Leading Professional Society for Computational Biology and Bioinformatics
Connecting, Training, Empowering, Worldwide

UPCOMING DEADLINES & NOTICES

  • Travel grant award notification
    INCOB 2025
    July 11, 2025
  • Last day to upload ANY/ALL files to the virtual platform (You have until 23:59 Anywhere on Earth) *no extensions*
    ISMB/ECCB 2025
    July 11, 2025
  • Deadline for submissions of final versions
    INCOB 2025
    July 21, 2025
  • Deadline for early bird registration
    INCOB 2025
    July 21, 2025
  • Paper submissions due
    PSB 2026
    August 1, 2025
  • Abstratct/Poster submissions open
    PSB 2026
    August 1, 2025
  • Travel award applications open
    PSB 2026
    August 1, 2025

Upcoming Conferences

A Global Community

  • ISCB Student Council

    dedicated to facilitating development for students and young researchers

  • Affiliated Groups

    The ISCB Affiliates program is designed to forge links between ISCB and regional non-profit membership groups, centers, institutes and networks that involve researchers from various institutions and/or organizations within a defined geographic region involved in the advancement of bioinformatics. Such groups have regular meetings either in person or online, and an organizing body in the form of a board of directors or steering committee. If you are interested in affiliating your regional membership group, center, institute or network with ISCB, please review these guidelines (.pdf) and send your exploratory questions to Diane E. Kovats, ISCB Chief Executive Officer (This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.).  For information about the Affilliates Committee click here.

  • Communities of Special Interest

    Topically-focused collaborative communities

  • ISCB Member Directory

    Connect with ISCB worldwide

  • Green ISCB

    Environmental Sustainability Effort

  • Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion

    ISCB is committed to creating a safe, inclusive, and equal environment for everyone

Professional Development, Training, and Education

ISCBintel and Achievements

Career Paths



Resources to help find a position in bioinformatics

There are many resources that a nascent bioinformatician can use to find positions available to them:

  • Jobs Boards
    • Sites such as ISCB's Career Center offer listing of available positions. In addition, you can visit specific academic or company web sites where you may find listings of positions in need of bioinformaticians.
  • Social networking sites
    • Companies and schools alike have a strong presence on social media sites like LinkedIn.  ResearchGate is an alternative explicitly for scientists of all specialties.
    • Join your respective Community of Special Interest (COSI) online through ISCBconnect. Positions are posted regularly.
  • Having an online presence
    • A publication record is a standard measure used to to assess if a researcher has a skill set.  Your Google Scholar record is a peer-reviewed means of advertising your proficiencies.
  • Educational/Workforce Readiness Resources
  • Serendipity
    • Being in the right place, knowing the right person, or starting the right conversation at the right time has been a factor in everyone's career.


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Diversity of roles

There is great diversity in finding the right position for you in bioinformatics. Here are some topics to consider. Do your homework when exploring diverse job opportunities.

  • Employers (academic cores, contracting agencies, consulting companies, traditional academic department, industry)
  • Location: nearly anywhere in the world there is a demand for the skillset of bioinformaticians.
  • Educational background: because of the diversity in the field of bioinformatics the preparation for different positions will vary. Depending on the position, strength in biology or biochemistry may be more important than computer science or statistics, or vice versa. In addition, a physical chemistry or engineering background may be important in certain bioinformatics related positions.
  • Compensation packages: when considering a position in the field, you will need to compare compensation packages among different offers you might get.
  • Work environment: the working conditions and culture of an employer will vary. 

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Common myths in the field

The transition from university student to professional is one characterized largely by assumptions and misunderstandings.  Perhaps the most pervasive myth is that the choice between academia and industry is a binding one-time event.  Even within these two choices there are common myths:

  • All who stay in academia strive to become Principal Investigators
  • Becoming a PI is the only endgame position within academia
  • Staying one employer for your entire career
  • A graduate will have all the skills needed to find a position in either field
  • You will stick with the position your entire career
  • Career paths are entirely planned

While there are indeed cases and individuals for which these hold true, more often than not these expectations will hinder a young scientist trying to understand what alternatives are out there and how to prepare for following them.

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Talks on Career Path presented at ISMB/ECCB 2015

Many people - across the entire career spectrum, from students to PIs - are uncertain about the future and what they want to do next. Some are happy simply to take the next opportunity that comes their way; others like to plan. But even those who know what they want to do may find that their plans don’t always work out - the circumstances of life often get in the way, changing the course of their careers (the best-laid plans of mice and men often go astray!).

This session will feature talks from a diverse group of successful bioinformatics individuals, who will illustrate how much of their journey was planned versus how much was the work of serendipity, and will suggest elements of the journey over which you can take some measure of control. Planning tips also include topics such as “How does one learn the best way to teach?”, “How does one learn the way to manage budget, staff, or a lab?”, etc.

See what researchers in the field say about How to plan your career but also be aware of your opportunities

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Professions in Computational Biology*



A goal of ISCB is to promote the profession of bioinformatics and computational biology.  Even practitioners may disagree about the definitions of bioinformatics and/or computational biology, but we can roughly identify them as the use of computational methods to solve problems in biology and medicine.  As computational sciences have become central to science and medicine, computational biology and bioinformatics have grown to become key parts of an enormous number of career paths.  People describing themselves as computational biologists might be running research labs, educating students, developing software, starting or running companies, treating or advising patients, or any of a broad range of other roles.  With so many life science disciplines intersecting with bioinformatics and computational biology, the path of the profession may seem difficult to navigate.  This resource provides some information on the profession of bioinformatics and computational biology meant to ease that process, aimed at those considering a career in bioinformatics or computational biology or rethinking their direction in the field.  It includes:

  • Career Personas – a collection of biographies of real people working within the discipline, meant to highlight different career trajectories and how one might arrive at them
  • Career Resources – jobs boards, advice, and information for those currently looking for a position or interested in seeing what kinds of jobs are available to a computational biologist
  • Collaboration and Publishing – guidance on finding collaborators and publishing research in the field

Our aim is to make this a living resources for the greater scientific community.  Continue to check back for new resources and information.


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* The following people listed here in alphabetical order contributed to this website. Teresa Attwood, 
Cath Brooksbank, Fran Lewitter, Aaron Mackey, Nicola Mulder, Seth Munholland, William Pearson. Andreas Prlic, David Searls, Russell Schwartz 

Exclusively for members

  • Member Discount

    ISCB Members enjoy discounts on conference registration (up to $150), journal subscriptions, book (25% off), and job center postings (free).

  • Why Belong

    Connecting, Collaborating, Training, the Lifeblood of Science. ISCB, the professional society for computational biology!

     

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