Bioinformatics is a research field which has been attracting increasing interest from the scientific community. This interdisciplinary field consists of applying mathematical, statistical and computational techniques in the solution of biological problems.

Nowadays, researches in Bioinformatics are concentrated in the analysis of the huge amount of data generated in biological laboratories. These studies may lead to gains in several areas, like Medicine, Pharmacy and Agriculture.

"Brazilian Symposium on Bioinformatics" (BSB) is the new name for the Brazilian Workshop on Bioinformatics (WOB).

Previous editions of WOB were in: 2002 (Gramado, RS), 2003 (Macaé, RJ) and 2004 (Brasília, DF). The first edition of BSB was in 2005 (São Leopoldo, Rio Grande do Sul), while the second was in Angra dos Reis in 2007.

All editions of WOB and BSB are sponsored by the Brazilian Computer Society (SBC). Proceedings of BSB 2008 will be published by Springer as Lecture Notes in Bioinformatics and in a CD with ISBN, as BSB2005 and BSB 2007. Selected papers will be invited to submit an extended version to the periodic Computers in Biology and Medicine, published by Elsevier.

This multidisciplinary symposium provides a general forum for presentation and discussion of original research on computational biology, bioinformatics, and applications.

BSB 2008 would like to attract contributions from academic and industrial researchers, both in the exact sciences (computer science, mathematics and statistics) and in the life sciences (molecular biology, biochemistry, genetics, medicine, microbiology and others).

BSB will be held at UFABC campus. There will be transport from the hotels listed in the “Accommodation” section to the event’ place.

BSB is classified as a National event with qualis B, according to CAPES Brazilian classification.

Before BSB, a school on Bioinformatics will be held at UFABC, the First Brazilian School on Bioinformatics (EBB - Escola Brasileira de Bioinformática).

The aim of the schoool  is to create an opportunity for researchers to
discuss and learn about new techniques ans trends  on Bioinformatics.

Six eight-hour courses are programmed, with theoretical and practical parts. There will also be seven lectures, presenting complementary topics. Four of these lectures will be hold with BSB, promoting an integration of these two events.

EBB will also have an open discussion session about tendencies of Bioinformatics in academy and industry. The participants of the school may also bring posters describing their studies in Bioinformatics, whose abstracts will be published in a CD.

A total of 90 participants will be admitted for the school.