A summer school focusing on biological data science has completed its first two-week long session in Uzhgorod, Ukraine. Over a hundred students from all over the country gathered at Uzhgorod National University to take part in the school’s advanced program, which was taught in English and Ukrainian. The initiative was organized by leading biological data scientists from around the world and the staff of UzNU’s Center for Informational Technologies. The program included lectures, labs, and lots of communication, professional as well as social. The students especially enjoyed a biologically themed game, during which they needed to solve a task and present the result visually, without words.

The essence of the summer school in Uzhgorod is to invite students to take part in the global scientific community, let them work in a team of international scientists and practice actual research. An important role in the project is played by the School of Molecular and Theoretical Biology (supported by Zimin Foundation) and its scientific director Fyodor Kondrashov. According to Kondrashov, the event in Uzhgorod was a pilot project, organized within a short timeframe and aiming to support Ukrainian students with an interest in bioinformatics, a task especially significant during Russia’s military invasion. The project’s long-term goal is to use this pilot project as a starting point to develop Ukrainian bioinformatics and biological data science in partnership with international researchers in the area.

According to Wolfhang Huber of EMBL, co-founder of Bioconductor, after the long shut-down and now during the war, it is critical for students to meet in person and feel the academic support that would stimulate their professional growth. Twenty-two teachers, including eight renowned professors and research laboratory directors, traveled to Uzhgorod to educate students on cutting-edge methods in bioinformatics and data analysis in biology and biomedicine. Among the event’s organizers were European Molecular Biology Laboratory, European Molecular Biology Organization, Harvard, Sanger Institute, and Bioconductor. Zimin Foundation was one of the partners of the biological school in Uzhgorod.

Learn more about the school here.

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