The International Society for Computational Biology (ISCB: www.iscb.org) conference on Intelligent Systems for Molecular Biology (ISMB) will venture beyond North America and Europe for the first time when ISMB 2003 convenes in Brisbane, Australia from June 29 to July 3, 2003.The Institute for Molecular Bioscience, and the Advanced Computational Modelling Centre of the University of Queensland, will serve as local hosts. The venue for the 2003 conference and tutorials will be the Brisbane Conference and Exhibition Centre, Australia’s largest purpose-built conference facility, adjacent to the fabulous South Bank parklands and a short walk or ferry-ride across the Brisbane River from the downtown hotel district. The Organizing Committee, co-chaired by Gene Myers (Program Committee) and Mark Ragan (Local Committee), is already hard at work to ensure that the conference will meet the highest scientific, technical and organizational standards and be great fun.

The organizers are excited by the opportunity to bring ISMB to the Asia-Pacific region: Involving new groups of participants from Australia, China, India, Korea, Japan, Malaysia, New Zealand, Singapore, Taiwan, Thailand, and other countries hitherto not fully represented at ISMB.

Brisbane, the capital of Queensland, is a cosmopolitan city of 1.6-1.8 million with three major universities and a growing biotechnology sector. Delegates may fly direct to Brisbane from all major Australian cities as well as Auckland, Bangkok, Brunei, Hong Kong, Jakarta, Kuala Lumpur, Manila, Osaka, Seoul, Singapore, Taipei and Tokyo. Late June/early July is mid-winter in Brisbane, with sunny warm days (average high 20†C = 68†F) and crisp cool nights (average low 10†C = 50†F). A favorable exchange rate will help deliver great value to participants.

World-class tourist destinations easily accessible from Brisbane include the Great Barrier Reef, the Gold Coast, Ayers Rock, and the great Australian outback. Sandy beaches, offshore islands, wet and dry tropical forests, mountains and World Heritage national parks lie within a 1-2 hour drive from downtown. Delegates and exhibitors may wish to travel on to the XIX International Genetics Congress in Melbourne (July 6-12: www.geneticscongress2003.com) or the Fifth International Congress on Industrial and Applied Mathematics in Sydney (July 7-11: www.austms.org.au/iciam2003) immediately after ISMB 2003.

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