Fellowships

We have joined forces with several organisations to provide registration and travel fellowships to students and early career researchers allowing you to participate at reduced costs in [BC]2!

Participating as a student (BSc, MSc and PhD) or early career scientists at the conference  is a prime opportunity to learn about cutting edge research in computational biology and bioinformatics, and to network with other members of the community. It is also a great opportunity to enhance your career by initiating or strengthening the scientific exchange with other researchers or industry.

Continue reading to find more information on the ELIXIR Travel Fellowship and the BRCCH Travel Fellowship.

ELIXIR Travel fellowship

ELIXIR-Switzerland (SIB) provides five travel fellowships (up to 1’300 EUR each) to ELIXIR members to attend the [BC]2 Basel Computational Biology Conference. 

Fellowship

  • Each travel fellowship will cover the travel expenses (e.g. flight and ground transportation, economy class) to [BC]2 as well as the cost of the registration to [BC]2.
  • The recipient is responsible for organising the travel and registering to the conference. Invoices up to a maximum of 1’300 EUR will be reimbursed.

Requirements and procedures 

Each applicant must satisfy the following conditions:

  • The applicant must be a member of ELIXIR by the time of the application.

  • The applicant must submit a motivation statement explaining why they would like to attend the [BC]2 conference and how the attendance will enhance the link between ELIXIR-Switzerland (SIB) and their node.

  • Application deadline: 22 August

Apply


Notification

The award notification will be sent via email beginning of August.

Important dates

  • 7 July 2021 – Fellowship call opens
  • 22 August 2021 – Fellowship call closes (deadline extended)
  • 26 August – Acceptance notification

ELIXIR is a European intergovernmental organisation that is made up of life scientists, computer scientists and support staff. ELIXIR coordinates and develops life science resources across Europe so that researchers can more easily find, analyse and share data, exchange expertise, and implement best practices. This makes it possible for them to gain greater insights into how living organisms work. ELIXIR has 23 countries working together using a ‘Hub and Nodes’ model. SIB is the Swiss node and interacts with ELIXIR at several levels:

  • Two of SIB’s supported bioinformatics resources are part of ELIXIR’s Core Data Resources: UniProtKB/Swiss-Prot and STRING (read more)
  •  A study by SIB and supported by ELIXIR compared existing funding models towards sustainable funding of core data resources in the life sciences (Gabella C et al. F1000Research 2017, 6(ELIXIR):2051 - read more and watch the interview)
  •  SIB co-led the development of the governance and processes supporting the identification and evaluation of ELIXIR Core Data Resources (Durinx C et al., F1000Research 2016, 5:2422)
  •  SIB co-leads the ELIXIR Data and Training Platforms and is involved in several other work streams, such as the benchmarking of software tools.

BRCCH Travel fellowship



The Botnar Research Centre for Child Health (BRCCH) provides three travel fellowships (1’666 CHF each) to students or early career scientists aiming to attend the [BC]2 Basel Computational Biology Conference. Early career researchers from low- and middle-income countries are encouraged to apply.

Fellowship

Each travel fellowship will cover the travel expenses (e.g. flight and ground transportation) to [BC]2.

  • BRCCH Travel Fellows will benefit from a reduced registration fee to [BC]2.
  • BRCCH Travel Fellows will receive the funds after the decision has been taken; organisation of the travel has to be organised by the fellows themselves (invoices up to a maximum of 1’666 CHF are reimbursed).
  • Once notified, BRCCH Travel Fellows have to register for the conference.

Requirements and procedures 

Each applicant must satisfy the following conditions:

  • The application is open to PhD students and early career researchers who completed their PhD during the three years preceding the application deadline. 
  • International candidates need to be involved in paediatric health or medicine.
  • Using the official application form, the applicant must explain why she or he is requesting travel funds and how attending the [BC]2 conference will benefit her/his career (max. 500 words).
  • Application deadline: closed


Notification

The award notification will be sent via email around 20-25 July.

Important dates

  • 17 June 2021 – Fellowship call opens
  • 18 July 2021 – Fellowship call closes
  • 20-25 July – Acceptance notification

The Botnar Research Centre for Child Health (BRCCH) was jointly founded by the University of Basel and ETH Zurich in 2018 and has close partnerships with the University Children's Hospital in Basel (UKBB) and the Swiss Tropical and Public Health Institute (Swiss TPH). The Centre addresses unmet pediatric medical needs, focusing on the development of diagnostic tools, the design of innovative healthcare solutions for young people, and their implementation resource-limited settings.

