Leading Professional Society for Computational Biology and Bioinformatics
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ISCB News and Announcements

ISCB Africa ASBCB 2013 - Early Registration Closing

Dear ISCB and ASBCB Members and Colleagues,

Early Registration for the ISCB Africa ASBCB 2013 Conference on Bioinformatics is closing soon!

Be sure to take advantage of savings by registering today!

Register (here) Now!
deadline February 13th, 2013

All early registrants will benefit from discounted prices, and all ISCB and ASBCB members will enjoy significant additional savings. Click the above link to go to the registration page with details on pricing and various workshops.

This meeting constitutes the third joint meeting of ISCB and ASBCB, and the fourth conference of the ASBCB on Bioinformatics of African pathogens, hosts and vectors. The conference is being held in Tunis, Tunisia, March 13th-15th, 2013. It features a broad Bioinformatics scope that includes a special focus on infectious diseases relevant to Africa.

Keynote speakers this year include:

Don't miss this exciting opportunity to attend! Please share this mail with your colleagues and collaborators to encourage their participation as well. We look forward to seeing you in Tunisia in March.

Yours sincerely,

Alia Benkahla
ISCB Africa ASBCB Conference Chair

Dan Masiga
ISCB Africa ASBCB Conference Program Committee Chair

European Council Responds to ISCB Regarding Research Funding

In November 2012, ISCB joined the Initiative for Science in Europe, the research community, industry leaders, and concerned citizens in urging the European Union to protect scientific research funding from budget cuts.  The European Council responded in January 2013, with President Herman Van Rompuy noting the Society’s concerns regarding research funding in the future multiannual financial framework.

Cabinet Member Lukasz Kolinski stated that negotiations are still ongoing with a view to find unanimity among the Member States. He reported that an agreement may be possible in the beginning of 2013, according to bilateral talks and discussion within the European Council that took place November 22-23, 2012.

ISCB strongly believes that investment in research, innovation and education is the best way to ensure economic success and a vibrant, healthy society.  Scientific progress depends on basic research to meet global challenges.

--> View ISCB’s letter to the European Council

--> View the European Council response (pdf)

View and sign the Initiative for Science in Europe’s online petition to protect ERC funding
www.no-cuts-on-research.eu

ISMB/ECCB 2013 Last Call for Workshop Proposals

Dear ISCB Members and Colleagues,

Just a few days remain to submit a proposal to conduct a Workshop at ISMB/ECCB 2013 in Berlin, Germany, this July.


Final Call for Workshop Proposals - deadline February 8, 2013


Workshops are two hour sessions held during ISMB/ECCB 2013 and covers a broad interest of topics not primarily research oriented. The purpose of the workshop track is to bring together people with common interests to discuss defined topics. Workshops are viewed as sessions with more structure than the "Birds of a Feather" (BoF) and a format that can include mulitple talks and ample discussion time. Previous workshops have included Funding Opportunities, Education in Bioinformatics, and Bioinformatics Core Facilities.

ISMB/ECCB 2013 takes place July 19-23, at the Messe Berlin (ICC Berlin), Germany. For two days preceding the conference, additional opportunities including Satellite Meetings, Junior Principal Investigator Symposium, Student Council Symposium, and a selection of Special Interest Group Meetings and Tutorials.

Registration opens April 1, 2013. We look forward to seeing you there.

Sincerely,

Christine Orengo, Workshops Chair, ISMB/ECCB 2013

Call for ISCB Fellows Nominations

Dear ISCB Member,

The nomination period for the 2013 ISCB Class of Fellows is now open!  If you know of a member that you believe has earned his or her place among ISCB Fellows through exceptional and exemplary contributions to the field of computational biology and bioinformatics, please nominate today.  Since 2009, the leadership of ISCB has been honoring our most distinctive members as Fellows, and this is your chance to name our 2013 Class of Fellows.  Information about the ISCB Fellows Program, nomination requirements, and selection criteria can be found at www.iscb.org/iscb-fellows.

The nomination form is available at www.iscb.org/fellow-nomination.  (As only members can nominate, login is required; if you are not a current member, please renew your membership today!)  The nomination deadline is April 30, 2013.

Thank you for your consideration and nomination.

Sincerely,

Alonso Valencia, Chair, ISCB Fellows Committee

ISMB/ECCB 2013 SIGs&SMs

Dear ISCB Members and Colleagues,

As a prelude to ISMB/ECCB 2013 in Berlin, Germany this July, an exceptional collection of pre-conference Special Interest Groups (SIG) and Satellite Meetings (SM) are being organized to focus on many of today's important topics of scientific research and inquiry. Be sure to explore the websites of the SIGs and SMs that capture your interest, and prepare a submission if presenting your work in the meeting is of interest to you. For additional general information on these events, please visit the ISMB/ECCB2013 SIGs and Satellite Meetings website.



