COMBINE Australia

What COMBINE Australia does

COMBINE Australia (legally "COMBINE Australia – Australian Computational Biology and Bioinformatics Student Society") is a student-run national society founded in 2012 that serves graduate and undergraduate students, as well as early-career researchers, in computational biology, bioinformatics, and related life-science fields across Australian universities. It operates as the official student subcommittee of The Australian Bioinformatics And Computational Biology Society (ABACBS) and as the official International Society for Computational Biology (ISCB) Regional Student Group (RSG) for Australia. The organization is governed by an annually elected volunteer committee of roughly 20-30 students, with no fixed paid staff, and is not a commercial entity.

Its core "products" are non-technological community and educational programs rather than a software platform. These include: (i) bioinformatics workshops covering R, Python, Galaxy, Nextflow, Docker, RNA-seq analysis, data visualization, and machine learning, typically delivered in partnership with Melbourne Bioinformatics and other host institutions; (ii) industry Fireside Chats with bioinformaticians from government, biotechnology, and pharmaceuticals; (iii) an annual national COMBINE Symposium held in conjunction with the ABACBS conference, rotating across Australian cities (Melbourne, Sydney, Brisbane, Adelaide, Canberra) since 2012; (iv) networking and social events such as trivia nights; and (v) mentoring and peer-support initiatives. There is no proprietary technology stack; the website runs on WordPress, communications run through Slack, Mailchimp, and Eventbrite, and social channels include Twitter/X, Facebook, and LinkedIn.

COMBINE's business model is non-commercial. Membership is free for students and early-career researchers. The organization does not report revenue figures and operates as a nonprofit student society. Funding comes from event sponsorships provided by organizations such as Melbourne Bioinformatics, the Convergence Science Network, ISCB, and Pawsey Supercomputing Research Centre. Workshop fees are nominal (typically A$5–A$20 for members, A$10–A$20 for non-members), and symposium registration fees have historically been modest (e.g., A$40 students / A$50 non-students in 2016). Customer segments are students and early-career researchers, with primary users being graduate/undergraduate students in computational biology and bioinformatics, and a secondary segment of postdoctoral researchers.

Name

COMBINE Australia

Legal name

COMBINE Australia – Australian Computational Biology and Bioinformatics Student Society

Website

https://combine.org.au

Company type

Private

Founded year

2012

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

COMBINE Australia is a national student-run nonprofit society serving computational biology and bioinformatics students and early-career researchers across Australian universities, delivering workshops, industry fireside chats, networking events, and an annual symposium.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Headquarters

HQ city

Melbourne

HQ country

Australia

HQ region

Oceania

Offices4 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D, Infrastructure

Revenue model

1. Membership Fees: Free membership for students and early-career researchers in computational biology and bioinformatics fields
2. Sponsorships: Sponsorship funding from organizations such as Melbourne Bioinformatics, Convergence Science Network, and ISCB to support events and activities

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels2 records

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

COMBINE Australia is a national student-run society for students in computational biology and bioinformatics. It delivers bioinformatics training workshops (R, Python, Galaxy, Nextflow, Docker, machine learning), industry fireside chats, networking events, and an annual student symposium held in conjunction with the ABACBS conference. Activities are organized by a volunteer national committee across Australian universities and supported through institutional sponsorships.

Product overview

COMBINE Australia is a national student society for computational biology and bioinformatics students. The organization operates as a unified membership-based community offering educational workshops, industry engagement programs, annual symposiums, and networking events. Core offerings include the annual COMBINE Symposium held in conjunction with ABACBS, bioinformatics workshops covering tools like R, Python, Galaxy, and Nextflow, Fireside Chats connecting students with industry professionals, social events, and community support through mentoring initiatives.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• COMBINE Symposium Annual national student symposium held in conjunction with the ABACBS conference, offering bioinformatics and computational biology students opportunities to present research, network, and participate in career panels.
• Bioinformatics Workshops Technical training workshops covering bioinformatics tools and programming skills including R, Python, data visualization, machine learning, Galaxy, Nextflow, Docker, RNA-seq analysis, and R package development, delivered with Melbourne Bioinformatics.
• Fireside Chats Informal virtual meetings featuring Australian and international bioinformaticians from government, biotechnology, and pharmaceuticals sectors, exposing students to industry career pathways.
• Community Support and Mentoring Mentoring initiatives and peer community programs supporting students and early-career researchers in computational biology and bioinformatics across Australia.
• Networking and Social Events Events including trivia nights and informal gatherings that connect computational biology and bioinformatics students across Australia.

