ISMB 2011 Conference Support for Students & Young Scientists

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DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): ISMB 2011 Conference Travel Support for Students and Young Scientists. The Intelligent Systems for Molecular Biology (ISMB) conference in 2011 will be held in Vienna, Austria, as a conference of approximately 1,500-1,700 attendees, including 33-38% students/post doctoral researchers. ISMB brings together graduate students, post doctoral researchers, faculty, research staff and senior scientists of many different nationalities, all of whom are studying or working in computer science, molecular biology, mathematics and/or statistics. The conference brings biologists and computational scientists together to focus on research centered on actual biological problems rather than simply theoretical calculations. The combined focus on "intelligent systems" and actual biological data makes ISMB a highly relevant meeting, and many years of producing the event has resulted in a well organized, well attended, and respected annual conference. The ISMB conference presents the latest research methods and results developed through the application of computer programming to the study of biological sciences, including advances in sequencing genomes that may lead to a better understanding of how, for instance, cells interact for the treatment of diseases such as cancer. Additionally, presentations may describe methods and advances associated with the analysis of existing biological literature, including benchmarking experiments, to create a better public understanding of scientific research reports. Overall, ISMB serves to educate attendees on the latest developments that will further drive the research methods and results of the field of computational biology. Students and scientists are able to return to their labs to apply what they have learned as they advance their own research efforts. The scientific program for each ISMB meeting comprises parallel presentation tracks of original research papers, highlights of recently published research, topically focused special sessions on emerging topics, technology demos, tutorial workshops, special interest group meetings and a student symposium organized by and for students. As an example, for ISMB 2010, 234 original research papers were submitted and 48 selected for the Proceedings Track; 126 published papers were submitted and 42 selected for the Highlights Track; nine proposals were submitted and four selected for presentation along with two invited for the Special Sessions Track. In all, well over 200 talks were presented during the course of the 2010 conference, and similar numbers are anticipated for 2011. In all cases, submissions are rigorously reviewed, typically by three members of each track's committee before approval by the track chair, insuring the highest possible quality of work is presented. The specific areas represented in the conference vary each year depending on the areas that researchers find most interesting and innovative, and therefore submit as papers and proposals. This proposal seeks funding to assist students and junior researchers in attending the conference, thus exposing them to the latest research of their own areas as well as areas that may be new to them. PUBLIC HEALTH RELEVANCE: Relevance Bioinformatics is well established as an essential tool for understanding biological systems. The widespread recognition of bioinformatics has been largely driven by genomic sequence efforts, because laboratory scientists recognize that the usefulness of genomic data in the quest to develop new and improved treatments for and prevention of disease is highly dependent on one's ability to electronically access and manipulate it. Biologists are routinely integrating computational tools into their research programs and creating large predictive models based on information found in databases and other electronic resources. The Intelligent Systems for Molecular Biology (ISMB) conference series directly addresses these questions by showcasing the latest advances in the field, as well as exposing what's on the horizon of future discoveries.