CIBB Conferences on Computational Intelligence Methods for Bioinformatics and Biostatistics
CIBB is an annual international scientific conference on computational intelligence and computational statistics applied to bioinformatics, biostatistics, medical informatics, and chemoinformatics.
The conference
The main goal of the CIBB international conferences is to provide a multidisciplinary forum for researchers interested in applying computational intelligence to open problems in bioinformatics, biostatistics, systems and synthetic biology, medical informatics, and chemoinformatics. Each year, conference participants discuss cutting-edge methodologies capable of accelerating discoveries in the life sciences, as well as the results of studies conducted in these fields.
In line with its tradition and origins, this scientific meeting brings together researchers from the international community who are interested in recent advances and future perspectives in the application of computer science, machine learning, and computational statistics to biology, medicine, healthcare, and chemistry. Moreover, given current trends and emerging opportunities at the interface between computing and the life sciences, the application of computational intelligence to systems and synthetic biology (and its impact on innovative medicine) is of particular interest to the conference.
Theoretical and experimental biologists are also encouraged to participate in order to present novel challenges and foster multidisciplinary collaboration, including new research directions related to theoretical computer science.
Conference participants typically include university professors, researchers, students, scientists from research centers, and professionals from industry and biomedical companies. Following each edition of the conference, peer-reviewed articles are published in the conference proceedings of Springer Lecture Notes in Computer Science (LNCS) and selected extended peer-reviewed articles are published in supplements, research topics, or special issues of journals such as Frontiers in Bioinformatics, Frontiers in Artificial Intelligence, Frontiers in Genetics, BMC Bioinformatics, BMC Medical Informatics and Decision Making, BMC Genomics, BMC Pharmacology and Toxicology, BMC Proceedings, Soft Computing, Artificial Intelligence in Medicine, International Journal of Approximate Reasoning.
CIBB is designed to foster scientific exchange in a friendly and collaborative environment. The conference brings together researchers in bioinformatics, health informatics, biostatistics, and related disciplines, providing ample opportunities to discuss new ideas, establish collaborations, and connect with colleagues from universities, research centres, and industry. These interactions take place throughout the conference, including during the main track, special sessions, coffee breaks, poster sessions, social events, and informal discussions.
The CIBB community warmly welcomes first-time participants, including Master of Science and PhD students, postdoctoral researchers, and early-career scientists. The conference is intentionally aimed at encouraging conversations with speakers, senior researchers, and fellow attendees, making it easy to ask questions, receive feedback, and build new professional connections.
Peer review
The CIBB conference guarantees the high quality of the scientific papers presented through a rigorous double peer review process. First, short papers are peer-reviewed by anonymous experts which decide if they are accepted for the conference or rejected.
Since 2026, CIBB has adopted a double-blind review process. Authors submitting short papers must anonymize their manuscripts by removing their names, affiliations, and any other identifying information. The names of the reviwers are anonymous as well. Author names and affiliations are included in the final version of the paper only after acceptance.
After the conference, the extended articles based on the short papers undergo a second peer review process which decide if they can be published in the post-proceedings books, in the supplement journals, or rejected. Therefore, if an article is ultimately published in a CIBB journal supplement or in a CIBB proceedings volume, it means it has survived two processes of anonymous peer review.
The CIBB conference proceedings have been published by Springer within the Springer Lecture Notes in Computer Science (LNCS) book series, and are currently indexed in Scopus, Web of Science Conference Proceedings Citation Index, Semantic Scholar, Google Scholar, and other bibliography article databases.
Open science
The CIBB conferences support the principles of open science by encouraging article authors to use open source programming languages (such as R, Python, Julia, or Rust), to release their short papers as preprints on arXiv or bioRxiv, to openly publish their software code on open collaborative software source-code-hosting environments (such as Codeberg.org), to openly release their data on FAIR open data platforms (such as on Zenodo or Figshare), and to publish articles in open access journals.
Women participation
The CIBB conference has consistently attracted a large number of female participants and has actively promoted women's participation in leadership roles.
From CIBB 2004 to CIBB 2026 (inclusive), 21 of the 62 keynote and invited speaker positions were held by female professors or female researchers, accounting for 34% of all keynote and invited speaker appointments.
Furthermore, 15 of the 62 general chair positions were held by female professors and researchers, representing 24% of all general chair appointments.
We hope to see these percentages increase in future editions of the conference!
