.eu/laplata-2026 with a motivation paragraph for participating, a brief CV, and also if they intend to present a poster.

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DYNALIFE members please specify in the registration form whether you need a COST refund (i.e. if you are not able to attend the conference without COST support). If so, please do not make any travel arrangements and wait for a decision on the acceptance of your contribution. We will then send you an official e-cost invitation.

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COST Travel Reimbursement Rules (link)

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Deadline: 31 January, 2026.

Contact: laplataschool2026@gmail.com

Scientific Committee:

• Diego L. Gonzalez - diegoluis.gonzalez.@cnr.it

• Oreste Piro - oreste.piro@uib.es

• Marcos de la Peña

• María Sofía Urbieta

• Julyan Cartwright - julyan.cartwright@csic.es

Local Organizers:

• Dra. Sandra Torrusio (Secretaria de Investigación y Transferencia de la Facultad de Ciencias Naturales y Museo)

• Esp. María Julia Solari (Miembro del Área de Vinculación Institucional del Museo de La Plata)

Organizing Committee:

• Sandra Torrusio

• María Julia Solari

• Sandra Gomez de Saravia

• Alicia Zubiaga

• Liliana Lazo

• Natalia Lavalle

Scientific Program: Link

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Outputs

Knowledge exchange, establishment of new international contacts and collaborations, sampling of extreme environmental biotopes, training material, guidelines for related future activities

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