Satellite Meetings (SM)

3Dsig Structural Bioinformatics & Computational Biophysics

Date: July 19-20, 2013

Homepage: http://bcb.med.usherbrooke.ca/3dsig13/

3Dsig Structural Bioinformatics & Computational Biophysics is accepting abstract submissions for our poster-laptop session from which the 20 leading abstracts will be selected for oral presentation.

Abstract submission deadline: April 30, 2013.

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CAMDA 2013 – Critical Assessment of Massive Data Analysis

The conference focuses on novel and existing approaches to the analysis of life sciences' Big Data including a challenge on two big heterogeneous data sets.

Date: July 19-20, 2013

Homepage: www.camda.info

Call for extended paper abstracts and poster abstracts: www.easychair.org/conferences/?conf=camda2013

Extended paper abstract deadline: May 20, 2013

Poster abstract deadline: May 25, 2013

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Special Interest Group (SIG) Meetings

Automated Function Prediction (AFP)

The mission of the Automated Function Prediction Special Interest Group (AFP-SIG) is to bring together computational and experimental biologists who are dealing with the important problem of gene and gene product functional annotation, to share ideas and create collaborations. As part of our goal to stimulate development of novel protein function prediction methods and their evaluation, we are conducting the Critical Assessment of protein Function Annotation or CAFA experiment.

Date: July 20, 2013

Homepage: http://biofunctionprediction.org

Submission Deadline: April 13, 2013

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Bioinformatics Open Source Conference (BOSC)

BOSC covers the wide range of open source bioinformatics software packages that have been developed and adopted by the community, and encompasses the growing movement of Open Science, with its focus on transparency, reproducibility, and data provenance.

Date: July 19-20, 2013

Home Page: www.open-bio.org/wiki/BOSC_2013

Call for talk and poster abstracts opens March 1, 2013

Submission deadline: April 12, 2013

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BioLINK SIG

Roles for text mining in biomedical knowledge discovery and translational medicine

Date: July 20, 2013

Homepage: https://sites.google.com/site/biolinksig2013/

Call for Papers and Poster Abstracts https://sites.google.com/site/biolinksig2013/cfp

Paper (short and long) deadline: April 12, 2013

Poster deadline: May 20, 2013

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Bio-Ontologies 2013

The Bio-Ontologies SIG is a forum for discussion of the latest and most innovative research in the application of ontologies

Date: July 20, 2013

Homepage: www.bio-ontologies.org.uk

Call for Papers, Flash updates and Posters www.bio-ontologies.org.uk/submissions

Submission Deadline: April 12th, 2013

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HiTSeq SIG 2013: High Throughput Sequencing Algorithms & Applications

HiTSeq provides a forum for in depth presentations of novel algorithms and computational applications for the analysis of high-throughput sequencing data in multiple biology domains.

Date: July 19-20, 2013

Homepage: http://hitseq.org

Paper submission deadline: March 17, 2013

Abstract submission deadline: May 13, 2013

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IRB-SIG: The 10th Integrative RNA Biology Special Interest Group Meeting (formerly AS-SIG)

The IRB-SIG focus is on combination of computational and experimental techniques used to derive new RNA Biology.

Date: July 19, 2013

Homepage: www.alternative-splicing.org/irb-sig-13/ (see website for confirmed speakers)

Accepting abstract submissions for: talks, posters.

Other:

- SIG dinner, Friday the 19th.

- Limited travel support will also be available for students/postdocs

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Machine Learning in Systems Biology (MLSB)

The aim of this workshop is to contribute to the cross-fertilization between the research in machine learning methods and their applications to systems biology (i.e., complex biological and medical questions) by bringing together method developers and experimentalists.

Date: July 19-20

Homepage: http://mlsb.cc

Call for contributions (talk/poster) http://mlsb.cc/cfc/

Submission deadline:  May 5, 2013

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Mass Spectrometry Special Interest Group (MS-SIG 2013)

Beyond the Proteomics: At MS-SIG 2013, we will discuss 1) Bioinformatics challenges in high-throughput proteomics, 2) Omics data integration, and 3) Proteomics application in biology and medicine with a great line-up of speakers, Juergen Cox (Max Planck Institute of Biochemistry), Oliver Kohlbacher (Eberhard Karls University Tubingen), Olga Vitek (Purdue University), Mikhail Savitski (Cellzome), and Lars Malmstrom (ETH Zurich).

