ISCB SC RSG Turkiye
ISCB SC RSG Turkiye has become a paramount student initiative, organizing events that contribute to the developing computational biology and bioinformatics society in Turkey.
We organize student symposiums attracting undergraduate and graduate students since 2012. We have been organizing our symposiums as satellite meetings to HIBIT (International Symposium on Health Informatics and Bioinformatics), which is the biggest bioinformatics meeting in Turkiye. Being less formal and student-oriented organization, our student symposiums has been successful in encouraging early career researchers to meet and exchange their expertise in the area.
About Symposium
24-25 October 2020
RSG Türkiye 7th Student Symposium
Dr. Abdullah Kahraman, one of our keynote speakers, was with us with his speech titled “Is Bioinformatics Worth It?”. Dr. Abdullah Kahraman, from the University Hospital Zurich, Institute of Pathology and Molecular Pathology, emphasized the importance and potential of bioinformatics as a research field. He highlighted that bioinformatics is often underestimated by researchers, educational institutions, and state representatives. While it has traditionally been seen as a technical service with less importance than wet lab experiments, the increasing digitalization of biological and clinical labs, along with advancements in high-throughput technologies, is changing this perception. He suggested that it is worth pursuing a career in bioinformatics due to its pivotal role in analyzing and interpreting biological data, especially considering the evolving digital landscape in the field of research.
Another keynote speaker this year, Dr. Pınar Pir, gave her speech “How to Avoid Learning Statistics”. Dr. Pınar Pir from Gebze Technical University, Department of Bioengineering, discussed the importance of understanding statistics in the field of bioinformatics. While bioinformatics tools often provide user-friendly interfaces that allow users to avoid programming, Dr. Pir emphasized the significance of learning statistics in bioinformatics. The speaker highlighted that the ability to comprehend and apply statistical concepts is essential for making informed decisions, selecting appropriate analysis methods, and correctly interpreting results in this field.
In this year’s workshop sessions, Etka Yapar from Middle East Technical University presented “Introduction to R programming”, Ulaş Işıldak presented “Machine learning with R programming” and H. Melike Dönertaş from European Molecular Biology Laboratory (EMBL) presented “Data visualisation with ggplot”.