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9th Advanced in silico Drug Design workshop 2026

9ADD workshop (26.1.2026 – 30.1.2026) is focused on using in silico tools and approaches in drug design. We cover both structure-based drug design (molecular docking, molecular dynamics, structural bioinformatics tools) and ligand-based drug design (QSAR, pharmacophores, deep learning) with lectures and on-hand tutorials.

Invited Lecturers

prof. Thierry Langer (UniVie, Vienna), prof. Alexandre Varnek (Uni Strasbourg), prof. Hanoch Senderowitz (Bar-Ilan University), assoc. prof. Johannes Kirchmair (UniVie, Vienna),  dr. Semen Yesylevskyy (IOCB Prague, KFC UPOL, Receptor.AI), dr. Federica Moraca (UNINA, Napoli), dr. Wim Dehaen (UCT Prague), dr. Martin Šícho (UCT Prague), dr. Martin Lepšík (IOCB Prague), dr. Aleix Gimeno Vives (URV, Tarragona), dr. Peter Ertl (Ertl Molecular), dr. Corin Wagen (RowanSci), dr. Jonathon Vandezande (RowanSci), dr. Marian Novotný (Charles U Prague), dr. Niklas Piet Doering (Freie Universität Berlin), dr. Valerij Talagayev (Freie Universität Berlin), Doc. Dr. Marko Jukic (U Maribor), Doc. Dr. Podlipnik Črtomir (U Ljubljana), Dr. Igor Tetko (HMGU)

Local Organizers

doc. Karel Berka (KFC UPOL), dr. Pavel Polishchuk (IMTM UPOL), Guzel Minibaeva (IMTM UPOL), Aleksandra Ivanova (IMTM UPOL), dr. Václav Bazgier (KFC UPOL), Kateřina Storchmannová (KFC UPOL), Dominik Martinát (KFC UPOL), Anna Špačková (UPOL), Nina Kadášová (KFC UPOL), Jindřich Lněnička (KFC UPOL)

Registration

The meeting will be in a hybrid format. Lectures and tutorial files will be available online, but the on-hand tutorials will be only on-site. 

Registration is HERE.

Attendance at the event is free of charge. The workshop room holds up to 36 seats, lecture room holds up to 80 seats. .

Posters

Participants can present their research through an on-site poster session (for students, it is an Exam requirement). Registrations with poster presentations were prioritised.

Poster registration is HERE.

Discord server

HERE is the NEW link to our Discord server, for discussions over registrations and further topics (even during the workshop for online questions)

Venue

Palacky University Olomouc (UPOL)

Faculty of Science

tř. 17. listopadu 12, Olomouc 77900, Czech Republic

 Directions to venue - to the Faculty of Science Palacky University Olomouc

Program

The meeting starts on Monday at noon with the Introduction section. It then continues for the next two days with morning lectures and afternoon workshops – Tuesday on SBDD and Pharmacophores, Wednesday on Molecular Docking and Dynamics, Thursday on Ligand-based Drug design and ends on Friday with prospective drug selection – we will then order the compounds the participants will select and test them experimentally. 

9ADD Book of Abstracts booklet will be available here a week before the event.

A detailed final program will be available here by the end of November:

Course Materials

The language of the event is English. All course material will be available on this webpage. Videos of lectures will be available on a dedicated YouTube 9ADD playlist.

Monday

  • Welcome (Karel Berka)
  • Drug design intro (Karel Berka)
  • Structure Alphafoldology (Karel Berka)
  • Cheminfo tools PBD-Cat and Activity Cliffs (Aleix Gimeno Vives)
  • RowanSci lecture – easy online access to molecular modelling tools (Corin Wagen)
  • Poster quick introductions
  • Poster session – Book of Abstracts

Tuesday

  • Reaction Informatics (Alexandre Varnek)
  • Cheminformatics (Johannes Kirchmair)
  • QM in Drug Design (Martin Lepšík)
  • Substructure analysis in drug discovery (Peter Ertl)

tutorials:

  • Pharmacophores (Thierry Langer)
  • Pharmacophores tutorial (Thierry Langer) + LigandScout installation (licence code is given to onsite registrants at the workshop)

in parallel with:

  • RowanSci online platform and tools (Jonathon Vandezande)
  • Structural analysis with online tools – PrankWeb, MOLE, Vina (Marian Novotný, Anna Špačková)

