Call For Minitrack Proposals in
Biotechnology Computing
26th Hawaii International Conference on System Sciences
HICSS-26: KOLOA, HAWAII - JANUARY, 1993
This is an invitation to submit proposals for minitracks in the
Biotechnology Computing Track of HICSS-26. The Hawaiian International
Conference on System Sciences (HICSS) is a unique and respected forum
for the exchange of ideas among the computer science research and
development community in North America, the Asian and Pacific Basin
Nations, and Europe. All conference papers are closely peer reviewed,
and published in a proceedings by the IEEE Computer Society Press.
In recognition of the growing importance of computer science in
biology, HICSS-26 is devoting its entire Emerging Technology track to
Biotechnology Computing: software research, computer application
development and robotics related to biological problems. This track
consists of three full days of technical sessions, coupled with a set
of advanced seminars and tutorials. A minitrack is either a half day
or a full day of technical sessions devoted to a particular topic
within the scope of the track.
Minitrack proposals are hereby solicited to provide focus for the very
broad area of biological computing. A minitrack proposal should
identify a coherent topic that can be addressed by 3 to 12 papers.
For example, a minitrack might bring together papers on alternative
approaches to a particular biological question or it might examine the
applications of a particular technology in a variety of biological
areas. Possible minitrack topics include, but are by no means limited
to:
Gene recognition algorithms
Laboratory robotics for genetic sequencing
Molecular graphics
International coordination and exchange of genomic data
Protein structure prediction
Integrated laboratory management software
Large-scale ecological modelling
Developing standards for biological data interchange
Taxonomic & collections systems
Ethical and legal implications of computerized genetic databases
Responsbilities of a minitrack chair:
As a proposer of an accepted minitrack, you will become the chair of
the minitrack. The chair's primary responsibility is to solicit high
quality papers for the minitrack and oversee their review. Each
conference session consists of three 30 minute paper presentations. A
minitrack typically involves 2 or 4 such sessions, concluding with an
open discussion forum. You are to solicit manuscripts, have them
refereed, collaborate with the Track Coordinator in determining which
manuscripts are to be accepted, structure the sessions, introduce the
speakers in your sessions, and act as the moderator of the forum.
These responsibilities are described in more detail below.
Proceedure for submitting proposals:
Minitrack proposals should be no more than 6 pages. The proposal
should:
* Define a specific technical area to be covered, and say whether the
proposed minitrack is to be a half or full day.
* Justify why the proposed area is appropriate for the Biotechnology
Computing Track of HICSS-26. Discuss why the topic is timely and
important, and how the topic has been addressed in other
conferences or recent publications.
* Argue that there is likely to be sufficient high quality,
unpublished material to fill the proposed minitrack. A brief
survey of existing work, a list of researchers you intend to
solicit for papers, etc. are appropriate here.
* Provide a short autobiographical sketch and an explicit statement
that your organization endorses your involvement and has the
infrastructure to support that involvement as described in the
attached Responsibilities of Minitrack Coordinators.
We highly encourage the submission of proposals by e-mail. If sent by
surface mail, send seven copies. The deadlines are:
January 31, 1992 Proposals Due
February 10, 1992 Notification Regarding the Proposals
Each proposal will be evaluated by the steering committee whose
decision will be based on the overall technical merit of the
proposal. Since there is only a limited amount of space for
conducting the meeting, the number of proposals that will be
approved in each track is limited. We are looking forward to
receiving a proposal from you.
The Biotechnology Computing Steering Committee:
Lawrence Hunter, chair & contact
National Library of Medicine
Building 38A, MS-54
Bethesda, MD 20894
hunter at nlm.nih.gov
(301) 496-9300
fax (301)496-0673
Thomas Marr
Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory
email: marr at cshl.org
(516) 367-8393
John Wootton
National Center for Biotechnology Information
wootton at ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
(301) 496-2475
Minoru Kanehisa (tentative)
Institute for Chemical Research
Kyoto University, Japan
Phillipe Dessen (tentative)
Laboratoire de Biochimie
Ecole Polytechnique
91128 Palaiseau, France
Responsibilities of Minitrack Chairs:
Specifically, the responsibilities of a minitrack chair are:
1. Distribute a Call for Papers and Referees. Typically, this is done
via appropriate electronic bulletin boards, and through direct,
personal solicitations. Personal solicitations are important
because of the unusual interdisciplinary nature of the conference,
and because of the differences between the role of conferences in
biology and computer science.
A full-day minitrack should accept nine papers. A half-day
minitrack should accept five. To ensure excellent accepted papers,
typically more than two to three times the number of papers needed
must actually be solicited. Many papers will not meet reviewer's
standards, and some authors may not be able to fulfill their
initial commitment and complete the paper for you. If nine
technically solid papers do not survive the refereeing process, the
full-day minitrack can be changed to a half-day minitrack.
Each manuscript should be 22-25 typewritten, double-spaced pages in
length. The material must contain original results and not have
been submitted elsewhere while it is being evaluated for acceptance
to HICSS. Manuscripts that have already appeared in publication
are not to be considered for this conference.
2. You must acquire referees who will critically review all
manuscripts submitted to you. Quality refereeing is essential.
HICSS does not have "invited" manuscripts; all submissions go
through a rigorous peer review process. Each manuscript must be
stringently reviewed by at least four qualified people who are
actively working in the topics dealt with in the paper, in addition
to yourself. If you wish to submit a paper to your own minitrack,
six copies should be sent to the Track Coordinator who will
administer the refereeing process. Referees may not submit papers
to the minitrack.
3. Write an introduction to the minitrack for the proceedings. After
the authors have been notified of the acceptance of the final
version of their manuscript, you are to write a three to four-page
introduction to the minitrack for inclusion in the conference
proceedings. It should not be an overview of abstracts of the
papers, but should introduce the reader to the important problems
that exist in the area.
4. Select two best paper candidates from the manuscripts. Within ten
days after you have selected the manuscripts for inclusion in your
minitrack, your candidate best paper selections must be forwarded
to the Track Coordinator. If you have your own manuscript accepted
in your minitrack, make your selection excluding y