Participation numbers
CIBB 2025 Milan: 260 participants (42% women)
CIBB 2024 Benevento: 96 participants (36.5% women)
CIBB 2023 Padua: 122 participants (43% women)
CIBB 2021 Virtual edition: 190 online attendees (percentage of women unavailable)
CIBB 2019 Bergamo: 91 participants (33% women)
Equity, diversity, and inclusion
CIBB is committed to fostering an inclusive, diverse, and equitable environment for all attendees. We actively encourage submissions and participation from female scientists, underrepresented groups, and early-career researchers. We strive for gender balance across our organizing committees, session chairs, and keynote invitations.
The aim of CIBB is to foster a high-quality conference within a kind, inclusive, accessible, and safe environment for all participants.
As a global event, we respect all dimensions of human diversity, including and not limited to: age, physical and cognitive ability, career stage, gender, gender identity, gender expression, geographic origin, language, neurodiversity, political views, religion, sexual orientation, and socioeconomic background. Respect regarding every aspect of human diversity is expected from organizers, presenters, chairs, and attendees across all conference spaces.
We are committed to proactively promoting the participation and leadership of individuals from underrepresented backgrounds, with particular support for women researchers and students. This commitment is reflected in our conference committees, as well as among our keynote speakers, session chairs, and attendees.
We acknowledge and value the significant contributions of women to scientific research and to the history of science.
Advice on how to write, review, and handle scientific articles
The authors willing to submit a short paper to CIBB, its proceedings, and its supplements are invited to follow the guidelines of the Ten Simple Rules collection from the PLOS Computational Biology journal:
Ten simple rules for getting published, Philip E. Bourne; PLOS Computational Biology 1(5): e57, 2005.
Ten simple rules for structuring papers, Brett Mensh, and Konrad Kording; PLOS Computational Biology 13(9): e1005619, 2017.
Ten simple (empirical) rules for writing science, Cody J. Weinberger; James A. Evans, and Stefano Allesina, PLOS Computational Biology 11(4): e1004205, 2015.
Ten simple rules for writing research papers, Weixiong Zhang; PLOS Computational Biology 10(1): e1003453, 2014.
Before addressing the comments of the reviewers, the authors of papers submitted to CIBB are invited to follow the recommendations of this article :
Ten simple rules for writing a response to reviewers, William Stafford Noble; PLOS Computational Biology 13(10): e1005730, 2017.
The CIBB reviewers are invited to follow the suggestions of this article:
Ten simple rules for reviewers, Philip E Bourne, and Alon Korngreen; PLOS Computational Biology 2(9): e0020110, 2006.
The CIBB track chairs and supplement editors are invited to follow the guidelines of this article:
Ten simple rules for serving as an editor, Cameron Mura, and Philip E Bourne; PLOS Computational Biology 19(3): e1010911, 2023.
The organizers of CIBB special sessions are invited to follow the pieces of advice of this article:
Ten simple rules for organizing a special session at a scientific conference, Davide Chicco, and Philip E Bourne; PLOS Computational Biology 18(8): e1010395, 2022.
Article authorship
When deciding which author names to include in their articles and in which order, CIBB authors should follow the authorship guidelines of the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE), as explained by the University of Toronto Faculty of Medicine.
When and where
The next edition of the conference, CIBB 2026, will happen at Sapienza University in Rome (Italy, EU) in person on 2nd, 3rd, 4th September 2026.
CIBB 2026 will be organized by Umberto Ferraro Petrillo and his team.
Please check out the CIBB 2026 website: https://cibb2026.teralab.ai
Future editions
We will then consider applications for the organization of the future edition of the conference (CIBB 2028). Would you like to host the CIBB 2028 edition at your university or research centre?
Or are you interested to help in the organization of the next CIBB conference edition, wherever it will be?
If yes, please send us an email at davidechicco(AT)davidechicco.it and let's talk about it.
Conference history
The International Meeting on Computational Intelligence Methods for Bioinformatics and Biostatistics (CIBB) conference series was founded in 2004 by Roberto Tagliaferri (Università di Salerno), Francesco Masulli (Università di Genova), and Antonina Starita (Università di Pisa), who formed its first steering committee.
The conference was initially established as a special session of the 14th Italian Workshop on Neural Networks (WIRN 2004), held in Perugia (Italy, EU). It continued as a special session within international conferences organized in Italy for the following three editions (WILF 2005, FLINS 2006, and WILF 2007).
Due to the large number and high quality of the papers submitted to the CIBB special sessions, the members of the steering committee decided to establish CIBB as an independent conference.
