The 21st century has seen a revolution in biology. We can sequence whole genomes cheaply and fast, image the dynamics of gene activity from microscopic bacteria up to the whole human body, and precisely modify the DNA of almost any organism. Our ability to generate quantitative data at scale is essential and still improving – giving us the tantalising hope of being able to control, repair and engineer living systems.

However, these impressive technical advances have not yet translated into an ability to accurately control, or even to accurately predict, the behaviour of most real living systems. Biology is complex, and a remaining revolution is still ahead of us: to make biology predictable and controllable – converting data into understanding, through improved computational and theoretical modelling – from the design of new proteins and the repair of human organs, up to the prediction of whole ecosystems. The Barcelona Collaboratorium for Predictive Modelling will create a new space for interaction of computational biology - promoting researchers to collaborate, share ideas and synergize across disciplines and scales.

• We will host extended visits by leaders in their fields from theoretical biology, complex systems, engineering, computer science and artificial intelligence/machine learning.

• Each area of biology has its own unique features, but concepts and tools from one discipline can provide important fresh insights and new perspectives into another. Our focus is to bring together experts from different disciplines, into the same space, from molecular, cellular and tissue biology, up to epidemiology and ecosystems.

• We are creating a uniquely open and collaborative physical space, to host a dynamic mix of both local researchers plus a strong visitors’ program, ranging from senior sabbatical professors, to junior researchers and students.

• A program of Extended Colloquia, and Advanced Study Periods, will drive the cross-fertilisation of concepts and tools between various disciplines of predictive modelling.

The Barcelona Collaboratorium for Modelling and Predictive Biology is a joint initiative by the Centre for Genomic Regulation (CRG) and EMBL Barcelona.

James Sharpe, Head of the EMBL Barcelona, and Ben Lehner, coordinator of the Systems Biology Programme at the CRG are spearheading this initiative.