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

UPCOMING DEADLINES & NOTICES

  • Presenter registration deadline (for talks and/or posters)
    BiGEvo 2025
    May 1, 2025
  • Last day for tutorial registration, if not sold out (You have until 23:59 CDT)
    GLBIO 2025
    May 1, 2025
  • Publication fees due for accepted papers
    ISMB/ECCB 2025
    May 1, 2025
  • Last day to upload ANY/ALL files to the virtual platform (You have until 23:59 Anywhere on Earth) *no extensions*
    GLBIO 2025
    May 5, 2025
  • Last day to register
    BiGEvo 2025
    May 9, 2025
  • Abstract acceptance notifications sent (for talks and/or posters)
    ISMB/ECCB 2025
    May 13, 2025
  • Conference fellowship invitations sent (for talks and/or psoters)
    ISMB/ECCB 2025
    May 13, 2025
  • CAMDA extended abstracts submission deadline (for talks and/or posters) (You have until 23:59 Anywhere on Earth) *no extensions*
    ISMB/ECCB 2025
    May 15, 2025
  • Late-breaking poster submissions deadline (You have until 23:59 Anywhere on Earth) *no extensions*
    ISMB/ECCB 2025

    May 15, 2025
  • Deadline for submission
    INCOB 2025
    May 17, 2025
  • Last day for tutorial registration, if not sold out (You have until 23:59 CDT)
    BiGEvo 2025
    May 19, 2025
  • Early acceptance notifications from
    INCOB 2025
    May 19, 2025
  • Conference fellowship application deadline (You have until 23:59, Anywhere on Earth) *no extensions*
    ISMB/ECCB 2025
    May 20, 2025
  • Tech track acceptance notifications sent
    ISMB/ECCB 2025
    May 20, 2025
  • Late-breaking poster notifications sent
    ISMB/ECCB 2025
    May 22, 2025
  • CAMDA acceptance notifications sent
    ISMB/ECCB 2025
    May 22, 2025
  • Conference fellowship acceptance notification
    ISMB/ECCB 2025
    May 26, 2025
  • Presentation schedule posted
    ISMB/ECCB 2025
    May 28, 2025
  • Confirmation of participation notices sent
    ISMB/ECCB 2025
    May 28, 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

Careers in Bioinformatics

The fields of bioinformatics and computational biology involve the development and application of tools to make biological discoveries. Bioinformatics is being introduced to high school students in biology classes. There are undergraduate, masters level and Ph.D. programs that train student in these fields. See http://www.iscb.org/iscb-degree-certificate-programs for examples of degree programs in bioinformatics and computational biology. In addition, some people enter the field as a biologist who learns how to use the tools or as computer scientists/engineers who are able to build tools. A solid background in both biology and computer science is extremely helpful.

A recent publication by the ISCB Education committee proposes curriculum guidelines and core competencies. In particular, the report presents 3 common categories of people who develop skills in bioinformatics.

  • Bioinformatics users access data resources to perform job duties in specific application domains. Bench-based researchers, both in academia and in industry, provide the classic example of a bioinformatics user, but this group is broadening in scope. For example, medical professionals (e.g., physicians and genetic counselors) utilize bioinformatics resources in medical contexts for the purposes of diagnosis, treatment, and counseling of patients.” [See Figure 2 in the above referenced manuscript.]
  • Bioinformatics engineers create the novel computational methods needed by bioinformatics users and scientists. Thus, a bioinformatics engineer must have strengths in computational and statistical sciences and must have general competency in biomedical sciences. [See Figure 4 in the above referenced manuscript.]


Once trained in the field, there are a number of opportunities to build a career. Some examples are listed below:

Individual contributor - Many scientific labs, both in the academic and commercial sector, are hiring people trained in bioinformatics to support the research of the lab. Positions are available for various levels and types of training. People in these positions generally work on a specific area of research.

Core facilities - Many institutions create a central resource for labs in an institution. These resources are call core facilities. Members of such groups often have a mix of skills and work on many different research projects with researchers in many different labs.

Educators - There is a demand for teaching bioinformatics at many different levels. Some Ph.D. level bioinformaticians will pursue an academic career, build their own research agenda and teach at the university level. In addition, there are a number of institutions who host a dedicated facility to teach bioinformatics to people inside the institution as well as to the greater community.

Software developers - Another career path that supports bioinformatics is the development of new algorithms and new tools. There are companies dedicated to building and deploying computational tools. Other bioinformatics software developers are hired within core facilities and within individual research labs.

 

 

 

 

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