A two-day workshop series bridging high-performance GPU infrastructure and the future of microbial genomics Join us for a specialised two-day series dedicated to bridging the gap between high-performance GPU infrastructure and the future of microbial genomics.
This workshop will introduce participants to cutting-edge tools and techniques, covering everything from metagenomic assembly to AI-driven bioinformatics.
Event Overview
This is a two-part event, with each day focusing on a distinct area of research. Participants are encouraged to attend both days to gain a comprehensive understanding of current computational methods.
Day 1: Birmingham — Speakers Confirmed!
We’re pleased to announce the confirmed speaker line-up for Day 1 of this new workshop series, bringing together leading voices in microbial genomics, metagenomics, computational biology, and GPU-accelerated bioinformatics.
📅 Date: Thursday, 8 October 2026
🕙 Time: 10:00 - 15:00 (lunch included)
📍 Location: Birmingham Central Library, Centenary Square Broad Street, Birmingham, B1 2ND
🎯 Focus: A technical deep-dive into metagenomic assembly, GPU-accelerated bioinformatics algorithms, and advanced computational methods for microbial and microbiome research.
Confirmed Speakers
- Keynote: Todd Treangen - Rice University
- Keynote: Páll Melsted - University of Iceland
- Nick Loman - University of Birmingham / Quadram Institute Bioscience
- Lauren Cowley - University of Bath
- Ben Busby - NVIDIA
Day 1: Birmingham — Agenda
10:00am - 3:00pm
| Time | Session | Speaker |
|---|---|---|
| 9:30-10:00 | Registration and arrival coffee | |
| Session 1 - Welcome | ||
| 10:00-10:05 | Welcome & Scene Setting | Nick Loman and Ben Busby |
| 10:05-10:30 | Talk - Machine learning for pathogen surveillance, CLIMB GRE | Nick Loman, CLIMB / University of Birmingham / Quadram Institute |
| 10:30-11:00 | Talk - Accelerating biological and biomedical data science to meet the new scale of digital biology | Ben Busby, NVIDIA |
| Session 2 - Understanding/exploring microbial communities | ||
| 11:00-11:40 | Keynote - Title to follow | Todd Treangen, Rice University |
| 11:40-11:55 | Lightning presentations from participants | |
| 11:55-12:05 | Discussion | |
| 12:05-12:45 | Lunch | |
| Session 3 - Accelerating metagenomics bioinformatics and workflows | ||
| 13:00-13:40 | Keynote - FASTQ at the speed of light - accelerating sequence processing with GPUs | Pall Melsted, University of Iceland |
| 13:40-13:55 | Lightning presentations from participants | |
| 13:55-14:05 | Discussion | |
| Session 4 - Linking metagenomics to decision-making | ||
| 14:05-14:35 | Talk - Leveraging genomic surveillance data to build prediction models for Public Health | Lauren Cowley, University of Bath |
| 14:35-14:45 | Lightning presentations from participants | |
| 14:45-14:55 | Discussion | |
| 14:55-15:00 | Closing remarks |
About the Workshop
Microbial and microbiome research, metagenomics, and metaviromics are generating data at an unprecedented scale, yet many researchers remain unfamiliar with the GPU-accelerated computing tools that could transform their work, while significant GPU capacity across UK institutions remains underused.
This workshop will introduce microbiologists, computational biologists, and public health researchers to GPU-accelerated tools and emerging applications, including:
- Machine learning approaches for microbial and microbiome data
- Large language models (LLMs) applied to biological sequence data
- Vector search techniques for nucleotide sequences across bacteria, viruses, and fungi
- GPU-accelerated base calling and downstream applications
- CLIMB infrastructure, GPU resources, and hands-on Jupyter-based workflows
- Case studies from public health genomics
- Agentic programming and pipeline optimisation for bioinformatics tool development
Day 1 in Birmingham on 8th October offers a technical, academic-focused programme centred on microbial genomics, metagenomics and machine learning. It’s the first half of a two-part series.
Day 2 takes place in London on Friday, 9 October 2026, with a complementary focus on clinical and diagnostic applications for NHS-linked and public health audiences. Participants are encouraged to attend both days where possible. More information about day 2 can be found at this link.
Who Should Apply?
- Microbiologists and microbial genomics researchers
- Computational biologists and bioinformaticians working with metagenomic/metaviromic data
- Public health professionals, including UKHSA and NHS-linked researchers
- Graduate students and postdoctoral researchers
- Core facility and research computing staff
- Industry representatives from life sciences, pharma, and biotech
Registration is limited to 100 participants, with a brief application question to ensure a technically appropriate audience. Demand is expected to be high, where you are not confirmed a place, a waitlist will be in place.
The Birmingham event is organised by: CLIMB (Cloud Infrastructure for Microbial Bioinformatics), NVIDIA, and the Health Protection Research Unit (HPRU) in Public Health Genomics.