On September 15th 2014, the UBC celebrated it’s kick-off with a symposium. The UBC was overwhelmed by the enthusiastic registrations for this symposium. Where we at first estimated that about 100-130 people would attend, about 200 people registered and came to listen to four great talks given by the invited speakers. We want to thank you all for your attendance, congratulations and interest in bioinformatics here in Utrecht. It also encouraged us in our efforts and most importantly showed us that we are on the right track.
Bioinformatics has taken a firm hold in current research all over the life sciences (and even beyond). As our dean, Gerrit van Meer explained that Utrecht University rewarded this focus grant to stimulate the bioinformatics community, infrastructure and education to further strengthen bioinformatics in Utrecht. Furthermore, our four speakers showed the importance and need of bioinformatics in their research and presented us with some great examples from their own research.
The day ended with drinks and snacks for the participants, allowing for the opportunity to get into contact with the bioinformatics community, not only from Utrecht but also from all over The Netherlands. We hope that this kick-off not only provided an insight in Utrecht bioinformatics research, but also allowed for finding new and interesting opportunities for interaction and perhaps collaborations with other researchers.
We thank you all for attending, and hope to see you all soon again at some other bioinformatics event.
With kind regards,
Berend Snel, Patrick Kemmeren and Bas van Breukelen
