Modern research in life sciences is characterised
by the increasing volume and complexity of
the data involved. Bioinformatics tools and
approaches are crucial for processing and
interpreting these complex datasets and for
generating meaningful biological knowledge.
The Netherlands Bioinformatics Centre (NBIC) was founded in 2003 to stimulate, organise and advance the field of bioinformatics in the
Netherlands. NBIC does so by building a strong bioinformatics expertise community, developing cutting-edge computational methods and tools and creating a top-level and accessible bioinformatics infrastructure. The NBIC approach is characterised by the collaboration of bioinformatics experts from academia and industry. NBIC research projects are designed to advance the bioinformatics field and boost the biology research of partner centres. Knowledge transfer and training has high priority in all programmes, which are supported by dedicated engineering teams and valorisation projects.
The activities of NBIC are organised in three programmes
The NBIC BioRange programme focuses on innovative and groundbreaking bioinformatics research. Bioinformatics researchers work on topics such as sequence-based bioinformatics, genotype-phenotype modelling, bioinformatics of proteomics and metabolomics analysis, systems bioinformatics and e-science for bioinformatics. BioRange projects have over the past years generated numerous published tools and algorithms, paving the way for new discoveries in biology research.
BioAssist is the bioinformatics support programme of NBIC. Organised in distributed taskforces for separate technology communities, BioAssist is set up to establish a collaborative bioinformatics research infrastructure and offer methods and services in the field of genomics and related molecular biology research. A dedicated engineering team provides professional software engineering capacity, while a research support team offers project services to biologists. The e-bioscience team provides access to high-end computing and e-science infrastructures through collaboration with BiG Grid, the Dutch e-science grid organisation.
The NBIC research training BioWise programme facilitates, coordinates and implements educational activities aimed at the next generation of bioinformaticians in academia and industry. BioWise addresses all levels of education, ranging from top academic training (NBIC PhD School) and workshops on dedicated bioinformatics topics, to teaching at secondary school level (bioinformatics@school).
Additional information
Netherlands Bioinformatics Centre factsheet
Website
www.nbic.nl