Strategic use of generative AI
Strategic use of generative AI
23 March 2026, 9h00-17h00
General context
Generative AI is rapidly transforming how we work, communicate, and conduct research. For researchers, support staff, and professionals across disciplines, understanding how to strategically use tools like ChatGPT and other large language models (LLMs) is becoming essential. This introductory training is designed to equip participants with a foundational understanding of generative AI, its practical applications, and its limitations. Whether you're drafting research proposals, automating routine tasks, or exploring new ways to generate content, this course will help you use AI tools more effectively and responsibly.
We will cover different aspects of using ChatBots powered with LLMs, including the ethical and ownership aspects, the theoretical background, and several examples of practical application, among which are how to strategically prompt your request for text generation in any context, how to generate high-quality content for research papers, and grant applications.
1/2 DAY TICKET:
This morning session introduces the core concepts of generative AI, including ethical considerations, data ownership, and hands-on examples of everyday use. It is ideal for administrative staff, support roles, and anyone curious about integrating AI into their workflow or personal projects.
FULL DAY TICKET:
Building on the morning session, the afternoon dives deeper into academic and research-specific use cases. Participants will explore how generative AI can support scientific writing, literature reviews, data analysis, and grant writing, with a focus on strategic prompting and critical evaluation of AI-generated content.
- Describe the evolution and core principles of generative AI models and their relevance to academic research.
- Identify the features, capabilities, and limitations of various generative AI tools used in research workflows.
- Apply prompt engineering techniques to generate relevant outputs for tasks such as literature reviews, content drafting, and brainstorming.
- Demonstrate the use of generative AI tools to support specific academic tasks, including writing, summarizing, and ideation.
- Evaluate the quality, reliability, and ethical implications of AI-generated content in the context of scholarly work.
- Integrate generative AI tools into personal research workflows to enhance productivity while maintaining critical oversight.
The workshop is designed for support staff and researchers who are approaching the use of new generative AI tools. Considering the high versatility of this new technology, the class is designed as an interdisciplinary initiative and is open to all researchers and support staff regardless of their field.
No prior experience in machine learning or coding expertise is required.
Microsoft 365 Copilot Chat
Perplexity
Elicit
Research Rabbit
NotebookLM
Napkin.AI
This course is part of the learning path Basic research essentials.
Trainers
Alexander Botzki
Alexander Botzki at the Flemish Institute of Biotechnology, Belgium has with his group the mission of providing technology training in domains of VIB Technologies, Bioinformatics & AI, Software Development, and Research Data Management. Between 2014 and 2022, he was head of the VIB Bioinformatics Core. From September 2009 to July 2014, he was responsible for the roll-out of E-Notebook (electronic lab notebook) to VIB's researchers within 75 research groups.
Before joining VIB, Alexander worked on various computational biology projects for Algonomics (bought by Lonza, 2008-2009) and DevGen (now Syngenta, from 2006-2008). During Alexander's PostDoc at Sanofi Aventis in Strasbourg, he executed various virtual screening campaigns on the compound selection of the merged enterprise. He received his doctoral degree with the group of Prof. Dr. Armin Buschauer (University of Regensburg, Germany) on 'Structure-based design of hyaluronidase inhibitors'.
Jolan Heyse
Jolan Heyse is a trainer at VIB specializing in artificial intelligence and data science for life sciences. He holds a master's degree and a PhD in Biomedical Engineering from Ghent University, where his research focused on applying AI to EEG-based epilepsy diagnosis. Before joining VIB, Jolan worked as a data scientist at AZ Delta, developing AI applications for healthcare. His expertise includes machine learning, biomedical signal processing, Large Language Models (LLMs), and translating complex algorithms into practical tools for researchers. At VIB, he designs and delivers training programs to help scientists with data-driven methods.
Bruna Piereck
Bruna Piereck is a bioinformatics trainer at VIB and ELIXIR-BE training coordinator deputy. She obtained a Master and PhD degree in Molecular Genetics, with a focus on Bioinformatics from the Federal University of Pernambuco, Brazil, in 2019. During her PhD, she had the chance to collaborate with the university of Luxembourg and the McGill university in Quebec Canada for a short time. Ever since she has been involved with teaching and research and Since March 2022, she joined VIB with the mission of teaching and assist other trainers in a variety of topics.
Program
- Brief historical background: from the first AI to generative AI
- Mapping generative AI tools
- Focus on Large Language Models (LLMs)
- Tools for genAI (CoPilot, Perplexity, and other competitors)
- Prompt engineering
- Ethical considerations
- Ownership, copyright, and authenticity
- Conducting a literature review (Perplexity, ASTA, others)
- Finding research gaps in literature reviews
- Document summarisation
- Feedback for writing (storytelling, etc.)
- Presenting the outcome
- Examples for AI Agents for writing tasks
Practical info
23 March 2026
Antwerp - Campus Drie Eiken UAntwerpen
Universiteitsplein 1
2610 Antwerpen
Belgium
23 March 2026
Antwerp - Campus Drie Eiken UAntwerpen
Antwerp has a dense public transportation network. Buses and trams are available to take you to many different parts of the city. There are direct bus links to various other towns and cities as well. Plan your route using the De Lijn timetables.
- Campus Middelheim - Campus Groenenborger: around 7 min. on foot
- Campus Middelheim - Campus Drie Eiken: around 35 min.
- Campus Groenenborger - Campus Drie Eiken: around 45 min.
- Stadscampus - Campus Middelheim: around 45 min.
- Stadscampus - Campus Groenenborger: around 55 min.
- Stadscampus - Campus Drie Eiken: around 60 min.
Did you know Antwerp also has a water bus? You can use it to travel between the Antwerp city centre and nearby towns.
23 March 2026
Antwerp - Campus Drie Eiken UAntwerpen
Antwerp is a bike-friendly city. Get to know the smart and cheap way to travel around in Antwerp fot students.
For short trips in and around the city, a rental bike is ideal. Apart from the student bicycle and the Velo city bikes, there are several other bike rental options.
Do you need to cross the Scheldt? Check the availability of the bike lifts and escalators of the tunnels, or take Antwerp’s ferry service with your bike.
Cycling between campuses:
- Stadscampus - Campus Middelheim: 20 min.
- Stadscampus - Campus Groenenborger: 25 min.
- Stadscampus - Campus Drie Eiken: 30 min.
- Campus Middelheim - Campus Groenenborger: 4 min.
- Campus Middelheim - Campus Drie Eiken: 10 min.
- Campus Groenenborger - Campus Drie Eiken: 8 min.
The newest way to travel around Antwerp is by shared electric scooter.
23 March 2026
Antwerp - Campus Drie Eiken UAntwerpen
It’s recommended to travel to and in Antwerp by public transport. If you are travelling by car, take the following into account:
- There are P+R zones where you can park on various main roads into Antwerp. They are ideal places to switch to bus, tram or bike a few kilometres from the campus.
- The Antwerp city centre and part of Linkeroever (Antwerp’s left bank) are a low-emission zone: highly polluting vehicles are not allowed into the city.
- Keep in mind that the zone around the Stadscampus is a residential area with a speed limit of 20 km/h. Pedestrians freely make use of the entire road.
- Take possible road works and events into account.
- Within Antwerp, you can make use of the taxi service.
Campus Drie Eiken en Campus Groenenborger have free university parking spots.
Carpooling is not only fun and ecological, but also good for your wallet and you get to meet new people. Are you looking for a car ride or a fellow passenger, occasionally or daily? Take a look at our carpool platform.