CBH CIRCLE is an Affiliate Partner of the Canadian Bioinformatics Hub.
Up to 2,700 CHF in expenses (2026 cycle); up to 2,500 CHF (2025 cycle). Paid as reimbursement following the conference.
Alternative reports:
Open to all conference participants associated with biocuration — biocurators, software engineers, students and others whose work contributes to biocuration. Priority is given to students and those in junior posts, and to applicants from low- to middle-income countries or countries suffering from natural and humanitarian disasters. The award committee aims to select awardees from a range of countries across different continents, with around two-thirds of awards ring-fenced for low- to middle-income countries and countries suffering from disasters. Travel fellowships are available to attendees submitting an abstract for an oral or poster presentation, subject to review. ISB membership is asked for on the application (applicants provide the email address associated with their ISB membership).
TBD 2027 (2026 pattern not published in search results; 2025-cycle pattern: application deadline extended until 5:00 PM Eastern Time, November 25, 2024 — i.e., roughly five months before the April conference. Award notification is sent by email at least 3 months before the conference.)
Alternative reports:
Submit via the ISB Travel Fellowship Application Form, providing the email address associated with ISB membership if applicable, and submit an abstract for an oral or poster presentation. All awardees are expected to present either a talk or a poster at the conference. In-person awardees must additionally submit a recent photograph and a written report (minimum 100 words) about the outcomes of their attendance, which will be posted on the ISB website, newsletter and mailing list and promoted on social media (Bluesky, LinkedIn, Mastodon).
Reimbursement model — awardees must pay their own expenses up front and then send receipts to the ISB after the conference, INCLUDING receipts for any currency exchange costs. Mandatory post-conference report and photograph, which the ISB publishes. Presentation (talk or poster) is required. In one recent cycle the single in-person award was restricted to low-income-country applicants only, so the in-person/low-income split varies by year.
Dates: 2027: TBD. 2026 pattern: April 20-24, 2026
Location: 2027: TBD — the ISB Executive Committee has opened the call to host the 20th International Biocuration Conference. 2026: Cape Town, South Africa. Recent rotation: Kansas City, USA (2025); Faridabad, India (2024); Padua, Italy (2023).
Research match: Strong and specific match to the database half of Wishart's program. The ISB exists for biocurators, database developers, software engineers and researchers with an interest in biocuration, and its aims — promoting best practices, ensuring interoperability, creating and maintaining standards, and relationships with journal publishers — map directly onto the sustained curation effort behind HMDB, DrugBank, NP-MRD, MiMeDB, MarkerDB and PathBank. Database is the society's official journal and has published its conference proceedings since 2009. This is the venue where the curation methodology behind those resources is the primary subject rather than a supporting detail.
Conference links:
CBH CIRCLE is an Affiliate Partner of the Canadian Bioinformatics Hub.