Cytoscape Developer Retreat 2008

Toronto - July 16th - 19th, 2008 [http://cytoscape2008.eventbrite.com/ Registration Now Online] - Please help us plan by registering early!

Theme for 2008: Developer and user community outreach

On 16th – 19th July 2008 we will be hosting the 6th Annual Cytoscape Retreat at the Donnelly Centre for Cellular and Biomolecular Research, University of Toronto, Canada.

This year’s meeting is particularly exciting since it is the first time it will be held in Canada and will be purely user and developer community focused. It is also close to the major international computational biology conference, [http://www.iscb.org/ismb2008/general_info.php Intelligent Systems for Molecular Biology (ISMB)], and the [http://www.yeast-meet.org/ International Yeast Meeting], to be held in Toronto in July. We expect close to 100 participants interested in biological pathway and network analysis. Social activities around the meeting are also scheduled.

Related conference schedules:

• [http://www.iscb.org/ismb2008/general_info.php ISMB] - July 19-23, 2008

• [http://www.yeast-meet.org/ Yeast meeting] - July 22-27, 2008.

Cytoscape is jointly developed by the groups of Benno Schwikowski (Pasteur Institute, Paris), Trey Ideker (University of California San Diego), Chris Sander (Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center), Lee Hood (Institute of Systems Biology, Seattle), Annette Adler (Agilent Technologies, Santa Clara), Gary Bader (University of Toronto) and Bruce Conklin (Gladstone Institute UCSF, GenMAPP). Funding for Cytoscape is provided by the U.S. National Institute of General Medical Sciences of the National Institutes of Health under award number GM070743-01. Corporate funding is provided through a contract from Unilever PLC. These groups are dedicated to maintaining and developing Cytoscape and providing support to the user community.

The organization committee this year is:

• Gary Bader
• Chris Workman
• Francis Ouellette

If you have any comments or questions about the retreat, please send e-mail to [mailto:gary.bader@utoronto.ca Gary Bader].

Preliminary Schedule

Technical session

The technical session will mainly be informal and technically focused with all major Cytoscape team members gathered together to set new directions for Cytoscape, plan new features and collaboratively work on designing code.

User session

The user session is geared towards all users of Cytoscape, including researchers and plugin developers. These sessions will showcase work users are doing with Cytoscape, provide tutorial opportunities and provide a forum for user feedback on Cytoscape features, bugs and development plans.

Location

The Cytoscape retreat will be held at the [http://rrs.osm.utoronto.ca/map/f?p=110:4:9399106623511446478::::P4_BLDG_KEY:160 Donnelly Centre for Cellular and Biomolecular Research (CCBR)], which can be seen at the lower right side of the [http://rrs.osm.utoronto.ca/map/ University of Toronto campus map] or on [http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&hl=en&q=160+College+St,+Toronto+ON&om=1 Google Maps].

The address is:

• 160 College St., Toronto, near the corner of University Ave and College St.

• [http://tdccbr.med.utoronto.ca Further information about the CCBR]

The Cytoscape retreat will be held in the following CCBR building conference rooms:

• The Red Room (2nd floor) - Main location for Cytoscape retreat

• The Black Room (2nd floor) - Break out room and food

• The 6th floor conference room - Break out room

Building security:

• The CCBR building requires a security card to access before 8am and after 6pm, and all day on weekends. Retreat representatives will be available to let people into the building on the weekend.

Registration FAQ

• Is there a poster session?

  • A poster session is not currently planned, however, if you're interested, email Gary (gary.bader@utoronto.ca). If there is enough interest, we can organize a session.

• How do I sign up for the application showcase day?
  • During the registration process, please answer the question: "If you would like to present your work in the application showcase day (Thursday July 17th), please enter your presentation title and a brief summary of what you will present. The organizers will contact you for further information."

Travel and Accommodation

We recommend Toronto International Airport (YYZ) or if you live in Canada or the US, Toronto City Centre Airport (YTZ) serviced by [http://www.flyporter.com/ Porter Airlines]. They are both provide easy access to the city, with numerous shuttles, taxis, car services and public transportation options.

July is a big conference month in Toronto. We highly recommend making your hotel reservations ASAP! Try hotels.com or check out the options listed at the [http://www.iscb.org/ismb2008/general_info.php ISMB 2008] or [http://www.yeast-meet.org/ International Yeast Meeting 2008] conference websites. These conferences are happening just after the Cytoscape retreat at nearby city locations.

Some nearby recommended Bed and Breakfasts and Hotels are:

• [http://www.deltahotels.com/hotels/hotels.php?hotelId=10 Delta Chelsea Hotel] Large hotel

• [http://www.baldwininn.com/ Baldwin Village Inn] Bed and Breakfast (limited number of rooms)

• [http://www.bbcanada.com/504.html?showpage=1 Beverley Place] Bed and Breakfast (limited number of rooms)

Some University of Toronto student residences:

• [http://www.trinity.utoronto.ca/Summer_Residence/default.htm New College Residence (anyone)]

• [http://www.trinity.utoronto.ca/Summer_Residence/default.htm Trinity College (students only)]

• [http://www.uc.utoronto.ca/content/view/125/795/ University College (students only)]

• [http://www.vicu.utoronto.ca/facilities/accommodations.htm Victoria College (anyone)]

• [http://wdw.utoronto.ca/residence/index.php/home/indexx/C78/prospective Woodsworth College (conference groups/anyone?)]

• [http://www.utoronto.ca/massey/summer.html Massey College]