Dear all,

I apologize if you receive multiple copies of this call for papers.

======================================================== Preliminary Call for Papers - International Workshop on

COMPUTATIONAL METHODS IN SYSTEMS BIOLOGY

University of Trento, Italy 11-13 February, 2003 http://www.science.unitn.it/%7Epriami/cmsb.html

Molecular biology has until now mainly focussed on individual molecules, on their properties as isolated entities or as complexes in very simple model systems. However, biological molecules in living systems participate in very complex networks, including regulatory networks for gene expression, intracellular metabolic networks and both intra- and intercellular communication networks. Such networks are involved in the maintenance (homeostasis) as well as the differentiation of cellular systems of which we have a very incomplete understanding.

Nevertheless, the progress of molecular biology has made possible the detailed description of the components that constitute living systems, notably genes and proteins. Large scale genome sequencing means that we can (at least in principle) delimneate all macromolecular components of a given cellular system, and microarray experiments as well as large scale proteomics will soon give us large amounts of experimental data on gene regulation, molecular interactions and cellular networks. The challenge of the 21st century will be to understand how these individual components integrate to complex systems and the function and evolution of these systems, thus scaling up from molecular biology to systems biology. By combining experimental data with advanced formal theories from computer science, "the formal language for biological systems" to specify dynamic models of interacting molecular entities would be essential for

1. understanding normal behaviour of cellular processes, and how changes may affect the processes and cause disease. It may be possible to correlate genetic properties and symptoms in new and more efficient ways, based on an actual understanding of how various processes interact.

2. Providing predictability and flexibility to academic, pharmaceutical, biotechnology and medical researchers studying gene or protein functions. In particular, it may save time by reducing the number of experiments needed, if inadequate hypotheses could be excluded by computer simulation.

IMPORTANT DATES

* Nov 9, 2002 Submission deadline for papers and demos * Dec 20, 2002 Notification of acceptance * Jan 17, 2003 Camera-ready version due

INVITED SPEAKERS

* Ehud Shapiro, Weizmann Institute of Science, Israel * To be announced

TOPICS OF INTEREST INCLUDE

* Modelling languages for Systems Biology * Concurrency theory in Systems Biology * Constraint programming in Systems Biology * Logical methods in Systems Biology * Formal methods to analyse biomolecular systems * Quantitative analysis of biomolecular systems * Simulation techniques for Systems Biology * Case studies

(Preliminary) PROGRAMME COMMITTEE

* Charles Auffray, CNRS, Villejuif (F) * Cosima Baldari, Universita' di Siena (I) * Alexander Bockmayr, Universite' Henri Poincare', Nancy (F) * Luca Cardelli, Microsoft Research Cambridge (UK) * Vincent Danos, Universite' Paris VII (F) * Pierpaolo Degano, Universita' di Pisa (I) * Francois Fages, INRIA Rocquencourt (F) * Drablos Finn, , Norwegian University of Science and Technology, Trondheim (N) * Monika Heiner, Brandenburg University of Technology at Cottbus, (D) * Ina Koch, University of Applied Sciences Berlin, (D). * John E. Ladbury, University College London (UK) * Satoru Miyano, University of Tokyo (JP) * Gordon Plotkin, University of Edinburgh (UK) * Simon Plyte, Pharmacia Corporation (I) * Corrado Priami (CHAIR), Universita' di Trento (I) * Aviv Regev, Weizmann Institute of Science (IL) * Magali Roux-Rouquie', BSMI Pasteur Institute (F) * Vincent Schachter, Hybrigenics Paris (F) * Masaru Tomita, Keio University (JP) * Adelinde Uhrmacher, University of Rostock (D) * Alfonso Valencia, CNB-CSIC Centro Nacional de Biotecnologia, Cantoblanco Madrid, (E) * Olaf Wolkenhauer, UMIST, Manchester (UK)

SUBMISSION

The details for the submitting procedure will be soon available on the web page reachable from the link below. The papers will pass a peer review process and the accepted ones will appear in the proceedings. Poster sessions will be organized and a brief description of the posters will be included in the proceedings as well.

PROCEEDINGS

The proceedings will be available at the workshop as a technical report of the Department of Computer Science and TLC of the University of Trento. We are currently negotiating with some publisher to have a formal version of them. Also special issues in international journals are under negotiation.

For further information do not hesitate to contact me (see signature below for addresses)