CIBB became an autonomous conference in October 2008, with its first independent edition held in Vietri sul Mare (Italy, EU), just a few months after the passing of its co-founder Antonina Starita (1939–2008), whose contributions were fundamental to the creation and development of the scientific meeting.
Since 2004, the CIBB conference series has produced 15 proceedings volumes, 4 proceedings sections, and 10 journal supplements, collectively containing approximately 450 peer-reviewed original scientific publications. To date, approximately 1,600 participants have attended CIBB conferences.
The upcoming CIBB 2026 international meeting, scheduled to be held in Rome (Italy, EU) in September 2026, will mark the 21st edition of the CIBB conference.
Conference editions websites
Next edition
CIBB 2026, Rome, Italy (upcoming edition)
21st edition. Dates: 2–4 September 2026
General chairs: Umberto Ferraro Petrillo, Marta Cipriani, Roberta De Vito, Lorenzo Di Rocco
Keynote speakers: Per Kragh Andersen, Marianna Rapsomaniki, Nicola Segata
Location: Dipartimento di Scienze Statistiche, Sapienza Università di Roma, Rome, Italy, EU
Email contact: cibb2026(AT)uniroma1.it
Past editions
CIBB 2025, Milan, Italy
20th edition. Dates: 10–12 September 2025
General chairs: Silvia Cascianelli, Sofia Mongardi, Marco Masseroli
Keynote speakers: Valentina Boeva, Mats Julius Stensrud
Invited speakers: Natasa Przulj, Paulo Lisboa
Location: Building 3, Campus Leonardo, Politecnico di Milano, Milan, Italy, EU
CIBB 2024, Benevento, Italy
19th edition. Dates: 4–6 September 2024
General chairs: Francesco Napolitano, Luigi Cerulo
Keynote speakers: Michele Ceccarelli, Ruth Heller, Marieke Kuijjer
Invited speaker: Claudio Angione
Location: Dipartimento di Scienze e Tecnologie, Università del Sannio, Benevento, Italy, EU
CIBB 2023, Padua, Italy
18th edition. Dates: 4–6 September 2023
General chairs: Martina Vettoretti, Erica Tavazzi, Enrico Longato
Keynote speakers: Blaž Zupan, Arianna Dagliati, Jessica Barrett
Invited speakers: Davide Risso, Marco Beccuti, Marco Antoniotti
Location: Polo Multifunzionale di Psicologia, Università di Padova, Padua, Italy, EU
CIBB 2021, Online, virtual event
17th edition. Dates: 15–17 November 2021
General chairs: Davide Chicco, Angelo Facchiano, Margherita Mutarelli
Keynote speakers: Karsten Borgwardt, Ombretta Melaiu, André M Carrington, Stefano Tonzani, Olaf Wolkenhauer
Invited speaker: Dmytro Fishman
Web streaming platform: WeConf.eu
CIBB 2019, Bergamo, Italy
16th edition. Dates: 4–6 September 2019
General chairs: Paolo Cazzaniga, Ivan Merelli, Daniela Besozzi
Keynote speakers: M Luz Calle, Ana Cvejic, Uzay Kaymak
Invited speaker: Marco Masseroli
Location: ex Monastero di Sant'Agostino, Università di Bergamo, Bergamo, Italy, EU
CIBB 2018, Caparica, Portugal
15th edition. Dates: 6–8 September 2018
General chairs: Maria Raposo, Paulo Lisboa, Giorgio Valentini
Keynote speakers: Alberto Paccanaro, Alexandra Carvalho, Benoit Liquet, Fernando L Ferreira, Veronica Vinciotti
Location: Faculdade de Ciências e Tecnologia, Universidade Nova de Lisboa, Caparica, Portugal, EU
CIBB 2017, Cagliari, Italy
14th edition. Dates: 7–9 September 2017
General chairs: Massimo Bartoletti, Gunnar Klau, Leif Peterson
Keynote speakers: Alessandra Carbone, Valentina Boeva, Manja Marz
Location: Dipartimento di Ingegneria, Università di Cagliari, Cagliari, Italy, EU
CIBB 2016, Stirling, Scotland
13th edition. Dates: 1–3 September 2016
General chairs: Andrea Bracciali, David Gilbert, Gilbert MacKenzie
Keynote speakers: Mark Beaumont, Natalio Krasnogor, Antonietta Mira, Bud Mishra, Daniela Paolotti, Guido Sanguinetti