ISB Travel fellowship

The ISB International Society for Biocuration is a non-profit organisation for biocurators, developers, and researchers with an interest in biocuration. The society promotes the field of biocuration and provides a forum for information exchange through meeting and workshops.

ISB will provide two travel fellowships (1’500 CHF each) to current ISB members aiming to attend the [BC]2 Basel Computational Biology Conference. Students, junior curators, curators from low-income countries, and curators from countries suffering from natural disasters are encouraged to apply.

Fellowship

Each travel fellowship will be issued as 1’500 CHF one-time payment to cover the travel expenses (e.g. flight and ground transportation) to [BC]2.

  • ISB Travel Fellows will benefit from a free registration to [BC]2.
  • ISB Travel Fellows will receive the funds after the decision has been taken; organisation of the travel has to be organised by the ISB Travel Fellows themselves.
  • Once notified, ISB Travel Fellows have to register for the conference.

Requirements and procedures

Each applicant for a travel fellowship must satisfy the following conditions:

  • The applicant must be an active ISB member (check here on how to become an ISB Member).
  • Using the official application form, the applicant must explain why s/he is requesting travel funds and how s/he envisions that attending the [BC]2 conference will benefit her/his career (max. 500 words).
  • Application Deadline: closed


Notification

The award notification will be sent via email in mid-July and announced on the ISB and [BC]2 website after acceptance of the award.

Important dates

  • 4 June 2021 – Fellowship call opens
  • 30 June 2021 – Fellowship call closes
  • mid-July – Acceptance notification

The International Society for Biocuration was legally incorporated in 2009 in Switzerland as a non-for-profit organisation.

What is biocuration?
Biocuration involves the translation and integration of information relevant to biology into a database or resource that enables integration of the scientific literature as well as large data sets. Accurate and comprehensive representation of biological knowledge, as well as easy access to this data for working scientists and a basis for computational analysis, are primary goals of biocuration.

The goals of biocuration are achieved thanks to the convergent endeavors of biocurators, software developers and researchers in bioinformatics. Biocurators provide essential resources to the biological community such that databases have become an integral part of the tools researchers use on a daily basis for their work. Read more

More information on biocuration can be found in the article “Big data: The future of biocuration.” (PubMed; full text at Nature.com).


SCNAT Registration fellowship

In 2019, LS2 Life Sciences Switzerland and SIB created the LS2 Intersection Bioinformatics. Members of this newly formed intersection benefit from reduced registration fees to [BC]2.

The Swiss Academy of Sciences (SCNAT) has granted nine registration fellowships for students (BSc, MSc or PhD), who wish to participate in [BC]2 (only applicable to an on-site participation). Interested students can submit their motivation letter, which will be assessed by the Board of the LS2 Bioinformatics Intersection.

Requirements and procedures

Applicants need to satisfy the following criteria:

  • The applicant must be enrolled in an official Bachelor, Master or PhD programme (a copy of a valid student ID or certificate of the current inscription needs to be provided with the application).

  • The applicant must be an active member of LS2 by the time of the application (see the membership details).

  • The applicant must submit a motivation letter to explain why she/he would like to attend the [BC]2 conference and how the conference will benefit her/his career.

  • Application deadline: closed


Notification

The acceptance notification for the registration fellowship will be sent via email between 21-24 June 2021 and is also announced on the LS2 and [BC]2 website after acceptance of the fellowship.

Please note:

  • If you are granted a registration fellowship, but already registered to [BC]2, the registration fee will be reimbursed; if not you will receive a registration code to set your registration fees to 0 CHF.

  • Travel and hotel need to be organised by the applicant. They are not covered by the fellowship.

  • All LS2 members can be intersection members (read below information about the LS2 Intersection Bioinformatics)

Important dates

  • 12 May 2021 – Fellowship call opens
  • 13 June 2021 – Fellowship call closes Deadline extended until 20 June 
  • 22 June 2021 - applications closed
  • 21-24 June 2021 – Acceptance notification

The LS2 Intersection Bioinformatics materialises the fact that bioinformatics and life sciences feed from each other. Through activities that will be determined by its board, this intersection aims to 1) create additional bridges between the two disciplines, 2) foster collaborations between SIB Members and LS2 Members, and 3) accelerate the development of methods and tools supporting the latest experimental developments.

The Bioinformatics Intersection welcomes any LS2 member willing to discover more about bioinformatics and participate in common activities with SIB. Read more

How to join the new LS2 Bioinformatics intersection?

Existing LS2 members can log in at www.ls2.ch, click on "Change the LS2 Sections you are in" and change to/add the new intersection "Bioinformatics".

New members can apply for the LS2 membership here and select "Intersection Bioinformatics" in the online application form.