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International Advisory Committee visits NBIC

NBIC

01 Jul 2010

On June 6 – 8 2010, the NBIC International Advisory Committee (IAC) visited NBIC. The IAC, chaired by prof. Willem Stiekema (University of Amsterdam), further consists of prof. Carole Goble, (University of Manchester), prof. Ron Appel (SIB Swiss Institute of Bioinformatics), prof. Robert Glen (University of Cambridge), dr. Nick Goldman (EBI) and prof. Yves van de Peer (VIB, not present this meeting).

The committee members received an update of the achievements within NBIC in a lively programme, involving over 30 NBIC participants. In the historic ambiance of the Royal Tropical Institute in Amsterdam, the IAC received a diverse mix of overview presentations, poster presentations during a dedicated “poster market”, and had separate meetings with young NBIC researchers, as well as group leaders and representatives of NBIC partner organizations. The IAC was updated on the achievements in the NBIC programmes in research (BioRange), education (BioWise) and support (BioAssist), and on the dissemination & “valorisation” activities (NBICommons). International embedding and future plans were important topics throughout the meeting.

Overall, the committee was very pleased with the progress made within the Dutch bioinformatics field in general, and within NBIC in particular, which the IAC regards an essential part of the Dutch Life Science field. The IAC congratulates the NBIC partners with the scientific progress made in BioRange and the well structured and effective BioAssist support environment. The breadth of the NBIC education programme (from high school projects to the NBIC PhD School) was also well received. Under the coordination of NBIC, the Netherlands has meanwhile reached a state of substantial critical mass in the international bioinformatics field, ranking it third behind EBI and SIB. The IAC strongly supports the strategy of the management team to plan for NBIC’s sustainability. The new board of directors will take up the recommendations made by the IAC towards further improving and strengthening NBIC in the coming years.

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