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ECCB 2026

25th European Conference on Computational Biology (ECCB) — Geneva, Switzerland · August 31 – September 4, 2026. In-person. Organized by SIB Swiss Institute of Bioinformatics. Theme: "Biodiversity, AI & Health: computational biology to address the challenges of our time."

Status: Scaffold — meeting upcoming (~16 weeks out as of May 11, 2026). Program shape is fixed (3 main-conference days + tutorials + Communities Day), all 4 keynote speakers announced, proceedings submissions closed (notifications mid-May 2026), highlight-talk submissions closed (notifications early-June 2026). The accepted-paper list is not yet public; tool-page bulk extraction triggers after the OUP Bioinformatics supplement posts (~late-July / mid-August 2026).

Why ECCB 2026 is a separate vault from ISMB 2026: ISMB and ECCB co-locate in joint years (ISMB/ECCB 2025 Liverpool). 2026 is not a joint year — ISMB 2026 runs Jul 12–16 in Washington DC, and ECCB 2026 runs Aug 31–Sep 4 in Geneva as a standalone European event. Same proceedings journal (Bioinformatics, OUP), same broad COSI-style scope, partially overlapping speaker base, but distinct program committee (SIB-led), distinct accepted-paper list, distinct keynote slate. We keep them as sibling vaults rather than merging.

Why this is in the vault

  • Methods-and-tools depth, European-flavored. ECCB is the largest European computational-biology meeting (~1,000–2,000 attendees historical baseline; smaller than ISMB's ~2,000–3,000). The accepted-paper subset that produces tool pages is narrower than ISMB but with very high overlap with the EuroBioC2025 / GBCC2025 / Robinson-lab / Soneson / SIB / EMBL speaker base. Many tools we've already documented (footprintR, SpatialData, mia, Tidyomics, msqrob2, DESpace, sosta, signifinder, plyxp, atena, MultiAssayExperiment, OSTA) re-surface here with European-side updates or applied case studies.
  • Same peer-reviewed proceedings track as ISMB. ECCB proceedings papers publish as an online-only open-access (CC-BY) supplementary issue of Bioinformatics (OUP), $715 USD APC, fully indexed in Medline/ISI, posted before the conference. So tool pages here can cite a published DOI before the meeting starts — same depth pattern as ISMB 2026, not the slide-deck-only pattern of EuroBioC / GBCC.
  • AACR axis fit. Five named Scientific Areas map directly onto AACR-vault axes: Genomics (Reinert), Transcriptomics (Ohler), Proteins/Structural Biology (Bahar), Systems Biology (Valencia), and Biodiversity/Sustainability (Bärenfaller). The first four are core AACR-relevant; the fifth is the European-distinct dimension (env-bio + pathogen surveillance) that JPM and AACR don't cover. The ELIXIR Track adds a research-infrastructure layer (FAIR data, registries, GA4GH-adjacent standards) with no AACR equivalent.
  • Cross-vault people overlap, Europe-weighted. The Robinson lab (Zurich), Soneson (FMI Basel), Crowell (CNAG Barcelona), Marconato (EMBL Heidelberg), Borman (Turku), Castelo (UPF Barcelona), Marini (IMBEI Mainz), Lahti (Turku), Beerenwinkel (ETH Zurich, ECCB 2026 Scientific Committee co-chair), Bitbol (EPFL, co-chair), Dessimoz (SIB, Programme Chair), Reinert (FU Berlin) → all are likely to surface here. The Geneva venue and SIB stewardship make this the highest-density European-side computational-biology meeting of 2026.
  • One Swiss/EU policy keynote. Jeremy Farrar (WHO Assistant Director-General, ex-Wellcome) opens the meeting — atypical for a methods conference, signals the "AI & Health" theme arc. Worth a keynote treatment even though it isn't a tools talk.

