Dear Colleague,
Please find enclosed a "Call for Papers, Demonstrations and Participation" for
the upcoming workshop on Biocomputing Education: Challenges and Opportunities
to be held as part of the First Pacific Symposium on Biocomputing (PSB-I), the
agenda of which can be found following the Call.
We are excited about this meeting and the workshop. To the best of our
knowledge (and please correct us if you have knowledge that we are wrong),
this will be the first time that a forum on educational issues will be
included in a meeting on computational approaches to molecular biology.
Please take a few minutes to fill out and return the enclosed questionnaire.
We would especially like your comments regarding what you think are the most
important issues in biocomputing education. Plan to submit a paper if you
can, but at least mark the meeting on your calendar and consider joining us in
Hawaii next year.
Regards,
Susan J. Johns Steven M. Thompson A. Keith Dunker
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CALL FOR PAPERS, DEMONSTRATIONS AND PARTICIPATION
Biocomputing Education: Challenges and Opportunities
First Pacific Symposium on Biocomputing
Ritz Carlton Hotel, Big Island, Hawaii --- January 3-6, 1996
Susan J. Johns, Steven M. Thompson, and A. Keith Dunker
Center for Visualization, Analysis and Design in the Molecular Sciences (VADMS)
and the Department of Biochemistry and Biophysics
Washington State University
Pullman, WA 99164-1224 & 4660
Phone: (509) 335-0424 & 335-5322
FAX: (509) 335-0540 & 335-9688
E-mail: prcadms at jaguar.csc.wsu.eduthompson at jaguar.csc.wsu.edudunker at jaguar.csc.wsu.edu
The need for a forum on educational issues:
Philosophically, we have come to the view that computer science is to molecular
biology as calculus is to physics, yet at present there is really no well
defined curriculum for computational molecular biology. Although specific
individuals have developed courses or workshops, educational materials such as
textbooks or laboratory exercises based on existing courses or workshops are
not widely available. In addition to the absence of formal materials, there is
also a lack of communication among those of us who are now teaching courses in
this domain.
Correcting the deficiencies regarding the lack of educational materials and the
lack of communication on educational issues represents both a challenge and an
opportunity for the community of scientists who are currently doing research
in biocomputing.
A workshop:
Recognizing the need for the development of an educational forum, the Pacific
Symposium on Biocomputing (PSB) has included our workshop on biocomputing
education as part of its overall program. Our hope is that this workshop on
biocomputing education will become an important node with regard to the
dissemination of educational materials, information, and approaches in this
field.
To the end of improving communication, we encourage your formal or informal
participation at our workshop on educational issues. Bring your course
outlines, syllabi, laboratory exercises, videotapes, CD-ROMS or whatever
educational materials you have developed or that you use for teaching
computational approaches to biology, especially molecular biology.
We hope to have a very open discussion about what works and what does not and
what needs to be done in the future.
Submission of papers:
We also encourage you to submit full technical papers or abstracts for posters
on biocomputing education to be included in the general refereeing process.
We envision that such papers could range from philosophical discussions on
biocomputing education to the nuts-and-bolts of particular courses or
workshops that are enjoying significant success. Given a sufficient number of
refereed papers submitted on biocomputing education, additional time will be
allocated by the PSB organizers for their presentation.
Submitted papers and abstracts will be carefully peer reviewed by at least 3
independent referees for publication in an archival proceedings. Publication
of a full paper is required for oral presentation. Submissions from
researchers who desire to present their work at the conference without the
publication of a full paper are eligible for exhibition space in the poster and
demonstration sessions.
Publication:
In addition to traditional print options, PSB is exploring the possibility of
publishing its proceedings as the first in a series of peer-reviewed
electronic conference publications from a major scientific publisher. Authors
would have the ability to include extensive color graphics, animations,
datasets and source code in papers published electronically and to obtain
printed versions of individual papers by facsimile. The publisher would
offer attractive licensing arrangements for the series, intending to insure
the greatest possible availability in libraries and other institutions.
