EMBnet.journal

Bioinformatics ITalian Society

www.bioinformatics.it

BITS is a scientific society founded in 2003 with the aim of studying and disseminating Bioinformatics in the academic and research contest as well as in the technological and applicative world. In Italy, the foundation of BITS started in 1999 by a SIBBM working group for the cooperation in bioinformatics (“Gruppo di Cooperazione Bioinformatica”) and then also by ABCD, has greatly promoted the spreading of the bioinformatics discipline in the Italian scientific community. The joining of researchers from different scientific areas, not only biology, is the consequence of the multidisciplinary nature of bioinformatics, and BITS has now about 250 members which constitute a young community with expertise and interest in bioinformatics and the different “classical” disciplines converging on it (molecular biology, biochemistry, genetics, medicine, biophysics, informatics, mathematics, statistics, physics).

BITS is recognized by the International Society for Computational Biology (ISCB) as an affiliated Regional Group. BITS activities include the organization of the annual scientific meeting of the Society, the support to numerous scientific events proposed by BITS members, distribution of news of interest for the involved community of researchers by means of its web site and mailing list, the coordination of educational initiatives in Italy, and the support for the participation of Italian researchers to international events and projects of relevance.

BITS is glad to sponsor the NETTAB2012 workshop and wishes the Organizers and participants a successful meeting.