What we have / will have to work with

Source Coverage Notes
Conference home full program shell, 4 keynote speakers, 5 Scientific Area chairs, schedule by day eccb2026.org
Programme page day-by-day session count: 3 sci sessions/day, 3 special-track sessions/day, ELIXIR track, Industry track, Focus sessions, Communities Day eccb2026.org/programme
Keynote speakers page 4 confirmed: Farrar (WHO, Mon), Malaspinas (UNIL/SIB, Tue), Quake (Stanford, Tue), Walczak (CNRS-ENS, Wed close) eccb2026.org/keynote-speakers
Call for Proceedings closed; notifications mid-May 2026; Bioinformatics OUP supplement; $715 APC eccb2026.org/call-proceedings
Call for Highlight Talks + Posters closed Apr 20, 2026; notifications early-June 2026 eccb2026.org/call-highlight-talk-poster
Committees Scientific Committee co-chairs (Bitbol EPFL + Beerenwinkel ETH), Programme Chair (Dessimoz SIB), 5 Scientific Area chairs, Tutorials chairs (Palagi + Marek SIB) eccb2026.org/committees
Proceedings (Bioinformatics journal) peer-reviewed full papers, max 7 pages, online-only OUP CC-BY supplement typically posts ~mid-to-late July or August 2026, ahead of the meeting
ELIXIR Track dedicated multi-session stream embedded in the main program populated separately; ELIXIR Communities track also runs through the highlight-talks call
Communities Day (Sep 4) independent satellite events organized by SIB Communities biodiversity, pathogen surveillance, research infrastructures
Tutorials & Workshops (Sep 3) full-day track, count not yet public typically 6–10 tutorials at ECCB; site to refresh in late-June
ISCB Student Council Symposium (Sep 3) early-career track parallel to tutorials logged separately
Press / social #ECCB2026, SIB news feed, #SIBSwiss useful for keynote titles + best-paper announcement
Recordings historically uneven for ECCB; some recorded by ISCB Nucleus post-meeting recheck

Program shape

ECCB 2026 runs Mon Aug 31 (opening + Farrar keynote) through Wed Sep 2 (closing keynote by Walczak, 16:00). The first three days are the main scientific program (3 paper/highlight sessions per day in parallel with 3 special-track sessions per day). Thu Sep 3 is tutorials/workshops + ISCB Student Council Symposium. Fri Sep 4 is Communities Day — SIB Community-led satellites (biodiversity, pathogen surveillance, infrastructures).

Counts:

  • 4 Distinguished Keynotes spread across Mon–Wed (Farrar opens Mon; Malaspinas + Quake on Tue; Walczak closes Wed)
  • 9 main scientific sessions over 3 days (Proceedings + Highlight talks)
  • 9 special-track sessions over 3 days (ELIXIR ×4, Industry ×1, Focus ×4)
  • 5 Scientific Areas: Genomics, Transcriptomics, Proteins/Structural Biology, Systems Biology, Biodiversity/Sustainability
  • Poster sessions Tue + Wed (count TBD; Career Workshop runs alongside Wed poster session)
  • Public lecture Mon afternoon (in French; outreach component) — atypical for methods meetings, reflects Geneva/SIB civic profile
  • Tutorials/Workshops + ISCB SCS Thu Sep 3
  • Communities Day Fri Sep 4 — independent satellites

Opening ceremony note: the President of the Swiss Confederation (Guy Parmelin) gives the opening address Mon Aug 31, 10:00. Worth noting in the day-1 digest as a policy / Swiss-Bio context signal — same role as Galatea Bio's Bustamante closing keynote at ISMB 2026, but on the European policy side.

Organization

conferences/eccb-2026/
├── index.md             # this page
├── program-notes.md     # internal working file — day-by-day grid + cross-vault watch list
├── themes.md            # cross-day synthesis (deferred until post-meeting)
├── digest/              # day-by-day recap (deferred until post-meeting)
│   ├── day-1-monday.md       # opening ceremony + Farrar keynote + 3 sci sessions + ELIXIR ×2 + Industry
│   ├── day-2-tuesday.md      # Malaspinas + Quake keynotes + 3 sci sessions + ELIXIR + 2 Focus + poster 1
│   ├── day-3-wednesday.md    # 3 sci sessions + ELIXIR + 2 Focus + poster 2 + Career Workshop + Walczak close
│   ├── day-4-thursday.md     # Tutorials/Workshops + ISCB SCS + SIB SAB
│   └── day-5-friday.md       # Communities Day satellites
├── keynotes/            # one entry per distinguished keynote (deferred)
│   ├── farrar-who.md         # WHO / AI-health policy framing
│   ├── malaspinas-ancient-dna.md
│   ├── quake-cell-types.md
│   └── walczak-immune-response.md
├── topics/              # cross-cutting bins (deferred)
│   ├── ai-health/             # Farrar + several MLCSB-adjacent sessions
│   ├── biodiversity-pathogen/ # Bärenfaller area + Communities Day
│   ├── single-cell/           # Quake keynote sets up; Transcriptomics area
│   ├── ancient-dna-popgen/    # Malaspinas keynote + Statistical/Pop Genetics tracks
│   ├── immune-repertoire/     # Walczak keynote + adjacent
│   ├── elixir-infra/          # ELIXIR Track ×4 — FAIR, registries, GA4GH-adjacent
│   └── structural-bio/        # Bahar area + Proteins/Structural Biology track
├── tools/               # PRIMARY artifact — one entry per package / method
│   └── index.md
└── sessions/            # full per-session abstract index (post-meeting)
    └── index.md

The tools/ directory is the load-bearing artifact, same shape as ISMB 2026 / RECOMB 2026 / EuroBioC2025 / GBCC2025. ECCB-specific additions to the per-tool template (see tools/index.md): a Proceedings row pointing to the Bioinformatics OUP DOI, a Scientific Area field naming one of the five ECCB areas (Genomics / Transcriptomics / Proteins/Structural Biology / Systems Biology / Biodiversity/Sustainability), and an ELIXIR Community field for tools surfacing through the ELIXIR Track.

