At the end of July, four members of the CRC Small Data, made our way to Liverpool for the ISMB/ECCB 2025 conference. Over five full days, we joined around 2,500 researchers from across the globe for scientific discussions, presenting our research, and getting a sense of where computational biology is headed.
The conference was packed with talks, posters, workshops, and social activities. Some of the presentations stood out as especially inspiring, including keynotes by Nobel Prize winners John Jumper and David Baker, talking about AlphaFold and sharing their experiences in research.
Like many others, we powered through the week on coffee and curiosity. There was a lot to take in, but the sheer diversity of work being presented from deep learning and genomics to evolutionary models and data ethics was a good reminder of how broad and fast-moving the field really is. It also reminded us that even within this landscape of “big data,” many researchers are facing small data challenges.
Beyond the formal program, there were a lot of exciting social activities and evening events that gave us time to connect more informally with other researchers, collaborators, and the city itself. Poster sessions led to long conversations, and dinners turned into spontaneous idea exchanges. Overall, Liverpool proved to be a lively, characterful place to explore.
While the classic northern summer mostly held steady at 18°C with light rain, we were lucky to catch a few sunny hours one evening just enough for a walk on the beach and a beautiful sunset to end the week.
Institute of Medical Biometry and Statistics,
Faculty of Medicine and Medical Center –
University of Freiburg
