Genome Informatics

Genome Informatics 2024 will once again be hosted on the Wellcome Genome Campus. This will be the 24th meeting in the series that alternates with Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory CSHL .

This year’s conference will focus on large-scale approaches to understanding genome structure and biology. It will showcase a range of methods for large genomic data set analysis, including approaches for genome assembly, sequence algorithms, variant discovery, and functional genomics. Pan genome, single cell, and spatial omics, as well as microbial and metagenomics methodologies, will be a further focus.

We encourage abstract submission on all themes of the conference, including those on machine learning approaches. Short talks will be selected from abstracts.  Posters and poster-pitch talks will provide further opportunities to present research findings or get feedback on ongoing projects.

This conference will bring together computational biologists, human geneticists and others working on comparative and evolutionary genomics. There will be plenty of opportunities to establish collaborations through face-to-face networking with inclusive meals. There is also the option of on-site accommodation.

The conference will run from Wednesday 13 November 2024 at 12:00 GMT until approximately 14:00 on Friday 15 November.

Discussions will focus on a variety of exciting topics including:

• Pangenome
• Genome assembly
• Sequencing algorithms
• Variant discovery
• Microbial and metagenomics
• Single cell and spatial omics
• Functional genomics

Scientific programme committee

Páll Melsted
University of Iceland, Iceland

Nicola Mulder
University of Cape Town, South Africa

Zamin Iqbal
EMBL- EBI, UK

Keynote Speakers

Fabian Theis
Technical University of Munich, Germany

Camille Marchet 
Lille Computer Science, Signal and Automation Research Center (CRIStAL - CNRS), France

Speakers confirmed to date

Ananyo Choudhury
University of the Witwatersrand, South Africa

Birte Kehr
Leibniz Institute for Immunotherapy, Germany

Can Alkan
Bilkent University, Turkey

Gaëtan Benoit
Pasteur Institute, France

Gang Fang
Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, USA

Jasmijn Baaijens
TU Delft, Netherlands

Jana Ebler
Heinrich-Heine University Düsseldorf, Germany

Lude Franke
University Medical Centre Groningen, Netherlands

Pierre Peterlongo
INRIA, France 

Valentina Boeva
ETH Zurich, Switzerland

Wolfgang Huber
EMBL, Germany

Organisers - Wellcome Connecting Science

Laura Wyatt – Event Manager
Jane Murphy – Programme Developer

Registration deadlines: 15 October 2024 (in person) at 23.59 BST | 5 November 2024 (virtual) at 23.59 GMT

The in-person registration fee includes:

• Full access to scientific programme: oral and poster presentations, and networking on campus
• Access to the online conference portal to network with online participants
• Meals (lunch and dinner) and refreshments during the conference. Breakfast will be provided for delegates who have booked onsite accommodation.
• Recordings of the live-stream sessions, which will be available ‘on-demand’ for four weeks after the event ends

Virtual registration fee includes:

• Access to the virtual event portal (Log in details will be emailed a few days before the event starts)
• Live-stream sessions, including posters and online networking channels
• Recordings of the live-stream sessions, available ‘on-demand’ for four weeks after the event ends.

* To promote more inclusive scientific discussions with international colleagues at our conferences, delegates based in Lower and Middle-Income Countries can register for free (see list of countries here).

Payments: Please note that payment can only be made with Mastercard or Visa credit cards.

Accommodation

Booked accommodation is for the nights of 13 and 14 November 2024.
Please note: there is limited onsite accommodation and this will be allocated on a first-come, first-served basis; therefore, early registration is recommended.
If you wish to book campus accommodation either side of the conference dates, please contact the Hinxton Hall Conference Centre directly.

Accommodation services phishing scam – please be vigilant. More information.

Travel visas

Citizens of many countries can travel to the UK for a course without needing a visa.
Please check the UK government website for visitor information
https://www.gov.uk/standard-visitor.
Confirmed attendees requiring a letter to support a visa application should contact the conference organiser.

Bursary deadline: 3 September 2024 at 23.59 BST

Wellcome Connecting Science offers registration bursaries (usually up to 50% of the registration fee) to those who would benefit from attending the conference but face financial barriers to attending events.

To apply for funding support, please register and then select that you want to apply for a bursary. This will direct you to the online application form. Please be prepared to explain why you need support and how you will benefit from attending the conference. Once you have submitted the application form, you will be emailed an abstract portal link. Please use this to submit an abstract before bursary deadline. Applications without abstracts will only be considered in exceptional circumstances.

Final edits can be made to the abstract up until the abstract deadline. 

Priority will be given to PhD students, applicants from lower and middle income countries, or those from underrepresented / minoritised groups. Other early career researchers will be considered if funds allow.

Additional funding opportunities
Visit our support page for information on financial support, including carer grants to help delegates with the costs of caring for children or dependent family members while attending a course or a conference.

Abstract deadline: 10 September 2024 at 23:59 BST

We welcome abstracts from all areas relevant to the main themes of the meeting for both oral and poster presentations. Several oral presentations will be chosen from the abstracts submitted.

To submit an abstract, you must first register for the conference. Once your registration is completed, you will be emailed a link to submit to the abstract submission portal. If you wish to edit your abstract following submission, please use the link in the abstract acknowledgement email.

All abstracts must be submitted and, if desired, edited by the deadline. The scientific programme committee will then assess your abstract and you will be notified about 2 weeks after the deadline whether you have been selected to present an oral or poster presentation.

If you require acknowledgement that your abstract has been accepted earlier than this, please contact the conference organiser.

Poster boards onsite will accommodate 118 cm high by 84 cm wide (A0-portrait) of printed material. Accepted abstracts will appear in the conference programme book; poster board numbers will be allocated at the conference. All those accepted for a poster presentation will be given the opportunity to upload a short video describing their work.

If you are interested in supporting this meeting, please contact the conference organiser.

Delegate feedback from the previous Genome Informatics conference held at the Wellcome Genome Campus in 2022:

‘This conference brings together a small but extremely set of motivated experts working on extremely interesting challenges at the intersection of genomics and informatics, would highly recommend to those working within this niche’.

‘The quality of the speakers and the content is very good. It is very useful to keep up with new developments. The number of delegates is not huge, so it is easier to interact with other delegates and speakers’.

‘It is not too long but still manages to convey a lot of information. The quality of the presentations is consistently high’.

‘The atmosphere has been very friendly and polite. Many questions arose, which were naturally curious and constructive to inspire the presenter’s further research’.

‘I have learnt a lot from the abstract presentation and have connected with a lot of experts, mentors whose fields align with mine’.

‘I am now thinking of quitting the wet lab for computational biology’.