Location: Computer Science Division, University of Stirling, Stirling, Scotland
CIBB 2015, Naples, Italy
12th edition. Dates: 10–12 September 2015
General chairs: Claudia Angelini, Adriano Decarli, Erik Bongcam-Rudloff
Keynote speakers: Michele Ceccarelli, Dario Greco, Dirk Husmeier, Wessel van Wieringen
Location: Area Territoriale di Ricerca Napoli 1, Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche (CNR), Naples, Italy, EU
CIBB 2014, Cambridge, England
11th edition. Dates: 26–28 June 2014
General chairs: Clelia Di Serio, Pietro Liò, Sylvia Richardson, Roberto Tagliaferri
Keynote speakers: Monica Chiogna, Chris Holmes, Jean Michel Marin
Location: Computer Laboratory, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, England
CIBB 2013 (co-organized with PRIB 2013), Nice, France
10th edition. Dates: 20–22 June 2013
General chairs: Enrico Formenti, Ernst Wit, Roberto Tagliaferri
Keynote speakers: Anne Siegel, Ernst Wit, Sylvain Sené
Location: Château de Valrose, Nice, France, EU
CIBB 2012, Houston, Texas, USA
9th edition. Dates: 12–14 July 2012
General chairs: Leif Peterson, Francesco Masulli, Giuseppe Russo
Keynote speakers: Jim Bezdek, Elia Biganzoli, Douglas Robinson
Location: Methodist Hospital Research Institute, Houston, Texas, USA
CIBB 2011, Gargnano, Italy
8th edition. Dates: 30 June 30–2 July 2011
General chairs: Elia Biganzoli, Andrea Tettamanzi, Alfredo Vellido
Keynote speakers: Nikola Kasabov, Clelia Di Serio, Elena Marchiori
Location: Palazzo Feltrinelli, Gargnano, Italy, EU
CIBB 2010, Palermo, Italy
7th edition. Dates: 16–18 September 2010
General chairs: Paulo J Lisboa, Riccardo Rizzo
Keynote speakers: Raffaele Giancarlo, Paulo J Lisboa, Gianluca Pollastri
Location: Palazzo Comitini, Palermo, Italy, EU
CIBB 2009, Genoa, Italy
6th edition. Dates: 15–17 October 2009
General chairs: Francesco Masulli, Leif E Peterson, Roberto Tagliaferri
Keynote speakers: Gilles Bernot, Taishin Nomura
Location: Oratorio San Filippo Neri, Genoa, Italy, EU
CIBB 2008, Vietri sul Mare, Italy
5th edition. Dates: 3–4 October 2008
General chairs: Francesco Masulli, Roberto Tagliaferri, Gennady M Verkhivker
Keynote speakers: Mario Lauria, Nicolas Le Novere, Giorgio Valentini
Location: Istituto Internazionale per gli Alti Studi Scientifici, Vietri sul Mare, Italy, EU
CIBB 2007 (within WILF 2007), Camogli, Italy
4th edition. Dates: 7–10 July 2007
General chairs: Roberto Tagliaferri, Giorgio Valentini
Keynote speakers: Joaquin Dopazo, Sushmita Mitra
Location: Portofino Kulm Hotel, Camogli, Italy, EU
CIBB 2006 (within FLINS 2006), Genoa, Italy
3rd edition. Dates: 30 August 2006
General chairs: Francesco Masulli, Antonina Starita, Roberto Tagliaferri
Location: Starhotel President Hotel, Genoa, Italy, EU
CIBB 2005 (within WILF 2005), Crema, Italy
2nd edition. Dates: 15–17 September 2005
General chairs: Francesco Masulli, Antonina Starita, Roberto Tagliaferri
Keynote speakers: Pierre Baldi
Location: Dipartimento di Tecnologie dell'Informazione, Università Statale di Milano, Crema, Italy, EU
CIBB 2004 (within WIRN 2004), Perugia, Italy
1st edition. Dates: 14–15 September 2004
General chairs: Francesco Masulli, Antonina Starita, Roberto Tagliaferri
Location: Dipartimento di Matematica e Informatica, Università di Perugia, Perugia, Italy, EU
If you or your organization are interested in sponsoring the CIBB conferences, please contact Davide Chicco via email at davidechicco(AT)davidechicco.it
Contacts
For any question, please contact Davide Chicco via email at davidechicco(AT)davidechicco.it
CIBB 2024 Benevento:
CIBB 2023 Padua:
