Call for highlight talks

The call will open in January 2026

ECCB 2026 invites submissions of abstracts for highlight talks on recently published research articles (published in a scientific journal on March 1, 2025, or later, or accepted for publication by a journal and available online at least as a preprint). Highlight talks are expected to present significant and topical advances in the field of computational biology and bioinformatics. ECCB 2026 also welcomes submissions of posters in all areas relevant to computational biology and bioinformatics. 

Accepted highlight talks will be presented in person at the ECCB 2026 conference as 15-minute talks followed by 3 minutes for discussions. Presenting authors must register and pay the conference fee.

Authors whose highlight talk submissions are not selected may be offered the opportunity to present a poster instead.

Accepted posters will be presented in person at the ECCB 2026 conference. The space for posters will be limited, but we will make every effort to accommodate all appropriate (i.e., scientifically sound and on-topic) poster submissions.

Each Submission must include:

  1. Title: Title of your submission.
  2. Abstract: Max 250 words; no tables, images or references. Abstracts that exceed the maximum number of 250 words will be rejected. The abstract will appear in the online programme.
  3. Presenting Author Details: The full name, affiliation, and email address of the presenting author. The presenting author must register for the conference and deliver the presentation in person. The presenting author does not necessarily have to be the first author of the paper/poster.
  4. Co-Author Details: The full name, affiliation, and email address of all co-authors. Note that all co-authors must agree to the submission.
  5. Keywords: Please select at least three keywords to describe the submission. For example keywords, please visit this webpage.
  6. Scientific Area Selection: Please indicate a primary and a secondary scientific area for your highlight talk or poster, chosen from the 5 listed in the "Scientific Areas" section.
  7. Source of Original Publication: Please include year, journal, volume, pages, and DOI. This is mandatory information only for highlight talk submissions, except for ELIXIR Communities track. This is optional for posters. 
  8. Poster Option: If submitting a highlight talk, please indicate on the form if you wish to present a poster in case the abstract is not selected for a talk.
  9. PDF of the published/accepted paper:  This is mandatory information only for highlight talk submissions, except for ELIXIR Communities track.  This is optional for posters.

Important notes:

  • Presenting authors for highlight talks and posters must deliver their own presentation and must register for the conference and pay the registration fee.
  • All submissions must be uploaded via the conference submission site by 20 April 2026, 1:00 p.m. CET. The EasyChair submission link will be made available once the call opens.

Evaluation of highlight talks

The abstracts for talks will be evaluated by the ECCB2026 Scientific Committee. The area chairs and co-chairs will rank the submitted abstracts in their scientific area. According to the rankings, the Scientific Committee chairs together with the area chairs and co-chairs will decide on the final acceptance for each submission. ELIXIR reviewers will review and evaluate the abstracts submitted to the topic ELIXIR Communities/poster track. 

Criteria:

  • Relevance and interest for the conference.
  • Impact of the submission in the field.      
  • Scientific quality and rigor.
  • Clarity, presentation quality, and accessibility to a broad audience.

ELIXIR-Dedicated Track for Highlight Talks & Posters

ELIXIR Communities track highlight talks are expected to showcase the community’s activities, benefits of being a member, and the use of ELIXIR resources. A close link to an application must be demonstrated (e.g., ELIXIR Recommended Interoperability Resources (RIRs), Core Data Resources (CDRs), or others).

ELIXIR Highlight track eligibility criteria:

  • Abstracts must be submitted by Community co-leads (the presenter can vary).
  • Each ELIXIR Community may submit up to two proposals (submitted by different co-leads).

ELIXIR Poster track eligibility criteria:

  • Posters must be submitted by ELIXIR members.
  • Each ELIXIR member may submit up to one poster.

ELIXIR submissions must be uploaded via the dedicated ELIXIR Community track in EasyChair by 20 April 2026, 1:00 p.m. CET.
The EasyChair submission link will be made available once the call opens.

Key dates

Call for highlight talks & posters opens
6 January 2026

Call for highlight talks & posters opens
20 April 2026 (1 p.m. CET)

Acceptance notification*
Mid June 2026

Registration deadline for presenting authors
30 June 2026

*Please note that acceptance notification will be sent to the corresponding author(s) only, to the email used to sign into the abstract system. 

Questions: eccb2026@sib.swiss