Frequently Asked Questions

General topics

Why is this important?

Who is supporting this initiative?

What are the expected outputs?

NGSchool recruitment process

How many people usually participate?

How to get a place?

NGSchool entry requirements

Am I eligible to apply for NGSchool and/or NGSymposium?

Which scientific background is needed to attend the school?

Can I apply if I am not a bioinformatician?

Do I need previous programming experience in order to apply?

Can undergrad students attend NGSchool?

NGSchool fees and financial support

What is included in registration fee?

What is the NGSchool registration fee for Ph.D. students? Is it the same as academia?

Can I request financial aid for travel and/or registration fees?

How much financial aid can I get?

How/when the travel expenses will be reimbursed?

NGSchool future

Will you continue the course in the following years?


General topics

Why is this important?

We are living in very fascinating moment in the history, so-called genomics era, when obtaining the whole genome sequence of any individual becomes trivial task at affordable cost. Personalised medicine, a health-care system in which medical decisions and health-care products are tailored for the individuals based on their predicted response or risk of disease, is just around the corner. In Europe, most of the progress in these areas is blatantly concentrated in western countries, and it is crucial to train the future experts who will also drive this revolution in central and eastern european countries.

Who is supporting this initiative?

We are primarily financially supported by grants from International Visegrad Fund and several other agencies. None of the things we are doing would be possible without dedication of many people and resources provided by numerous organisations. You can learn more about our Partners on pages dedicated to particular events.

What are the expected outputs?

While this is educational project, its outputs are not limited to education. The participants interacts with excellent researchers, thus they have unique opportunity to exchange ideas with experts. Moreover, this project expose the participants to other young investigators using similar techniques and most likely facing similar problems in their professional life. Finally, this is a great networking opportunity for future experts from the fields of bioinformatics, genomics and personalised medicine. We believe that this event will result in new, fascinating collaborative projects across V4 and beyond.


NGSchool recruitment process

How many people usually participate?

Our events are attended by 20-70 people, majority of those are PhD students and post-docs, but researchers at all career stages are welcome! Summer school usually welcome 40-60 people, 1/3 of whom are speakers. NGSchool community is interdisciplinary, which results in interesting discussions and brings future experts from diverse disciplines together. The participants of NGSchool represent various branches of science, including biology, chemistry, engineering, medicine, computer science and related disciplines.

How to get a place?

The only way to attend our events is through selection process. NGSchool became quite popular, so getting a place isn't easy. In the previous editions (NGSchool2016, NGSchool2017, NGSchool2018, NGSchool2019 we have received over 400 applications from 50 countries in total. Therefore, we strongly recommend to dedicate time and effort to prepare solid application if you really wish to attend. Definitely read more about our selection criteria.

Registration is typically opened approximately 4 months before summer school. We do our best to advertise every event to attract the best candidates. If you wish to stay in touch with our activities, just follow us on Facebook, Twitter or Instagram.


NGSchool entry requirements

Am I eligible to apply for NGSchool and/or NGSymposium?

Yes! Anyone is welcome to apply to our events on the condition that they are adult people. We do not have any nationality restrictions and we accept people with diverse scientific backgrounds.

Which scientific background is needed to attend the school?

We will accept applications from students/researchers from biology, medicine, computer science and related disciplines. We will make sure that the course community is interdisciplinary, which will result in interesting discussions and will bring future experts from diverse disciplines together.
You can find out more about the ideal candidate profile and the selection procedure here.

Can I apply if I am not a bioinformatician?

We welcome people with different backgrounds as long as the person is motivated and will benefit from the school. Our registration form tests the applicants’ knowledge in biology, statistics and bioinformatics, since our school is not intended for absolute beginners - we encourage you to apply and test your skills with the registration form. Read more about it here.

Do I need previous programming experience in order to apply?

People having no prior experience with bioinformatics/programming are welcome, but strong motivation is desired!

We suggest everyone with no programming experience to take an on-line course introducing Linux and basics of programming (plan to do it approximately 2 weeks before the school, at the latest). Completing this course will be crucial in order to secure smooth learning experience at the NGSchool.

You can find out more about the ideal candidate profile and the selection procedure here.

Can undergrad students attend NGSchool?

Yes, absolutely! Anyone who plans to use the covered topics in the future is the perfect candidate. Read more about it here.


NGSchool & NGSymposium fees and financial support

What is included in registration fee for NGSchool?

NGSchool registration fee typically covers all of the expenses, including course materials, accommodation and meals. We will be able to refund travel expenses for selected participants in difficult financial situations.

In 2022, the registration fully covers the cost of accommodation and board from 15th to 23rd September 2022. This includes accommodation (shared room with other participants), breakfast, lunch, dinner, and coffee breaks during the school.

What is the NGSchool registration fee for Ph.D. students? Is it the same as for academia?

Yes, it is the same, which is 200 EUR.

Can I request financial aid for travel and/or registration fees?

Yes! There is a financial aid request section in the NGSchool form and a comment section in the NGSymposium form. Please indicate your request and a short justification. If you need more space to write, you can reach us using contact form. Please use the same email address as the one for the registration form.

How much financial aid can I get?

The amount depends on the number of participants requesting help and grants that we receive. After selecting NGSchool participants, we will review financial aid requests and distribute the funds according to our capability.

How/when the travel expenses will be reimbursed?

You should arrange your trip by yourself. We'll refund travel expenses for selected participants in difficult financial situations, after receiving travel expenses form which will be distributed during the school. In order to receive the refund, please make sure to keep all your tickets & travel receipts.


NGSchool events in the future

Will you continue the course in the following years?

We plan to organise our main events on annual basis. Every year we will adapt the NGSchool program accordingly to the current expertise needs. Accordingly, we will invite experts in relevant fields of interest. In addition, we gather feedback and suggestions from our participants & partners. We take this feedback seriously, trying to make our subsequent events even better.


Are you interested?

To stay up-to-date, you can follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.

Talk to us if you wish to contribute to our exciting project either as speaker, partner or sponsor.

If you have any other questions regarding our activities, feel free to ask!