Date: July 19, 2013

Homepage: http://igenomed2.stanford.edu/Proteomics2013_mssig/

Abstract Submissions: http://igenomed2.stanford.edu/Proteomics2013_mssig/AbstractSubmission.html

1st abstract deadline: March 15, 2013

2nd abstract deadline: May 13, 2013

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Network Biology (NetBio) SIG

The NetBio SIG will focus on two major areas: (1) the development of network-related tools and resources, and (2) the application of network analysis and visualization in the study of biology, synthetic biology and medicine.

Date: July 19, 2013

Homepage: http://nrnb.org/netbiosig/

Call for: 1-page abstracts for talks and posters

Submission deadline: April 22, 2013

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RegGenSIG - Regulatory Genomics Special Interest Group

The RegGenSIG meeting focuses on bioinformatics for regulatory genomics, fostering a collaborative community wherein scientists convene to discuss difficult research problems in computational regulatory genomics.

Date: July 20, 2013

Homepage: http://light.ece.ohio.edu/~reggen/2013/

Call for Extended Abstracts: Oral presentation extended abstracts (2-3 pages) should be submitted to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it., including "RegGen SIG 2013 - Abstract for oral presentation" in the subject line.

Submission Deadline: April 27, 2013

Call for Posters: For poster presentations, authors should submit a 250 word to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it., including "RegGen SIG 2013 - Abstract for poster presentation" in the subject line.

Submission Deadline: May 18, 2013

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SNP-SIG

The primary goal of the SNP-SIG is to outline and discuss the recent advances in the methodology for the annotation and analysis of genomic variation data.

Date: July 19th 2013

Homepage: http://snp-sig.biofold.org

Call for Posters: http://snp-sig.biofold.org/pa.html

Call for Presentations: http://snp-sig.biofold.org/op.html

Submission deadline: March 22, 2013

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We look forward to seeing you at these events, and at ISMB/ECCB 2013!

 


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CSHALS 2013 Early Registration Closing

Dear ISCB Members and Colleagues,

The early registration discount for the ISCB Conference on Semantics in Healthcare and Life Sciences (CSHALS) ends this Friday, January 25.

Take advantage now to save!  

Register online here:  >> REGISTER NOW <<

CSHALS 2013 is the premier event focused on the use of semantic technologies in the pharmaceutical industry, including hospitals/healthcare institutions and academic research labs. If the emerging field of data science is an important element of your research, then CSHALS should be part of your plans for 2013!

Topics covered by CSHALS 2013 span the continuum between standards development and big data workflows - the scope between Life Science data representation and its analysis. To find out more about CSHALS topics follow the link here.

We look forward to your participation and hope to be welcoming you to Cambridge/Boston in February!

Sincerely,

The CSHALS 2013 Organizing Committee

Final Call for Posters - ISCB Africa ASBCB 2013

Dear ISCB and ASBCB Members and Colleagues,

The late poster submission deadline for the ISCB Africa ASBCB 2013 Conference on Bioinformatics is coming up on January 23, 2013.  

The conference is being held in Tunis, Tunisia, March 13th -15th, 2013, and registration is now open.

The meeting will include topics of general interest in bioinformatics, with a special focus on the bioinformatics of African pathogens, vectors, and human genetics. We especially welcome abstracts on the bioinformatics of diseases relevant to Africa, and with the new Human Heredity and Health in Africa (H3Africa) initiative the genetics focus is particularly relevant and timely.

Late Poster submissions: due by January 23rd

Click above to access the conference submission guidelines and then follow the links to submit your poster.

Early registration: deadline February 13th, 2013

Click above to access the registration page with pricing and workshop options. All early registrants will benefit from discounted prices, and all ISCB and ASBCB members will enjoy significant additional savings.

Come one, come all! Please share this mail with your colleagues and collaborators to encourage their participation as well. We look forward to seeing you in Tunisia in March!

Yours sincerely,

Alia Benkahla
ISCB Africa ASBCB Conference Chair

Dan Masiga
ISCB Africa ASBCB Conference Program Committee Chair

The NEXT NGS CHALLENGE CONFERENCE 2013

The Next NGS Challenge Conference, a joint event of the EU COST Action SeqAhead, the EMBnet, the International Society of Computational Biology (ISCB) and the 7FP Project STATegra, is dedicated to the presentation of innovative computational approaches to the analysis of high-throughput sequencing data.

The conference will be held in Valencia, Spain, on May 14-16, 2013.

The Conference will consist of keynote lectures, oral presentations and lively poster sessions.  The  organizers invite submissions that describe novel applications of NGS, as well as bioinformatic algorithms for data processing and analysis.  Submissions dealing with efficient solutions to the management and storage of these large datasets are also welcomed.

The Conference will be preceded by an EMBnet Workshop on data analysis.

