The story of Bioinformatics for Ukraine began as an emergency response to the terrible war in Ukraine caused by Russia’s full-scale invasion. What started as a rapid reaction to the destruction of academic infrastructure and the displacement of students and researchers has since grown into a vibrant, forward-looking community of students, mentors, and scientists.
From its earliest days, our initiative was driven by one key belief: that scientific growth must continue even during war.
Even with many challenges, our community has grown stronger. We turned a crisis into new chances for learning and development. Ukrainian students now have new ways to study, grow, and connect with others in science.
We started by creating space for connection and learning. In 2023 and 2024, we hosted several in-person schools and meet-ups that brought together students and educators from across Ukraine and beyond:
▪️ East European Bioinformatics and Computational Genomics School (EEBG) – 2024 in Suceava (Romania), upcoming in 2025 in Kraków (Poland).
▪️Biological Data Science Summer School in Uzhhorod, Ukraine
▪️Ukrainian School in Evolutionary Biology (USEB)
We complemented these with a series of intensive workshops and practical trainings:
🔹 Data Analysis Workshop – May 2023
🔹 Genomics, Phylogenetics, and Evolutionary Biology – September 2023
🔹 Mastering Graduate School Applications – October 2023
🔹 Essential Biostatistics for Biomedical Research – October–November 2023
🔹 Population & Evolutionary Genomics Workshop – 2024
🔹 Biological Data Science workshop – 2025
We also launched a seminar series—eight online meetings where scientists from across the world shared knowledge, sparked ideas, and mentored early-career researchers in Ukraine.
Every event, whether in-person or online, was a step toward rebuilding scientific continuity. We saw students from Kharkiv, Kyiv, Lviv, and many other cities take part—sometimes from temporary shelters or new countries they had to flee to.
But what united them all was one goal: to keep growing as scientists, no matter what. And thanks to our global network of educators and allies, we could make it happen.
Today, Bioinformatics for Ukraine is more than just a project—it is a living, evolving community. It is proof that science doesn’t stop in a blackout, and education doesn’t end at the sound of an air raid siren. It lives on in every student we mentor, every paper we help publish, and every skill we help develop.
This is our story. And it’s just the beginning. 💛💙
