BITS-main

The Fifth Cross-Strait Workshop on Biology Inspired Theoretical Science
(BITS5) will be held at the Tunghai University in Taichung City and the famed Sun-Moon Lake in mid-Taiwan, June 20-26. The BITSn series of the
workshops was inaugurated in 1998 and are co-sponsored by the National
Center for Theoretical Sciences, the Institute for Theoretical Physics in Beijing, and local hosts. BITS5 is organized by the Focus Group on Systems Biology, NCTS, the Physics Department, Tunghai University (local host), and the new Institute of Systems Biology and Bioinformatics,
National Central University.

The goal of the BITS workshops is to provide an occasion where people in the natural and biological sciences, and their intersection, can meet, present their work, exchange ideas, and hold discussions.

The venues of past BITS's were: BITS1, NCU, Chungli, (June,1998); BITS2,
ITP, Beijing (May, 2000); BITS3, Donghua University, Hualien (July, 2002); BITS4, Xiamen University, Xiamen (June, 2004). The goal of the BITS workshops is to promote cross-strait exchange and scientific collaboration in interdisciplinary research in fields where the natural sciences, in particular physics and mathematics, intersect with the biological sciences: theoretical and mathematical biology, computational biology, bioinformatics, biophysics and, very recently, systems biology. Since the inception of BITS in 1998, many of these fields have experienced explosive growths and new subfields have emerged. These growths have been reflected in the growth from BITS1 to BITS5. This year about 30 top scientists in these fields from the Mainland will attend BITS5. As was the custom in the past, a small number of outstanding scientists from third parties have also been invited to participate.

BITS5 is co-chaired by LEE Hoong-Chien (NCU) and HAO Bailin (ITP Beijing/Fudan University). Members of the Organizing Committee are: SHIH Chi-Ting (Tunghai U., Chair), LIN Jin-Chia (Tunghai U.), HUANG Tai-Huang (IBMS, Academia Sinica), Chin-Kun Hu (IP, AC), CHOU Shan-Ho (National Chung-Hsin U.), TSENG Hsuen-Che (National Chung-Hsin U.), LAI Pik-Yin (NCU), CHEN Chi-Min (National Normal U.), OUYANG Zongcan (ITP).

Nestled among peaks in the Central Mountain Ranges near the geographical center of Taiwan, the Sun-Moon Lake has long been the premiere natural sight on the island. With much of its infrastructure destroyed during the "921" earthquake in 1999, Sun-Moon Lake has since risen again, phoenix-like, to be an attraction to travelers from far and near afield. Famous for its modern chapel designed by I.E. Pei, Tunghai University boasts the most architecturally acclaimed campus in Taiwan. Built on walled terraces according to plans for formal edifices in the Tang Dynasty, the original colleges were constructed on unpainted wood and raw cement, a practice still rare in Taiwan. An post-workshop excursion to another signature spot on the island, Ali-Shan, is planned.

BITS5 is open to all who wishes to participate. For more information contact the secretary of the workshop, Miss MeiRue Shi,
email: mrshi@phys.cts.nthu.edu.tw,
tel: 03-573-1265.