In 2004, ISMB will be combined with the European Conference on Computational Biology (ECCB). By joining forces, we're aiming to ensure that no-one has to miss out on either conference. ISMB/ECCB 2004 will be the largest and most important computational biology event globally in 2004; we hope that you will help to make ISMB/ECCB 2004 a success by submitting your most exciting and innovative work for presentation.

ISMB/ECCB 2004 will bring together scientists from an enormous range of disciplines, including molecular biology, medicine, computer science, mathematics and statistics. Papers that demonstrate both the development of new computational techniques AND their application to biomedical questions are especially encouraged.

We are soliciting original research papers (including significant works-in-progress) in any aspect of computational biology, including the following areas:

• Genomics
• Evolution and phylogeny
• Transcriptomics
• Proteomics
• Structural bioinformatics
• Pathways, networks and systems
• Applications of bioinformatics to biomedicine, agriculture and drug discovery
• Computing for experimental biology: the LIMS challenge
• Literature extraction, information systems and ontologies

Papers reporting novel results in the above areas of biological interest are especially encouraged, as are papers that illustrate the application of computational techniques to these subject areas. Relevant computational techniques include: machine learning; data mining; text analysis; pattern recognition; knowledge representation; databases; combinatorics; stochastic modeling; string and graph algorithms; linguistic methods; robotics; constraint satisfaction; data visualization; parallel computation; data integration; modelling and simulation.

We will be offering a substantial prize for the paper that demonstrates the most effective use of computational techniqes to solve a biological or biomedical problem.

We are soliciting two different types of paper – full papers and short papers –  to encourage submissions from the full spectrum of computational biology. Submission guidelines are provided below. Both types of papers will be considered by the program committee and will follow the same timelines for submission, notification of acceptance, and submission of corrected papers.

Full papers

If accepted, full papers will be published as a special issue of the journal Bioinformatics and indexed in the Medline database. Presenters of accepted
full papers will be given a 25-minute slot (plus 5 minutes for questions) in the conference schedule.

Full papers must include an abstract of not more than 250 words. Submitted papers should be a maximum of 10 pages (including title, abstract, figures, tables, and bibliography), single spaced, margins 2.5 cm and set in 12 point type. The first page should give keywords, postal and electronic mailing addresses, telephone and fax numbers.

Papers should be submitted electronically to CyberChairPRO in either Postscript or PDF format. Click here to submit your paper to CyberChairPro. Papers will only be accepted electronically. For accepted papers, figures with multiple colors can be  printed at the author's expense. Upon acceptance, authors must comply with the formatting instructions for final papers (available soon).

Papers submitted for review should represent original, previously unpublished work. At the time the full paper is submitted to ISMB/ECCB 2004, and for the entire review period, the paper should not be under review by any other conference or scientific journal.

PAPERS NOT CONFORMING TO THESE GUIDELINES WILL BE RETURNED WITHOUT REVIEW.

Short Papers

Short papers must include an abstract of not more than 100 words and should be should be a minimum of 1 page and a maximum of 4 pages (including title, abstract, figures, tables, and bibliography) of single spaced text set in 12 point type. Accepted short papers will have their abstracts printed in the conference program and these papers will be available online on the ISMB/ECCB 2004 website but, because they won't be published in a journal, presenters will be able to choose where to publish the work that they present at ISMB/ECCB 2004. Presenters of accepted short papers will be given a 15-minute slot (plus 5 minutes for questions) in the conference schedule.

Short papers on any aspect of computational biology are encouraged; typical topics include biologically interesting discoveries using established
bioinformatics techniques, analysis of biological data, novel software, implementations, databases and network services.

Short papers should be submitted electronically to CyberChairPRO in either Postscript or PDF format. Click here to submit your paper to CyberChairPro. Papers will only be accepted electronically.

PAPERS NOT CONFORMING TO THESE GUIDELINES WILL BE RETURNED WITHOUT REVIEW.