HARMONY 2025

Conference Date

Conference Location

Important Dates

Important Links

The “Computational Modeling in Biology” Network (COMBINE) is an initiative to coordinate the development of the various community standards and formats in systems biology, synthetic biology and related fields. HARMONY is a codefest-type meeting, with a focus on development of the standards, interoperability and infrastructure. There are generally not many general discussions or oral presentations during HARMONY; instead, the time is devoted to allowing hands-on hacking and interaction between people focused on practical development of software and standards.

HARMONY 2025 will be held at KU Leuven

Local organizers are Liesbet Geris, Luiz Ladeira, and Bernard Staumont.

Registration

Registration for the meeting is free. Please register at the link above as soon as possible. This will help us plan the schedule and match your interests to the timing of the breakouts, etc. Note, only registered attendees will be sent information related to the meeting.

Register here.

Call for Breakout Sessions and Tutorials

All attendees can suggest breakout sessions for hacking and/or detailed discussions of certain aspects of one or several of the COMBINE standard(s), metadata and semantic annotations (format-specific or overarching), application and implementations of the COMBINE standards, or any other topic relevant for the COMBINE community. The topics for those breakout sessions, and the time slots which would suit their communities can be submitted via the link above. Note, breakout session organizers will be responsible for creating and hosting their own online sessions, if required.

Submit your breakout session and tutorial proposal here.

Call for Lightning Talks and Posters

Requests for a lightning talk (5 min max.) and/or poster can be submitted via the link above. Please use several forms if you want to submit abstracts on different topics. The submission deadline is outlined above. Talks will take place during the community session and posters will be displayed throughout the meeting.

Submit your lightning talks and posters here

Topics of Interest

• Data exchange, pipelines and model standards for systems and synthetic biology
• Visualization and graphical notation standards for systems and synthetic biology
• Standards for sharing and analyzing biological pathway data
• Standards for computational biological models and modelling support
• Metadata description and model annotation in COMBINE standard formats
• Implementation of COMBINE standards in tools, databases and other resources
• Integrated model and data management for systems and synthetic biology
• Standardization of Artificial Intelligence approaches in biological modelling
• Emerging standardization needs and multicellular modeling
• Community aspects of COMBINE

Workshop Location

HARMONY 2025 will be held at KU Leuven - Katholieke Universiteit Leuven
Ghb - Onderwijs en Navorsing 2
ON2 Herestraat 49
3000 Leuven - Belgium
Building number: 402-18

Schedule

The schedule will be available here.

Arrival and Transportation

From Brussels-Zaventem Airport (BRU) you can take a train at the airport station to Leuven Central Station and then a bus at the bus station in front of the train station. The R90 should take around 14min to arrive at the Leuven Gasthuisberg Campus stop, just in front of the venue.

From Brussels South-Charleroi Airport (CRL) you can take a bus, taxi or shuttle to Charleroi Central train station and take a train to Leuven from there. Shuttles to Midi (Zuid) station in Brussels and then a train to Leuven from there is also an option.

Leuven is a very cyclable city. If you come by train or car you can bring your bike and enjoy the beautiful city!

Sister Meetings

9th Disease Maps Community Meeting - DMCM2025

Simultaneously from 15th to 17th April 2025 at the same venue.

The 2025 edition of the Disease Maps Community Meeting is set to take place in Leuven, Belgium. This annual gathering brings together the researchers, clinicians, and domain experts involved in mapping and modelling disease mechanisms. The meeting provides a forum for exchanging best practices, sharing information, and developing tools to advance the use of systems medicine in translational medicine projects and decision making support. Building on the success of previous editions in locations like Belval, Maastricht, Sevilla, and Paris, the 2025 meeting in Leuven is expected to attract a diverse group of participants dedicated to furthering the understanding and application of disease maps in research and healthcare.

The DMCM2025 will be held simultaneously with HARMONY 2025, in the same venue. This is expected to enhance interaction between the COMBINE and the Disease Maps communities, fostering collaboration opportunities and networking. Coffee breaks and meals will be shared between both meetings.

More information can be found here: DMCM2025.

To have access to the DMCM talks, registrations should be done separately.

byteMAL'25

Monday 14th April 2025

ByteMAL is a conference created by and for early-career researchers in the fields of bioinformatics and systems biomedicine and aims to provide a networking platform for knowledge and expertise exchange across borders. Aiming to vitalize communication amongst researchers from The Netherlands, Belgium, and Germany, ByteMAL has been hosted alternately by the Universities of Maastricht, Aachen, and Liege and for the first time it comes to Leuven! More information will be announced soon.

Accommodations and meals

Hotel Mille Colonnes
Martelarenplein 5, 3000 Leuven, Belgium In front of the train station, easy access to the bus station. Distance to the conference venue: 14 min by bus, 14 min by bike, 45 min walking.

ibis Leuven Centrum
Brusselsestraat 52, 3000 Leuven, Belgium At the core of the city center, easy access to bus stops. Distance to the conference venue: 13 min by bus. 9 min by bike. 28 min walking.

Other accommodations options can be found on Booking.com and Airbnb (specially if you want to stay closer to the venue).

Tea and coffee will be freely available throughout the meeting. In view of the number of people using the building, it may be advisable to bring your own mug!

A sandwich lunch will also be provided - please make sure you give us the correct information as to which days you will be in attendance and any dietary requirements when you fill in the registration form.

Power outlet

E-type plugs are used in Belgium.

Support

Interested in sponsoring our meeting? Please contact Luiz Ladeira for details.