Named customers2 records

Segments2 records

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

Six partnerships are on record, tiered core, major and minor.

• ABACBS (Australian Bioinformatics And Computational Biology Society)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerCOMBINE is the official student subcommittee of ABACBS. The organizations collaborate on the annual ABACBS conference where COMBINE holds its annual student symposium.
• ISCB (International Society for Computational Biology)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerCOMBINE is the official ISCB Regional Student Group (RSG) for Australia, connecting Australian students with the international computational biology community.
• Melbourne BioinformaticscoreTechnology or IntegrationMelbourne Bioinformatics provides training facilities and instructors for COMBINE workshops. Many workshops are held at Melbourne Bioinformatics facilities (21 Bedford St, North Melbourne).
• National Bioinformatics Training Cooperative (BioCommons)majorStrategic or Co-development PartnerCOMBINE is a member of the National Bioinformatics Training Cooperative, collaborating on training initiatives and sharing resources across Australian bioinformatics training organizations.
• Pawsey Supercomputing Research CentreminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartner venue for workshops in Perth. Hosted the Metagenomics Workshop Perth and other events.
• Convergence Science NetworkminorGTM or Marketing PartnerListed as a sponsor and affiliate, co-promoting events and activities.

Scale indicators3 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Direct peers

• Society for Molecular Biology and Evolution (SMBE): An international academic society supporting molecular evolution and computational biology research. Comparable in subject matter overlap (computational biology), community-led conferences, student engagement programs, and capacity to mobilize volunteer members for events.
• Galaxy Training Network: A global, community-driven network providing bioinformatics training using the Galaxy platform. Directly comparable in subject matter (bioinformatics training), delivery model (workshops, community contributions), and audience (researchers and students).
• Open Bioinformatics Foundation: A nonprofit supporting open-source bioinformatics software development and community. Comparable as a community-led bioinformatics organization with volunteer governance and a mission of supporting shared research infrastructure for the bioinformatics community.
• The Carpentries: A global community teaching data science and computational skills to researchers through volunteer-led workshops (Software Carpentry, Data Carpentry, Library Carpentry). Highly comparable operating model: community-taught training, modular curriculum, volunteer instructors, and institutional partnerships.
• National Bioinformatics Training Cooperative (BioCommons): An Australian cooperative that coordinates bioinformatics training across member institutions; COMBINE is a listed member. Highly comparable audience (Australian bioinformatics learners), subject (training), and channel (workshops) but operates as a professional consortium rather than a student society.
• OHDSI (Observational Health Data Sciences and Informatics): A multi-stakeholder, open-science collaborative advancing health data science through community-contributed tools, training programs, and working groups. Similar volunteer-driven, community-led model with regular symposia, training, and industry partnerships.
• ABACBS (Australian Bioinformatics And Computational Biology Society): COMBINE's parent organization and the national professional society for bioinformatics and computational biology in Australia. Directly comparable in mission (advancing Australian bioinformatics community) but at the professional rather than student level; COMBINE operates as its student subcommittee.

Regional players

• ELIXIR: A Europe-based intergovernmental organization coordinating bioinformatics infrastructure and training across member states. Comparable in mission (building bioinformatics capacity through training and community) but operates at a larger institutional scale and in a different geography than COMBINE.
• Australian Society for Medical Research (ASMR): Australia's peak professional society representing medical researchers, including a student/researcher support function. Comparable as a national volunteer-run scientific society operating across Australian research institutions with annual events, advocacy, and student engagement.

Broad incumbents

• ISCB (International Society for Computational Biology): The international professional society of which COMBINE is a Regional Student Group. ISCB operates the global umbrella for computational biology including conferences (ISMB), journals, and student programs, while COMBINE is the Australian student-facing node.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat3 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/combine_au
• Facebookfacebook.com/combine.australia
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/combine-australia

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles24 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about COMBINE Australia