Dr. Iva Veseli 

Anvi’o (https://anvio.org) is an open-source software platform that makes integrative, customizable analyses of ‘omics datasets accessible to microbiologists. As a software that is developed by and for scientists in the microbial ‘omics field, anvi’o has grown organically in response to the research needs of its user community. Though the platform’s capabilities are already extensive, anvi’o users have suggested many relevant improvements and feature requests, such as explicit support for eukaryotic genomes and integration of proteomic datasets; however, a lack of dedicated time and expertise available to the software’s geographically-spread development team stands in the way of implementing these critical updates. We therefore propose a ‘hackathon’ that will bring together anvi’o developers with a variety of experts from both biological and computational fields to collaboratively improve the platform. This workshop will: (1) enable participating scientists to determine which new features in anvi’o would be most relevant to microbiology research, (2) provide developers with access to biological insights that will drive the implementation and testing of novel features, and (3) facilitate an exchange of ideas and knowledge that will influence the long-term trajectory of the platform’s development, with the central aim of substantially expanding the platform’s capabilities for the benefit of hundreds of microbiologists around the globe.