2024 Mammoth International Contest On Omics Sciences in Europe

April 2024 to June 2024

Join the Spatial Transcriptomics Algorithm Challenge: MICOS-EU 2024 and win more than 20,000$

Embark on an exciting quest to decipher the intricate language of cells within their native tissue context. Harness the power of cutting-edge Spatial Transcriptomics technology as you tackle the multidimensional puzzle of gene expression, protein function, and cellular microenvironments.

In this thrilling competition, master the art of clustering algorithms to optimize and integrate diverse omics data, revealing hidden patterns and enhancing biomedical insights. Convert, preprocess, and cluster massive gene expression matrices, and learn more about the synergy of transcriptomics, proteomics, and histopathology.

Ready to showcase your data science skills?

Top performers will be invited by our local partners to the finals on 19th June 2024, during the prestigious Belgrade Bioinformatics Conference - BelBi2024.

Introduction to the contest

Life science research has entered the era of data-driven, where rapidly evolving algorithms and tools have become key elements for innovative discoveries. MICOS-EU 2024 expands the MICOS competition into a wider global community. Invited by a local partner in Serbia, we have chosen Europe as the host location for this competition in 2024. The goal is to promote the cross-regional exchange of technology and talent to drive new advancements and discoveries in scientific research in omics and related sciences, particularly focused on promoting the international application and development of data science within the life sciences.

Contest unit

Contest Setting

The spatial transcriptomics technology Stereo-seq is an in situ capture spatial omics sequencing technology that can achieve "nanometer resolution" and "centimeter-level panoramic view of the market". The continuous development of Stereo-seq technology enables the simultaneous measurement of multi-modal and multi-omics data in the same slice, including image information such as HE/mIF and spatial transcriptome data, as well as simultaneous measurement of spatial membrane protein and transcriptome data. Extracting and integrating multi-modal information can provide a more comprehensive interpretation of the data. The organizers hope that participants can apply, improve, and develop algorithms suitable for integrating and analyzing spatial multi-modal data, while ensuring the accuracy of the analysis results, and achieving the goal of reducing algorithm memory consumption and improving computational speed.

Contest Flow

2024 March to April

Initiating meeting & Contest issue

Competition question introduction and presentation (online)

2024 April to early May
(4-5 weeks)

Preliminary Round

Registration for the contest, release of preliminary round data, and opening of preliminary round submission.

2024 Mid and late May
(2-3 weeks)

Intermediary Round

Release of Promotion list, release of intermediary round data, and opening of intermediary round submission.

2024 Early June

Process & Code Evaluation & Final Preparation

Publish the list of finalists. (Invitation come to Serbia)
Release of defense template, contestants prepare roadshow materials as required. Roadshow contestant contact, travel, and visa processing.

2024 June 19th in BelBi 2024

Organize final roadshow and award presentation.

MICOS-EU Final Results

Six teams participated in the finals event in Serbia, following are their total scores and rankings:

Team	Institution	Total Score	Rank	Awards
Curious	ETH Zürich	97.441	1	First Prize
Genomijalci	University of Belgrade	88.631	2	Second Prize
CERush	IDATA	84.9995	3	Third Prize
BioIRC	University of Kragujevac	69.721	4	Excellent Prize
BioSynAI	SynBio AI Lab	57.831	5
bocchi_the_gen	Chongqing University of Science and Technology	51.0105	6

(*): BioSynAI due to personal reasons gave up the final defense, only zero points in the final.

Contest Awards

The top six contestants will be invited to Serbia to participate in offline events. Compete for 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place, and excellence price respectively.
The winning teams will receive official certificates of the contest, a bonus, participate in academic exchanges and training in China/Serbia, and interviews or job opportunities.

Awards	Bonus (USD)	Quantity
First Prize	12,000	1
Second Prize	5,000	1
Third Prize	2,000	1
Excellent Prize	800	3

MICOS Scholarships

Collaborative Activity

June, 17-20 2024, Belgrade

Collaborative Journal