Whether we opt for electronic publication or not, we hope to have the contents
of the proceedings indexed in Medline and elsewhere. PSB is also exploring the
possibility of CD-ROM distribution, as well as a follow-up book with extended
versions of the best papers. We hope that these forward-looking publication
efforts will encourage you to submit your best upcoming work to this
conference.
Key dates:
Immediate -- Return of questionnaire
June 15 -- Abstract of papers, presentation or demonstration
July 1 -- Feedback from us on abstracts
July 27 -- Full papers due
September 11 -- Notification of acceptance, with comments
October 2 -- Final, revised manuscripts due
Conference registration for authors is required along with the submission of
the final paper on October 2. There will be an early registration discount
for people who register on or before that date.
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First Pacific Symposium on Biocomputing (PSB-I)
Ritz Carlton Hotel, Big Island, Hawaii --- January 3-6, 1996
The conference will consist of several tracks:
§ The Evolution of Biomolecular Structures and the Structure of Biomolecular
Evolution
Chairs: Richard A. Goldstein & Russ B. Altman
Contact: altman at comis.stanford.edu
§ Interactive Molecular Visualization
Chairs: Michael Teschener and Chris Henn
Contact: micha at basel.sig.com
§ Stochastic Models, Formal Systems and Algorithmic Discovery for Genome
Informatics
Chairs: Tom Head, Takashi Yokomori, Katsumi Nitta & Kiyoshi Asai
Contact: tom at binghamton.edu
§ Discovering, Learning, Analyzing and Predicting Protein Structure
Chairs: Richard H. Lathrop & A. Keith Dunker
Contact: dunker at jaguar.csc.wsu.edu
minitracks:
§ Population Modeling
Chair: John Conery
Contact: conery at cs.uoregon.edu
§ Hybrid Quantum and Classical Mechanical Methods for Studying Biopolymers in
Solution
Chairs: Martin Field & Jiali Gao
contact: mjfield at ubs.fr
§ Models of Control Systems in Biology
Chair: Seth Michelson
contact: seth.michelson at syntex.com
§ Computational Studies on the Design of Protease Inhibitors
Chair: C. N. Hodge
Contact: hodgecn at lldmpc.dnet.dupont.com
and workshops:
§ Internet Tools for Computational Biology
Chair: Reinhard Doelz
Contact: doelz at ubaclu.unias.ch
§ Biocomputing Education: Challenges and Opportunities
Chairs: Susan J. Johns, Steven M. Thompson & A. Keith Dunker
Contact: thompson at jaguar.csc.wsu.edu
Key dates: July 27 -- Full papers due
September 11 -- Notification of acceptance, with comments
October 2 -- Final, revised manuscripts due
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Pacific Symposium on Biocomputing --- Educational Issues Questionnaire
Please provide us with the following information:
Name:
E-Mail:
Address:
Telephone: FAX:
General comments on Biocomputing Education:
Courses or workshops you are teaching in the broadly defined field of
"Biocomputing" and the year such courses or workshops began:
A brief statement of your willingness to participate in the 1996 meeting as one:
§ Who would submit a paper by early June describing course, workshop or
curriculum issues and who would subsequently attend the meeting to present
the paper if accepted;
(yes or no):
if yes, tentative title:
§ Who would plan to attend the meeting, participate in panel discussions,
software demonstrations, and workshops on educational issues, but who
would not submit a paper;
(yes or no):
§ Who might or might not attend the meeting, but who would be willing to
review papers.
(yes or no):
Names and addresses of others who might be interested in participating in the
educational session, especially the names and addresses of possible referees:
Finally, as there might be some funds available to support speakers, please
indicate whether you would require financial support to attend the meeting as
a speaker. Funds would be absolutely required,
yes or no:
Please FAX the filled-out questionnaire to (509) 335-9688
or e-mail to: thompson at jaguar.csc.wsu.edu
or mail to: Steve Thompson
Washington State University
VADMS Center
Pullman WA 99164-1224
