SEQAHEAD - COST Action BM1006: Next Generation Sequencing Data Analysis Network

Abstract

COST (European Cooperation in Science and Technology) is one of the longest-running European instruments supporting cooperation, collaboration and orchestration among scientists and researchers across Europe working in the same field. Some of the organisers of the two EMBRACE workshops on ‘Next Generation Sequencing’ (NGS) saw this type of Action as exactly the right kind of mechanism to try to tame the data tsunami being generated by the furiously fast developing NGS technologies. Their aim was to tackle the bioinformatics challenges inherent in managing and analysing these data, and to support researchers who use NGS technologies but do not have direct access to the necessary underpinning bioinformatics resources. The history of the NGS initiative is short, but explosive. It is imperative for the life science community to be prepared for the enormous growth in NGS data, the challenges this presents, and the opportunities it affords. Recognising these issues, and the need for global cooperation, gave birth to the idea for this COST Action proposal; it developed into the concerted action of today.