Wednesday

  • Molecular Docking lecture (Federica Moraca)
  • Cofolding intro + applications (Semen Yesylevskyy)
  • Application of drug design on plant protector (Hanoch Senderowitz)

Tutorials:

  • Molecular docking tutorial (Federica Moraca)
  • Molecular dynamics with OpenMMDL (Niklas Piet Doering, Dr. Valerij Talagayev)

in parallel with:

  • EasyDock (Pavel Polishchuk) + Easydock tutorial ZIP file (Pavel Polishchuk)
  • StreaMD (Aleksandra Ivanova, Pavel Polishchuk)

Thursday

  • QSAR (Wim Dehaen)
  • Introduction to de novo design (Martin Šícho)

tutorials:

  • Chemical space visualisation tutorial (Martin Šícho)
  • QSAR tutorial in Python (Wim Dehaen)
  • De novo design with CReM (Dr. Pavel Polishchuk, Guzel Minibaeva)

in parallel with:

  • The Orange toolbox for pipeline automation (Dr. Marko Jukic, Dr. Crtomir Podlipnik)
  • QSAR tutorial with OCHEM online platform (Dr. Igor Tetko)
  • De novo design with DrugEx (Dr. Martin Sicho)

Friday

  • Prospective drug selection (Pavel Polishchuk)

Other

Materials from previous workshops are available at

List of Registered On-Site Participants

Once you know you cannot arrive, please contact us at karel.berka@upol.cz or via Discord so we can update your registration to online and allow people on the waiting list in.

