ECCB 2006 y los ataques de Israel
La pasada semana me la tomé de vacaciones, y aproveché para descansar, tomar el sol, hacer deporte, … y ver las noticias. Pude comprobar por las imágenes en televisión toda la destrucción provocada por Hezbolá y el ejército de Israel.
¿En qué afecta esto a la bioinformática? Del 10 al 13 de Septiembre se va a celebrar en Eilat, Israel el ECCB 2006 (5th European Conference on Computational Biology). A pique de parecer cotilla, de vuelta de mis mini-vacaciones he oído en el laboratorio de investigación donde trabajo rumores de que tal vez se suspenda esta conferencia. Por lo que tengo entendido, también hay bastantes asistentes que van a dejar de asistir por el posible riesgo personal.
No pienso entrar en el debate de quién tiene razón en el conflicto Líbano-Israel, porque en la guerra, ya sea declarada o encubierta, nadie la tiene: tod@s son víctimas. Solo sé que hay un par de víctimas más: ECCB y la bioinformática.
Al igual que muchas personas, acabo de recibir hoy un mensaje de los organizadores del ECCB’06 donde nos comunican que oficialmente la conferencia se ha aplazado hasta el 21 de Enero del 2007. Os incluyo el texto del mensaje:
We appreciate the concern that some people have expressed regarding the security situation in Israel and how it will affect the safety of participants in the 5th European Conference on Computational Biology (ECCB ‘06). In order to host a high-quality conference that people will feel comfortable attending, we are delaying the conference to January 21-24, 2007.
The conference schedule will remain unchanged to the greatest extent possible. We are in the process of contacting all the speakers to verify that they will be able to participate on the new dates. The scientific program is available for viewing on the web at http://www.eccb06.org, and any changes will be displayed there.
Many people will have achieved new results during the intervening months. We are planning an additional session for presenting late-breaking results; we will send an announcement once the details have been worked out.
We realize that some people have already made travel plans, and in particular may have to pay penalties to reschedule their airline tickets. Travel to Eilat should be somewhat less expensive in January than in September, which should help offset the change fee. In addition, hotel prices will be approximately 10% lower; detailed prices will be posted on the website when they are available. Overall, the change in dates should have at most a small effect on the cost of participation.
People who have already registered for the conference can simply maintain their reservations, and hotel reservations made via the conference website will be moved to the corresponding dates in January; confirmations will be sent shortly.
The early-registration deadline will be extended to Tuesday, November 21, 2006. Anybody who has already registered at the regular registration rate will be charged only the early-registration fee.
The new dates will, unfortunately, be inconvenient for some people who planned to participate in September. Cancellations received by August 31, 2006, will be processed without a cancellation fee. Thereafter, the standard policy will apply; cancellations until three weeks before the start of the conference will be charged a $30 processing fee.
The weather in Eilat is very pleasant in January, averaging 22C (72F). Always pleasant as a Red Sea resort, Eilat is especially attractive during the northern-hemisphere winter months.
Eilat itself is safe, both in terms of street crime and terrorist activity. Travel from Ben Gurion International Airport to Eilat is also safe and has been continuing without interruption. The post-conference tours go only to safe areas.
Details about matters related to the date change are being added to the FAQ page on the conference website. Please contact the Secretariat (eccb06@diesenhaus.com) if you have questions that are not answered in the FAQ.
We apologize that events beyond our control have caused us to change the conference dates and for the inconvenience that this will cause you. We nevertheless look forward to seeing you in Eilat for an exciting conference in January 2007!
Best regards,
Hershel Safer and Haim Wolfson
ECCB Conference Chairs