We are proud to announce the participation of the following keynote speakers:

  • Ivo Gut, National Centre for Genome Analysis (CNAG), Barcelona, Spain
  • Janet Kelso, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Leipig, Germany
  • Leif Andersson, Uppsala University, Sweden

You can find further information at the Conference site: www.thenextngschallenge.org/.

Abstract submission deadline is the 15th of February.

Deadline for registration is the 15th of April.

We look forward to seeing you in Spain!

Ana Conesa, CIPF (Spain)

Chair,  The Next NGS Conference 2013

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

ISCB Appoints Diane E. Kovats, CMP, Executive Director

Replaces Outgoing Executive Officer BJ Morrison McKay

Diane E. Kovats, CMP, ISCB Executive DirectorLA JOLLA, CA, January 10, 2013 – The International Society for Computational Biology (ISCB) has named Diane E. Kovats, CMP, as its new executive director. Ms. Kovats joined the ISCB, the world's leading professional society for bioinformatics and computational biology, on January 10, 2013.

Ms. Kovats comes to the ISCB with over 10 years experience working with non-profit organizations. She is an alumnus of the University of Richmond with a degree in business administration, marketing, and a minor in communications and rhetoric. Furthermore, Ms. Kovats is a Certified Meetings Professional (CMP) and specializes in strategic operations, marketing, meeting management, and the growth and development of member-focused organizations on a global scale. "In many ways, Diane Kovats understands the role of a professional society in furthering the careers of scientists, students, and the field itself, and can lead an international organization like ours toward its greatest potential,” said the ISCB President Burkhard Rost.

Ms. Kovats will succeed BJ Morrison McKay, who has served as the ISCB's executive officer since 2002. "BJ Morrison McKay's leadership has strengthened the ISCB in fundamental ways,” Dr. Rost said, "and I have no doubt that Diane will allow us to continue our phenomenal growth.”

"I think the ISCB Search Committee, with the help of Tiffany McCarty and Paul Belford of JDG Associates, and the ISCB Board of Directors made a wonderful choice in selecting Diane,” said Dr. Scott Markel, ISCB Secretary and search committee chair. "We expect great things from her and look forward to working with her to grow the Society."

As executive director, Ms. Kovats will be responsible for the day-to-day management of the ISCB and shall oversee the implementation of policy decisions on behalf of the ISCB Executive Committee and the Board of Directors, as well as aid in the implementation of initiatives to better serve the ISCB membership and increase knowledge and awareness of the Society's mission on a worldwide scale.

"I'm pleased to be joining the ISCB at a time when the advancement of the field is growing and the importance of the work by its members is being realized,” said Ms. Kovats. "I look forward to aiding in the critical science being done by the organization, and hope my involvement proves to be a valuable and dynamic influence as the ISCB continues to grow and develop over the upcoming years.”

Ms. Kovats noted that during her tenure as executive director she plans to focus on promoting the growth and awareness of the society, as well as improving the benefits and services provided to its members.

About ISCB

The International Society for Computational Biology is a nonprofit scholarly society dedicated to advancing the scientific understanding of living systems through computation. Based in La Jolla, California, at the San Diego Supercomputer Center on the campus of the University of California, San Diego, the ISCB has a global membership of over 3,000 researchers from 70 countries.

For more information, please visit www.iscb.org.

Contact: Diane E. Kovats

Number: +1 858.822.0852

E-Mail: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

ISMB/ECCB 2013 Final Call for Proceedings - Deadline January 7, 2013

Dear ISCB Members and Colleagues, and Past ISMB and ECCB Conference Attendees,

Deadline for submitting proceedings is January 7, 2013!

The ISMB/ECCB 2013 conference is coming to Berlin in July, 2013 and will be the largest annual gathering of bioinformaticians and computational biologists working in a wide range of disciplines. We are soliciting high-quality research papers that demonstrate the development of new computational techniques and their application to Molecular and Systems Biology, with significant outcomes to biomedical, agricultural and environmental questions.

This year we will adopt a procedure that is closer to that of a regular submission to the Bioinformatics journal. We will have two rounds of reviews, allowing the authors to reply to the reviewers comments. In the first round, the submissions will be classified into two categories: (a) minor/major changes, and (b) not accepted. Authors of submissions in the first category will be given the opportunity to submit revised drafts, based on the reviewer comments. The second round of reviews will involve selection of the papers most suitable for ISCB/ECCB.

More details are available at www.iscb.org/ismbeccb2013-submission/call-for-proceedings

We encourage you to submit an unpublished paper of your very best work for consideration by the deadline January 7th.

On behalf of the ISMB/ECCB 2013 organizing committee, we look forward to seeing you in Berlin next July!

Sincerely,

Nir Ben-Tal, ISCB/ ECCB 2013 Proceedings Chair