  1. Alessandro Fabiano, Università Degli Studi Di Napoli Federico II, IT
  2. Ambamba Akamba, Bruno Dupon International Centre for Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology (ICGEB), IT
  3. Amel Elbasyouni, Pan African University for Basic Sciences, Technology and Innovation (PAUSTI), KE
  4. Amin Goodarzi, Lemraski Mazandaran University of Medical Sciences, IR
  5. Amir Mahdi Zardoshti, Sharif University of Technology, Tehran, Iran, IR
  6. Andrea Barbora Vaňková, University of Chemistry and Technology, Prague, CZ
  7. Aneta Salayova, University of Veterinary Medicine and Pharmacy in Košice, SK
  8. Antonella Pia Iuliano, Università Degli Studi Di Napoli Federico II, IT
  9. Anubha Kumari, Vinoba Bhave University Hazaribagh, IN
  10. Aqsa Ijaz, Università Degli Studi Di Napoli Federico II, IT
  11. Armando Tucci, Università Degli Studi Di Napoli Federico II, IT
  12. Atilio Reyesromero Palacky University Olomouc, CZ
  13. Ayla Eren, Istanbul Technical University, TR
  14. Barbora Čurdová, University of Chemistry and Technology, Prague, CZ
  15. Barbora Hubálková,Palacky University Olomouc, CZ
  16. Boris Kácal, Palacky University Olomouc, CZ
  17. Damilola Bodun, Universite Paris Cite, FR
  18. Derrick Agwora, Charles University, Prague, CZ
  19. Divya Vemula, National Institute of Pharmaceutical Education and Research (NIPER)- Hyderabad, IN
  20. Dmitry Zankov, Aix Marseille Université, FR
  21. Syed Shakeel, Shah University of Narowal, PK
  22. Dragos Horvath, Dragos Horvath, FR
  23. Emmanouil Arsenikos, University of Chemistry and Technology Prague, CZ
  24. Emmanouil Orfanakis, University of Athens, GR
  25. Emmanuel Amarkwei, Mak Pharmacy/Training, GH
  26. Fahil Ejaz, Università Degli Studi Di Napoli Federico II, IT
  27. Fateme Maya, Università Degli Studi Di Napoli Federico II, IT
  28. Fauzan Ejaz, Università Degli Studi Di Napoli Federico II, IT
  29. Filip Ilievski, Uppsala University, SE
  30. Giada Bellofatto, Università Degli Studi Di Napoli Federico II, IT
  31. Giorgia Andreozzi, Università Degli Studi Di Napoli Federico II, IT
  32. Giorgio Veneruso Università Degli Studi Di Napoli Federico II, IT
  33. Giulia Saccone, Università Degli Studi Di Napoli Federico II, IT
  34. Giuseppe Angelino, Università Degli Studi Di Napoli Federico II, IT
  35. Haruna Isiyaku, Umar Federal University of Technology Akure, NG
  36. Hassan Kotey, University for Development Studies, GH
  37. Chudasma Krishna, Indrashil university, IN
  38. Ijeoma Duru, Federal University of Technology Owerri, NG
  39. Isidoro Cipolletta, Università Degli Studi Di Napoli Federico II, IT
  40. Jan Perner, Biology Centre Czech Academy of Sciences, CZ
  41. Javeria Shafqat, University of Gujrat, PK
  42. Jiří Vlasák, University of Chemistry and Technology, Prague, CZ
  43. Joanna Ceklarz, University of Chemistry and Technology, Prague, CZ
  44. Joseph Osei Owusu, Mak Pharmacy/Training, GH
  45. K. M. Nazmul, Hasan Refat Khulna University, BD
  46. Katarína Sujová, Univerzita Komenského v Bratislave, SK
  47. Kateřina Storchmannová, Palacky University Olomouc, CZ
  48. Kaveri Prasad, Hokkaido University, JP
  49. Libor Tomeček, Palacky University Olomouc, CZ
  50. Lukáš Kerti, Comenius University Bratislava, SK
  51. Mahsa Rasekh, Università Degli Studi Di Napoli Federico II, IT
  52. Manolis Arsenikos, University of Chemistry and Technology, Prague, CZ
  53. Maria Barra Parisi, Università Degli Studi Di Napoli Federico II, IT
  54. Maria Camelia Dinu, Università Degli Studi Di Napoli Federico II, IT
  55. Mariam Abbas, Alsalam University, EG
  56. Maryam Elshora, Alsalam University, EG
  57. Mohammad Sayfullah Noakhali Science and Technology University, BN
  58. Merwyn Dcosta Institute of Chemical Technology, IN
  59. Mohammed Modather Taha Al Salam University in Egypt, EG
  60. Ondřej Hajdušek Biology Centre, České Budějovice, CZ
  61. Oriana Vitale Università Degli Studi Di Napoli Federico II, IT
  62. Pavel Kohout, Masaryk University Brno, CZ
  63. Pedram Deyhim, Università Degli Studi Di Napoli Federico II, IT
  64. Radhika Dnyaneshwar, Survase Lokmangal college of pharmacy, IN
  65. Rashi Das Any, University of Science and Technology Chittagong, BD
  66. Rishabh Khare, Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland, IE
  67. Sadaf Naeem, University of Karachi, PK
  68. Said Trujillo de León, Universidad Rovira i Virgili, ES
  69. Salem Haruna, Mak Pharmacy Ltd, GH
  70. Sandeep Satapathy, Garvan Institute of Medical Research, AU
  71. Shamim Safaei, Università Degli Studi Di Napoli Federico II, IT
  72. Shetu Roy Mawlana, Bhashani Science and Technology University, BA
  73. Shubham Kaushik, Paris Lodron University of Salzburg, AT
  74. Stanislav Tricolici, Palacky University Olomouc, CZ
  75. Swati Sudipta Sahoo, CEITEC, Masaryk university, Brno, CZ
  76. Taposh Mawlana Bhashani, Science & Technology University, BD
  77. Thanh-An Pham, University of Strasbourg, FR
  78. Tieu Long Phan, Professur für Bioinformatik, Institut für Informatik, Universität Leipzig, DE
  79. Tomáš Jelínek, Charles University + BIOCEV, CZ
  80. Tuyet Minh Phan, UniProfessur für Bioinformatik, Institut für Informatik, Universität Leipzig, DE
  81. Valeriia Fil, University of Chemistry and Technology Prague, CZ
  82. Wiktor Nisterenko, Medical University of Gdansk, PL
  83. Zeinab Alaa, Ibrahim Al-Azhar University, EG

Cost and Accommodation

There is no registration fee, also coffee breaks and partially workshop dinner is covered by our sponsors.

Accommodation is not provided by the organizers, but here are several places for consideration depending on your budget:

Accommodation and Dining Services of the Palacky University – https://skm.upol.cz/en/  

Long Story Short Hostel – http://www.longstoryshort.cz/  

Hotel Arigone – http://www.arigone.cz/en/  

and, of course, there is plenty of AirBnB places in “UNESCO jewel” city of Olomouc – https://www.airbnb.cz/s/Olomouc–%C4%8Cesk%C3%A1-republika 

If you have any questions, please send them to karel.berka@upol.cz 

Sponsors

Rowan SciRowan