In recent times, two issues have increasingly entered research strategies: the convergence of disciplines and technologies and the relationship between basic research and the industrial world. This event aimed to couple the two issues mentioned above, to delineate a road-map and a strategic vision for the future (interdisciplinary) research in life sciences, information technologies, computational physics, bio-engineering and pharmacology. The overall event aimed to highlight strategic directions to pursue and to communicate potential impacts that predictive tools of biological behaviour, strictly coupled with high-throughput tools and bio-materials, can have on the public as well as an individual’s health, society, the environment and economic and industrial development.

Session 1: The "New kinds of science" emerging from the convergence of computing and science
Robin Milner (University of Cambridge, Professor of Computer Science, Fellow of the Royal Society and Turing Award winner): "Scientific foundation for global computing"
Wanda Andreoni (IBM Zurich Research Laboratory, Manager Computational Biochemistry and Materials Science) "Computational Biology: Where Sciences Converge for a Better Life"
Edoardo Boncinelli (Istituto Scientifico San Raffaele, Milano, Professor) "Bioinformatics and the Genome"
Luca Cardelli (Microsoft Research Ltd., Cambridge (UK), Assistant Director, Head of programming languages and security group) "Languages for Systems Biology"
George S. Cowan (Pfizer Global Research and Development, Computer Scientist) "The Transition from Scientific Computation to Computing with Scientific Concepts"
Cecilia Saccone (CNR - Istituto di Tecnologie Biomediche - Sezione di Bari, Professor) "Role of Bioinformatics in Emerging Disciplines"

Session 2: New research models for convergence: basic versus applied research
Bob Hertzberger (University of Amsterdam, Professor) "e-Science and the VL-e approach"
Bogdan Lesyng (University of Warsaw, Professor) "Modelling and understanding complex biomolecular systems and processes: Applications in nanosciences, biotechnology and biomedicine"
Alejandro Martín-Hobdey (New and Emerging Science and Technology, Scientific Officer) "Convergence and the NEST experience"
Corrado Priami (University of Trento, Professor and Head of the Bioinformatics Research Program) "Communicative (basic and applied) research"

Session 3: From education to innovation – Training Europe's scientists of tomorrow, and how business and academia need to work together to go from science to social benefit
Peter Landshoff (University of Cambridge, Professor) "Industry and Academia need to work together"
John McCarthy (Manchester Interdisciplinary Biocentre, Director) "The Manchester Interdisciplinary Biocentre: Orchestrating Research and Training at the Interface"
Iacopo Carreras et al. (Create-Net) "A Biological Approach to Autonomic Communication Systems"
Ronan Sleep (University of East Anglia, Professor) "A Grand Challenge for Converging Sciences"

Session 4: European & global, economic & social importance of converging & computational sciences
Ivan Arisi (LayLine Genomics SpA, Scientist) et al. "SYMBIONIC: a European initiative on the systems biology of the neuronal cell"
Elie Faroult (European Commission, Scientific Officer) "Converging technologies: lessons from an Expert group"
Richard Hirsh (Science Foundation Ireland, Senior Scientific Programme Officer) "Supercomputers, Science, and Society"

Session 5: Systems Biology – challenges, opportunities, potential, research Joseph Nadeau (Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine, Chair of Department of Genetics, and Co-Director of Center for Computational Genomics and Systems Biology) "Systems biology: preventing common diseases with interdisciplinary research"
John Wooley (University of California San Diego, Associate Vice Chancellor for Research) "Exploring an emerging frontier: The interface between biology and computing"
Francois Fages (INRIA, Senior Research Scientist) "From Syntax to Semantics in Systems Biology - towards automated reasoning tools"
David Fell (Oxford Brookes University, Assistant Dean) "Computing Phenotype from the Genome: Metabolism as a Case Study"
Ehud Shapiro (Weizmann Institute of Science, Professor): "What next after the Human Genome Project?"

Session 6: Biodiversity Informatics: the urgent need to bring together computing and science to better understand, halt the loss of, and protect the planet's life support system – its biodiversity
James Edwards (Global Biodiversity Informatics Facility, Technical University of Denmark, Director) "The Magnitude of Biodiversity Data and the Imperative Role of Biodiversity Informatics"
Peter Hall (UN Environment Programme, World Conservation Monitoring Centre, Director of Biodiversity Information Services) "Biodiversity E-Tools to Protect our Natural World"
Phillip Fox (UN Environment Programme, World Conservation Monitoring Centre, Head of Internet and GIS Services) "Using the Web to bring everyone's data together"
Donald Hobern (Global Biodiversity Information Facility, Technical University of Denmark, Programme Officer) "Architecture and tools for biodiversity data exchange"
Andrew Jones (Cardiff University, Senior Lecturer) "Applying Computer Science Research in Biodiversity Informatics: Some Experiences and Lessons"
Richard White (Cardiff University, Senior Lecturer) "Collaborative e-science and virtual organisations in biodiversity research"

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