What's different from ISMB / EuroBioC / GBCC / RECOMB

  • Scale. ~1,000–2,000 attendees (between EuroBioC's ~250 and ISMB's ~3,000). Tool-page extraction load is intermediate — expected ~30–60 entries after the bulk pass (vs. ISMB's ~60–120 and RECOMB's ~50–60).
  • Same proceedings journal as ISMB. Bioinformatics (OUP) CC-BY supplement, ~$700 APC, posted pre-meeting. Tool entries can cite a real DOI before the talk happens — same depth pattern as ISMB, not RECOMB's per-paper partnering-journal split.
  • ELIXIR Track is the distinct dimension. ISMB has BOSC (open-source / Bioconductor / Galaxy / scverse). RECOMB has no analogue. ECCB has the ELIXIR Track — a 4-session stream focused on European research infrastructures (registries, FAIR data, training, communities). This is where ELIXIR-Bio.tools, BioContainers, Galaxy Europe, EuropePMC, Ensembl, UniProt, IntAct, etc. typically surface. Tool entries from the ELIXIR Track are infrastructure, not algorithms; the per-tool template's Status field needs an infra / registry value.
  • Biodiversity/Sustainability area is unique. None of ISMB / RECOMB / EuroBioC / GBCC has a dedicated biodiversity track. ECCB does (Bärenfaller, area chair), and Communities Day Fri Sep 4 includes a biodiversity satellite. Low AACR axis fit for individual tool pages, but high relevance for the cross-vault "pathogen + environmental + One Health" thread that connects to ISMB Microbiome COSI and JPM 2026 commercial-genomics framing.
  • Communities Day adds satellite events the main programs don't have. Closest analogue is RECOMB's satellite workshops (May 24–25 Thessaloniki) — but RECOMB satellites are before the main program, ECCB Communities Day is after. Tool/community pages from Communities Day will need to be wired into the main sessions/ index with a clear Day 5 / Communities Day label.
  • Single-track on Mon–Wed for plenary keynotes; parallel for sci sessions. Mon–Wed has plenary keynote slots but 3 parallel sci + 3 parallel special-track sessions per day. Less of a parallel-track triage problem than ISMB's 22-COSI grid; comparable to EuroBioC's 2-room shape but at larger scale.

Sources

Next step

  • Now (pre-meeting, May 11 – Aug 30): monitor for the accepted-proceedings list. Proceedings notifications go to authors mid-May 2026; the Bioinformatics OUP supplement typically posts in late-July or August 2026 (~1 month before the meeting). Highlight-talk acceptances flow early-June. Once both lists are public, scaffold likely tool pages from titles + bioRxiv preprints. ELIXIR Track session topics typically firm up in June.
  • During the meeting (Aug 31 – Sep 4): real-time capture of keynote talk titles (Farrar's is not yet announced), best-paper / best-student-paper awards (named on stage Wed Sep 2 close), ELIXIR community-tool demos, and Communities Day satellite outputs.
  • Bulk tool-page extraction (post-meeting, Sep 5+): ~30–60 candidate entries spanning the proceedings papers + highlight talks + ELIXIR Track demos + tutorials. Existing-in-corpus tools (SpatialData, mia, Tidyomics, footprintR, msqrob2, DESpace, sosta, etc.) get an "ECCB 2026 update" section appended; new ECCB-debuting tools get fresh entries.
  • ELIXIR-infrastructure separate sweep (Sep 10+): the ELIXIR Track contributes a distinct infrastructure-tool bin (registries, FAIR-data tooling, training platforms, community frameworks) that doesn't map cleanly to the "package + paper + benchmark" template. Plan a separate topics/elixir-infra/ page that catalogues these as "infrastructure entries" rather than full tool pages.
  • Communities Day satellite pass (Sep 5+): Fri Sep 4 Communities Day is independent satellite events — biodiversity, pathogen surveillance, research infrastructures. Each satellite gets its own short entry in digest/day-5-friday.md; tools that emerge get tool pages.
  • Cross-link map (Sep 7+): Build the EuroBioC2025 ↔ GBCC2025 ↔ ISMB 2026 ↔ ECCB 2026 ↔ BioC2026 cross-link table; populate the "Mentioned elsewhere" cell on each tool page. Heaviest expected re-up traffic: Soneson, Marconato, Crowell, Borman, Castelo, Marini, Robinson-lab, Beerenwinkel-lab, Dessimoz-lab.