YoungCB – RSG Who are we? 

 

Mission statement:
YoungCB aims to support, connect, and represent early-career researchers in computational biology in the Netherlands, fostering an accessible and collaborative community within and beyond the BioSB network.

 

Upcoming event:

BYTE 2026!  23 March 2026 – Utrecht (13:00 – 17:00)

(Click to get more information)

 

Goals of YoungCB:


Goal 1: Build a supportive community.
PhD candidates, postdocs, new PIs, and industry scientists should be able to connect, share challenges, and easily present research or find collaborators.
Goal 2: Represent early-career researchers.
YoungCB acts as the voice of early-career researchers (ECRs) within the parent organization BioSB.
Goal 3: Provide an informal entry point into the field.
YoungCB offers a welcoming space for people outside computational biology—such as students from other disciplines or MSc students—to connect and get introduced to the community.

What do we do for you?

  • PhD retreat :The annual PhD retreat precedes the BioSB conference. In previous years career talks were given by national and international scientists, soft skill talks and workshops on topics such as non-verbal communication and presentation skills, and flash presentations by (PhD-) students on their work.
  • BYTE: BYTE symposia are annual meetings meant for starting PhD students in the scientific domain of BioSB. With this event we want to offer young students an opportunity to meet each other and build on their early career network in an informal setting. 
  • Break the bubble: PhD’s need a low pressure environment to pitch ideas, show results, and discuss different topics. We can host an elevator pitch/poster session for the entire field, with the idea to have this low-stakes environment and be exposed to different concepts and scientific practices

Why should you join?

  • Networking opportunities
  • Learn about how to improve your own research from other senior scientists
  • Other benefits

How to get involved?

Join the discussion and become a part of our network by sending an e-mail with your contact details to rsg-netherlands@iscbsc.org, follow us on LinkedIn or Twitter (@RSGNetherlands).

 

Current board members:

        • Gabriel Vogel – TU Delft
        • Bram Pronk – TU Delft
        • Roula Farag – Princess Maxima Centre

Bram Pronk (TU Delft)

Bram is a PhD candidate at the Delft Bioinformatics Lab at TU Delft, under the supervision of Marcel Reinders and Stavros Makrodimitris. His research focuses on the development of diagnostic tools for cancer using liquid biopsies as a non-invasive screening procedure using machine learning. The ultimate goal is to exploit the signal in liquid biopsy data to detect cancer in a tumour-agnostic setting for both early detection and minimum residual disease quantification. This research is done in collaboration with the Erasmus Medical Center under Saskia Wilting. Bram joined the YoungCB board in summer 2024.

Gabriel Vogel (TU Delft)

Gabriel started his PhD in November 2022 in the Delft Bioinformatics Lab at TU Delft under the supervision of Prof. Jana Weber and Prof. Marcel Reinders. His PhD research is in the field of AI for molecular discovery, with a focus on sustainable molecules and materials. Gabriel joined the YoungCB in summer 2024. 

Roula Farag (Princess Maxima Centre)

Roula Farag started her PhD at the Princess Maxima Centre in September 2023 with the Kemmeren group. Her research focuses on identifying complex structural variants in solid tumors and the impact of long-read sequencing to improve our understanding of structural variation in pediatric cancers. Roula is part of the Maxima Butterfly program bringing together 28 international PhD students to the Princess Maxima Centre to advance the pediatric oncology research field. Roula joined youngCB in the summer of 2024.