Date: October 11, 2022 – October 14, 2022
Venue: Beykoz Institute of Life Sciences and Biotechnology, Istanbul, Turkiye
The 1st Colloquium on Bioinformatics Learning, Education and Training (CoBLET), themed “Bioinformatics Training and Education: Charting the Path Ahead”, held in a hybrid mode: both in-person and virtually, from 11th-14th of October 2022. The in-person event took place at Beykoz Institute of Life Sciences and Biotechnology, Istanbul, Turkiye, while at the same time, the event was broadcasted via the Zoom platform.
Day 1: Tuesday, 11-10-2022
The first day of COBLET 2022 kicked off with the registration of walk-in participants and confirmation of registered attendees. Simultaneously, the Eduthon, a competitive educational event, was launched exclusively for Eduthon participants. In-person participants were guided to the conference hall, while virtual participants joined via a Zoom link.
During the opening session, the event was officially inaugurated with remarks from Dr. Ayesha Fatima, the Chair. The Director of BILSAB, Prof. Dr. Mehmet Ziya Doymaz, and the Rector of Bezmialem Vakif University, Prof. Dr. Rümeyza Kazancıoğlu, welcomed the attendees.
Dr. Celia van Gelder, the Chairperson of GOBLET, delivered a welcome address, providing insights into the journey of GOBLET and the future direction of the organization. This was followed by a keynote talk by Prof. Dr. Nicola Mulder, delivered virtually, on global activities in bioinformatics training and education.
The day also featured short talks and poster presentations, providing participants with an opportunity to showcase their research and projects. An interactive session on computational biology education in Turkey included panelists from various academic institutions and was moderated by Nilay Yönet from ISCB-RSG Türkiye.
Day 1 concluded with the continuation of the Eduthon, where teams continued their work and collaboration.
Day 2: Wednesday, 12.10.2022
The second day of COBLET 2022 began with the continuation of the Eduthon, with teams furthering their work and collaboration.
The opening session set the stage for the day’s events, followed by a keynote talk by Yeşim Aydın Son, delivered virtually, on the bioinformatics education landscape in Turkey.
Similar to the previous day, short talks and poster presentations provided participants with an opportunity to present their work. The Bioinformatics Education Grand Challenge Eduthon featured presentations of solutions developed by the participating teams, with a panel of judges evaluating the projects.
Another keynote talk by Russel Schwartz focused on the perspectives on the past, present, and future of bioinformatics curriculum design. The main event of the colloquium concluded with an award ceremony and a group photo session.
Day 3: Thursday, 13.10.2022
The third day of COBLET 2022 featured workshops aimed at providing participants with specialized training and knowledge enhancement. Workshop topics included quantum computing, teaching how to FAIRify training materials, good practices for collaborative writing, and scientific figure design. The day was filled with interactive sessions and hands-on activities led by experienced trainers.
Day 4: Friday, 14.10.2022
The final day of COBLET 2022 began with a workshop on the introduction to machine learning for biologists. This workshop provided participants with valuable insights and practical skills in applying machine learning techniques in the field of biology.
The day concluded with the private session of the GOBLET Annual General Meeting (AGM), which allowed GOBLET members to discuss organizational matters and future initiatives.