Participant Testimonials
Colleagues at the workshop had some excellent ideas about how to handle bias in next-generation sequencing data, particularly with regard to read mappability and the effects of sequence features (e.g., GC content). These ideas, and software that is being developed, will have a huge impact on sequencing projects in our Bioinformatics Core facility and various collaborations.
As with my participation in earlier incarnations of this workshop the experience proved invaluable. Firstly, with regard to my own work, the questions and suggestions received, both during and beyond my presentation, have served to re-focus some issues, expand scope of applications, and sharpen the theoretical underpinnings. Secondly, I learned of techniques that were described by other speakers that will have immediate impact on both my methodologic and applied work. Thirdly, and perhaps most importantly, I made some new connections that, while in their infancy, have triggered new and promising collaborations. It is my opinion that the scale and setting of BIRS workshops makes for an ideal breeding ground for fomenting new research and I'm truly appreciative of all the effort that BIRS has invested in enabling this wonderful forum.
