Support for COMBINE 2016

数据交换标准对任何领域的发展都至关重要。它们使研究人员和从业人员能够可靠地交换信息，应用各种工具解决问题，并重现科学结果。生物学网络中的计算建模（联合收割机）创建于2010年，旨在组织系统生物学的标准化工作。这些努力包括用于数学建模的系统生物学标记语言（SBML）;用于描述途径的生物学途径交换语言（BioPaX）;用于可视化表示的系统生物学图形符号（SBGN）;以及合成生物学开放语言（SBOL）。 该补助金的目的是支持学生，博士后学者和代表性不足的群体的参与者参加2016年9月19日至23日在英国纽卡斯尔由纽卡斯尔大学主办的联合收割机2016的差旅费（http：//co.mbine.org/events/COMBINE_2016）。这次研讨会不仅是学生参与者的宝贵教育经验，也将为他们提供与国际研究人员互动的宝贵机会。由于这次会议将在英国举行，并将带来来自世界各地的研究人员（在犹他州湖城举行的最后一次会议有来自六大洲的代表），这次会议将加强和促进生物学数据表示和交换标准领域的新的国际合作。联合王国在系统和合成生物学研究及标准制定方面一直处于领先地位。特别是，英国政府已将合成生物学确定为国家战略研究领域（迄今为止资助超过5000万英镑，https：//www.gov.uk/government/groups/synthetic-biology-leadership-council），并为英国制定了合成生物学路线图（http：//www.rcuk.ac.uk/publications/reports/syntheticbiologyroadmap/）。事实上，可以说美国和英国在这些领域拥有最大的研究项目。这两个国家在这一领域的合作对于成功至关重要。联合王国的生物技术和生物科学研究理事会和国家科学基金会最近发起了一项联合筹资努力，其中特别包括合成生物学（http：//www.bbsrc.ac.uk/funding/filter/nsfbio-lead-agency-pilot/）。事实上，至关重要的是，制定的标准不是美国或英国的标准，而是真正的世界数据表示标准。NSF的支持（由计算机信息科学与工程局和国际科学与工程办公室提供的资金表示感谢）确保了技术和多样化的本科生，研究生和博士后学生可以参加会议，以展示研究，了解更多有关该领域的信息，并扩大他们的网络机会。

Standards for data exchange are critical to the development of any field. They enable researchers and practitioners to exchange information reliably, apply a variety of tools to their problems, and reproduce scientific results. The COmputational MOdeling in Biology NEtwork (COMBINE) was created in 2010 to organize standardization efforts for systems biology. This effort includes, among others, the systems biology markup language (SBML) for mathematical modeling; the biological pathways exchange language (BioPaX) for describing pathways; the systems biology graphical notation (SBGN) for visual representations; and the synthetic biology open language (SBOL). The purpose of this grant is to support travel expenses for students, postdoctoral scholars, and participants from underrepresented groups to attend COMBINE 2016 to be hosted by Newcastle University in Newcastle, UK from September 19th to 23rd, 2016 (http://co.mbine.org/events/COMBINE_2016). This workshop will not only be a valuable educational experience for the student participants, but it will also provide them a valuable opportunity to interact with international researchers. Since this event will be held in the United Kingdom and will bring researchers from all over the world (the last one held in Salt Lake City, UT had representatives from six continents), this meeting will enhance and foster new international collaborations in the area of standards for data representation and exchange in biology. The United Kingdom has been a leader in systems and synthetic biology research and standard development. In particular, the UK government has identified synthetic biology as a national strategic research area (funding it with over £50m to date, https://www.gov.uk/government/groups/synthetic-biology-leadership-council) and has produced a Synthetic Biology Roadmap for the UK (http://www.rcuk.ac.uk/publications/reports/syntheticbiologyroadmap/). In fact, it can be argued that the US and UK have the largest research programs in these areas. Collaborations between these two countries in this area are essential to success. The UK's Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC) and NSF have very recently initiated a joint funding effort that in particular includes synthetic biology (http://www.bbsrc.ac.uk/funding/filter/nsfbio-lead-agency-pilot/). Indeed, it is crucial that the standards developed are not US or UK standards, but truly world data representation standards. NSF support (Funding provided from the Directorate of Computer Information Science and Engineering and the Office of International Science and Engineering is gratefully acknowledged) ensures a technical and diverse set of undergraduate, graduate, and post doctoral students can attend the conference to present research, learn more about the field, and expand their networking opportunities.