PeerJ to award excellent science in genomics, biochemistry, bioinformatics, paleontology, microbiology and ecology

The PeerJ Awards Program has a number of conferences lined up as we begin 2019. We are beyond pleased to acknowledge rigorous science by students and early career researchers as well as further efforts in open science at these conferences. Award winners typically receive a free publication in PeerJ, upon acceptance through our normal submission and peer review system, along with an interview on our site about their current research and next steps.

Below we’ve listed some of the 2019 conferences that will be offering PeerJ Awards thus far. Check back for additional conferences and get in touch if you know of a conference that may be a good candidate for a PeerJ Award.

Upcoming conferences offering PeerJ Awards

Transition Path Sampling Simulations via PyRETIS, Lorentz Center, Leiden, Netherlands
March 11-15, 2019

There will be a PeerJ Award for Best Contribution at the Lorentz Center workshop, Transition Path Sampling Simulations via PyRETIS: Theory and Application of Rare Events Methods to Compute Transition and Reaction Rates. The theoretical key concepts of rare events in molecular simulations with a special regard to Transition Path Sampling and its latest developments (e.g. Replica Exchange Transition Interface Sampling), will be discussed.

A newly developed free and open-source software, PyRETIS will be presented, its usage explained, and its application assisted. Also at this workshop, PeerJ Editor Elena Papaleo will highlight PeerJ’s five new peer-reviewed, open access chemistry journals.

Future of Individualized Medicine (formerly Future of Genomic Medicine), Scripps Research Translational Institute, La Jolla, California, USA
March 14-15, 2019

This year, the newly renamed Future of Individualized Medicine (formerly Future of Genomic Medicine) conference will expand to include additional perspectives on how to tailor medicine to the individual. Individualized medicine takes into account a person’s genes—and genomics will remain a core topic for exploration and discussion—but it also considers the full spectrum of a person’s uniqueness from their biologic, physiologic, anatomic, lifestyle and environmental information. Hosted by the Scripps Research Translational Institute, leaders from academia, industry, and science and medical journalism will speak on the most recent innovations and trends. Patients will also share stories of the impact individualized medicine has had on their personal health journey. At this conference with expert speakers, the award will be given to the student attendee who tweets the most about and during the conference in the spirit of open communication and open science.

Association Paléontologique Française Annual Meeting, Aix-en-Provence, France
April 16-20, 2019

At its 2019 annual congress, the Association Paléontologique Française (APF) will offer a PeerJ Award for Best Oral Presentation. All young members of the APF who have defended their PhD more than two years ago and do not hold a permanent position can apply. The award will reward the best oral presentation on any paleontological topic. The 2019 congress will celebrate the 25th anniversary of the creation of the Sainte-Victoire Nature Reserve. On this occasion, the Department of Bouches-du-Rhône, the Museum of Natural History of Aix-en-Provence, the Association of Southern Geologists -Est, and of course the APF will have the great pleasure to welcome you to offer you a rich and varied congress. An exclusive visit of the collections of the museum and an excursion to palaeontological sites emblematic of the country of Aix will be highlights of this congress.

2nd International Conference on Holobionts, Montréal, Canada
May 8-10, 2019

PeerJ is pleased to announce the PeerJ Award for Best Contribution at Holobiont 2: The Second International Conference on Holobionts, being held May 8-10, 2019 in Montréal. The PeerJ Award aims to support students and early career researchers as well as bring continued awareness to the benefits that open access and open communication have in keeping the scientific record open and available to all. Topics at the conference will include: ecological principles in the holobiont, holobiont and evolution, communication within the holobiont, holobiont resistance and resilience, manipulation/restoration of the holobiont, and omics of the holobiont. This conference follows the successful 1st Holobiont Conference held in Paris two years ago.

About: PeerJ publishes two open access, peer-reviewed publications: PeerJ serving the Life and Environmental Sciences and PeerJ Computer Science. Additionally, PeerJ is thrilled to be accepting submissions starting January 2019 for five newly launched, open access PeerJ Chemistry journals. We also publish PeerJ Preprints which is an innovative ‘preprint server’ covering Biology, Medical, Environmental and Computer Science. PeerJ’s mission is to efficiently publish the world’s knowledge. We aim to drive the costs of publishing down for the academic community, while improving the overall publishing experience and providing authors with a publication venue suitable for the 21st Century.

By teaming up with a number of conferences to offer these awards, we are making it as easy as possible for organizers to reward excellence in science, support students and early career researchers, and signal to the wider research community that open science is better science. Learn more here and get in touch if you are a conference organizer and are looking to offer a ‘Best Contribution’ award for open science – sierra.williams@peerj.com