Bio-Ontologies and Knowledge Representation (http://www.bio-ontologies.org.uk/) is an International Society of Molecular Biology (ISMB) Community of Special Interest (COSI) and working group focused on the FAIR development and application of ontologies and other Linked Open Data resources, the latest and most innovative research in the application of these data, and the organization, presentation, and dissemination of knowledge in biomedicine and the life sciences.
Bio-Ontologies and Knowledge Representation is in its 28th year at ISMB/ECCB 2025 (https://www.iscb.org/ismb2026/home), which will be held in-person July 13-14, 2025 in Washington D.C., USA, and will feature two days of exciting keynotes and cutting-edge research.
Abstract:
Bio:
The Bio-Ontologies and Knowledge Representation (BOKR) COSI (renamed from the "Bio-Ontologies" COSI, http://www.bio-ontologies.org.uk/) is an International Society for Computational Biology (ISCB) Community of Special Interest (COSI) focused on research related to building and using structured knowledge in bioinformatics. Topics include ontologies, knowledge graphs, knowledge-enhanced learning, knowledge extraction, and, in general, any aspect related to the organisation, presentation, dissemination, and use of knowledge in biology, biomedicine, and the life sciences. Bio-Ontologies and Knowledge Representation (BOKR) continues the tradition of the Bio-Ontologies COSI and will be in its 29th year at ISMB 2026 (https://www.iscb.org/ismb2026). ISMB 2026 will be held in-person between July 12-16, 2026 and will feature two days of exciting keynotes and cutting-edge research in the BOKR sessions. BOKR will share one session on 14 July with the Bioinformatics Open Source Conference (https://www.open-bio.org/events/bosc-2026/) and another with the Function COSI (https://www.biofunctionprediction.org/).
Submissions
We invite the submissions of proceedings papers (9 pages), abstracts (1 page) which will be reviewed and selected abstracts invited for oral or poster presentation.
The COSI covers these topics:
New knowledge bases, knowledge graphs, and ontologies
Methods that use knowledge bases, knowledge graphs, and ontologies
Applications using knowledge bases, knowledge graphs, and ontologies
Methods to improve knowledge bases, knowledge graphs, and ontologies
in bioinformatics, biomedical/life science research, health informatics, and healthcare
Examples include (but are not limited to):
Novel knowledge bases, knowledge graphs, and ontologies in bioinformatics
Ontologies and knowledge graphs in annotations, mapping applications, and metadata standards
FAIR data systems and application of ontologies and other linked open data
Bio-curation platforms
Evaluation of knowledge graphs, ontologies, and knowledge bases
Ontologies, knowledge representation, and reasoning
Machine learning/artificial intelligence and knowledge representation
Neuro-symbolic methods in bioinformatics
Semantic Web-enabled applications
Ontologies for biomedical/life science research, health informatics, and healthcare
Submissions can be made on the ISMB site (https://www.iscb.org/ismb2026/home). For proceedings, please follow the instructions provided on the ISMB site. For all other submissions, please prepare your submission using the Bio-Ontologies and Knowledge Representation templates (https://www.bio-ontologies.org.uk/2026-meeting).
All submissions are reviewed (review criteria provided on the Bio-Ontologies and Knowledge Representation website). Based on the review process, abstracts will be selected for oral or poster presentation at the Bio-Ontologies and Knowledge Representation COSI.
Accepted submissions require that one author register for the conference and present the work. The presenter should identify themselves as the corresponding author during the submission process.
Abstracts
Thursday, April 9, 2026
Abstracts submission deadline (for talks and/or posters) (You have until 23:59 Anywhere on Earth) *no extensions*
Monday, April 13, 2026
Late-breaking poster submissions open
Tuesday, May 5, 2026
Abstract acceptance notifications sent (for talks and/or posters)
Thursday, May 7, 2026
CAMDA extended abstracts submission deadline (for talks and/or posters) (You have until 23:59 Anywhere on Earth) *no extensions*
Thursday, May 7, 2026
Late-breaking poster submissions deadline (You have until 23:59 Anywhere on Earth) *no extensions*
Thursday, May 14, 2026
CAMDA acceptance notifications sent
Thursday, May 14, 2026
Late-breaking poster notifications sent
Tuesday, May 26, 2026
Presentation schedule posted
Tuesday, May 26, 2026
Confirmation of participation notices sent
Friday, June 5, 2026
Presenter registration deadline (for talks and/or posters)
Friday, June 5, 2026
Confirmation of participation form submission deadline (You have until 23:59 Anywhere on Earth) *no extensions*
Tuesday, June 9, 2026
Virtual platform uploads open
Friday, July 3, 2026
Last day to upload ANY/ALL files to the virtual platform (You have until 23:59 Anywhere on Earth) *no extensions*
For proceedings, please follow the instructions provided on the ISMB site. For all other submissions, please prepare your submission using the templates on the Bio-Ontologies and Knowledge Representation website (https://www.bio-ontologies.org.uk/2025-meeting).
For Bio-Ontologies templates, please click on the link below matching your submission of choice. This will open up a new Google Docs window. From there, go to "File" --> "Download" and select your file type. A screenshot demonstrating this behavior is shown to the right.
To find the Bio-Ontologies COSI when making your submission, please select "Biomedical Informatics" as the Track.
Leiden University Medical Center
The Netherlands
Committee Representative
Programming Coordinator ofr ISCBacademy
King Abdullah University of Science and Technology
Saudi Arabia
Alternate Committee Representative
Website manager
Columbia University
United States of America
Proceedings Liaison
Track Chair
King Abdullah University of Science and Technology
Saudi Arabia
Alternate Proceedings Liaison
Alternate Track Chair
Nominated Area Chair
Center for Cancer Research
National Cancer Institute
Proceedings Liaison
Track Chair
Database Center for Life Sciences
Japan
Alternate Proceedings Liaison
Alternate Track Chair
Website manager
If you have any questions please feel free to send us an email (bioontologies@gmail.com), direct message us on Slack (bioontologies.slack.com), or post a message on Twitter (@bioontologies) or our LinkedIn Group (https://www.linkedin.com/groups/13998260/).
Bio-Ontologies has been running since 1998, please use the ISMB Annual Meetings drop-down menu above to access content from prior meetings.