Virtual Biocuration Conference Series 2026

Session Dates

  • March 9th, 2026 – 8:00 – 9:30 AM PT / 17:00 – 18:30 CET
  • June 8th, 2026 – 8:00 – 9:30 AM PT / 17:00 – 18:30 CET
  • September 7th, 2026 – 8:00 – 9:30 AM PT / 17:00 – 18:30 CET

About the Virtual Series

The 2026 Virtual Biocuration Conference Series continues the ISB’s mission to bring together biocurators, database developers, data scientists, and the broader research community – in a flexible, inclusive, and accessible format.

Following the success of our earlier virtual meetings (2021 – 2022), this series complements our in-person conferences. While in-person meetings remain invaluable for networking and collaboration, virtual sessions allow ISB to:

  • Reach a global audience regardless of travel restrictions or financial constraints.
  • Provide more frequent, shorter sessions throughout the year rather than a single intensive event.
  • Offer an accessible forum for early-career researchers to share their work and connect with leaders in the field.
  • Facilitate community-wide discussions on emerging topics in biocuration, data standards, sustainability, and professional development.

The 2026 series is free to attend: registration is open to anyone interested in biocuration and related fields.

Format and Schedule

Each 90-minute session features a mix of lightning talks, invited presentations, and panel discussions.

SessionDateTheme / Format
Session 1March 9th, 2026Talks + Panel Discussion – Curation Beyond Biocuration
Session 2June 8th, 2026Virtual Poster Session 
Session 3September 7th, 2026Talks + Panel Discussion – Careers in Biocuration

All sessions run 8:00 – 9:30 AM PT / 17:00 – 18:30 CET.

Inclusivity and Community Focus

The ISB is committed to making biocuration as open, diverse, and inclusive as possible. Our virtual events aim to:

  • Highlight contributions from underrepresented regions and disciplines.
  • Encourage participation from students and early-career researchers – including opportunities to help organize, present, or moderate.
  • Foster cross-disciplinary discussions beyond traditional biocuration boundaries (e.g., digital humanities, ecology, pharma data standards).

If you are interested in participating – as a speaker, panelist, or volunteer – please submit your abstract or expression of interest here.

Timeline

MilestoneDateDetails
Session 1 program announcementJanuary 9, 2026Talks and panelists confirmed
Session 2 program announcementApril 8, 2026Poster presenters announced
Session 3 program announcementJuly 7, 2026Talks and panelists confirmed

Session 1 – March 9th

Speakers will be announced at latest on January 9th, 2026.

Panel discussion Curation Beyond Biocuration with panelists:

  1. Joy Owango (University of Nairobi, Africa PID Alliance; digital humanities)
  2. Damiano Testa (University of Warwick; mathematics)
  3. Gavin Michael Farrell (University of Padua; machine learning)
  4. Samantha Pearman-Kanza (University of Southampton, Physical Sciences Data Infrastructure (PSDI); physical sciences)

Stay Connected!

Follow ISB updates on Slack, LinkedIn, Bluesky, and Mastodon or get in touch at isb@biocurator.org.

Organizers

This year’s virtual biocuration conference series is being organized by Federica Quaglia (Uni. Padova) and Charles Tapley Hoyt (RWTH Aachen). If you’d like to get involved, please shoot us an email at isb@biocurator.org.

News