Project of Uppsala University awarded for integrating IT and life science

On November 29, the Bioclipse project from Uppsala University was awarded the Special Prize of the jury at Trophées du Libre – an international contest for Free Software held in France. Georg Greve, president of the Free Software Foundation Europe (FSFE) gave the jury’s motivation: “Bioclipse is breaking new ground by integrating different research areas in life science and making the tools available as Free Software for everyone. It is the jury’s expectation that the project will have major impact in the future of life science research and education.” The Bioclipse project, which has become a major international success, is coordinated by Ola Spjuth, Ph.D. student at Uppsala University, in the research group led by Professor Jarl Wikberg. “Bioclipse facilitates the use of computers for research and education in life science”, says Ola Spjuth and continues: “It is very satisfying that we receive international recognition for our research. The award shows that people are appreciating Bioclipse and believe in the project’s future”. Bioclipse has recently led to several new collaborations with research groups of major impact, both at Uppsala University and internationally, and that this has lead to a new important phase in the continued development of Bioclipse. “I am confident that this award will make even more people join the project”, says OIa Spjuth. Professor Wikberg points out the importance of management and analysis of large amounts of data as a central issue in today’s bio-medical research. “Bioclipse does not only facilitate such information management and analysis, it has also proven to be an excellent way for researchers to collaborate”, says Professor Wikberg. “These are central issues for any research group that want to remain competitive in today’s life sciences”. More information is available on the Bioclipse web site: http://www.bioclipse.net and on http://www.tropheesdulibre.org/?lang=en PHOTO: Ola Spjuth, project leader of Bioclipse, together with Georg Greve, president of the Free Software Foundation Europe (FSFE) at the international contest for Free Software, Trophées du Libre, Soissons, France Contact person: Ola Spjuth, Ph: +46-70-4250628, E-mail: ola.spjuth@farmbio.uu.se