Student Council Symposiums (SCSs) have been found to be very useful for students and young researchers. This is especially true given that the events are held directly before larger national and international conferences, giving attendees a chance to gain exposure and have a warm up to the social nuances involved in attending such a meeting. This will be the second SCS held in South Africa in conjunction with SASBi and SAGS.
 

The first student council symposium was a one-day meeting held alongside the SASBi-SAGS Congress in Durban, South Africa, on 20 September 2016. This was the first meeting of this type, and is planned to become a biennial event. The main aim of this first symposium was to introduce students to bioinformatics research and job opportunities.