The Nineteenth International Conference on Research in Computational Molecular Biology (RECOMB 2015)

Massachusetts Institute Of Technology, Cambridge MA

Investigators

Abstract

RECOMB 2015 is the nineteenth in a series of international conferences in computational molecular biology that will be held in Warsaw, Poland, April 12-15, 2015. The objective of this proposal is to support students and young researchers to attend this meeting, thus exposing them to exceptional training opportunities and the latest research in their own areas as well as areas that may be new to them. Computational biology has become one of the essential tools of modern biological research and RECOMB is one of the oldest and most prestigious conferences in the field. The conference series brings together graduate students, young and senior scientists of many different nationalities, all of whom perform research in all areas of computational biology, including work on analyzing genomes and other molecular sequences, understanding the interaction of complicated systems that underlie biological function, working with molecular structures that make up these systems, making sense of biological image data, and advancing the computer models and algorithms needed for all of these tasks. The RECOMB conference is one of the major international forums for research in computational molecular biology, particularly the innovative computer science component of that work. It provides a unique opportunity for students and top researchers in the field to meet their colleagues, interact in person, discuss one another's work, and share ideas for future projects. Students and young researchers will particularly benefit from increased access to principal role models within the filed. The proposed funding will specifically extend this opportunity to U.S.-based students who might otherwise lack the opportunity to participate in the meeting. Overall, students will be educated on cutting-edge 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 or begin investigating new areas they were exposed to as a result of attending RECOMB. The meeting and proposed travel fellowships will have particular value for educational purposes, creating a unique training opportunity for U.S.-based students of computational biology. Awarded travel fellowships will cover registration, hotel, and travel costs for a selected group of student presenters. Preference will be given to students with proceedings papers that are accepted for oral presentation at the conference and secondarily to those making poster presentations of accepted abstracts. Selection will be made by the conference chairs based on letters of application submitted via the conference website and reviewers' evaluations of the work to be presented. Women, minorities and persons with disabilities will be especially encouraged to apply with the goal of achieving diversity at the meeting and directly benefitting diverse groups. As much as possible, participant support cost requested in this grant will be used specifically to fund the travel expenses of students from these three underrepresented groups in order to increase their access to training opportunities. By attending the RECOMB meeting, students will gain the latest skills in computational biology, the field that has the potential to unlock the secrets for understanding life. The field comprises a vibrant, growing industry, with skilled computational scientists in high demand at pharmaceutical, agricultural, environmental, consumer products, biotech, software, hardware, and service companies. NSF investment in this proposal will help further students' careers and our nation's competiveness in an expanding, global industry, and will benefit the public through new discoveries made by highly trained scientists.