In order to find a Driving Biological Project which would help propel the Network of BioThings forward, the Su lab had a contest with a $500 prize which ended on June 30th. The contest entries were judged by Drs. Su, Dumontier, Evelo, and Bader. Although each of the entries considered for the prize were excellent, the winning entry was posted by Mark Fortner.
 
 

This awesome diagram explains why the Network of BioThings would make pdfs useful again

This awesome diagram shows how much information could be linked to a pdf (if the Network of BioThings existed) which would really make them useful again

All the entries were very good. But the judges found that Mark really captures the inefficiencies researchers face when engaging in any initial research endeavor — in particular, the diversity of information sources which must be examined individually as the researcher encounters them in an article. He proposes to build a tool that leverages and aggregates the annotation tasks that scientists already do in the course of their work. To truly appreciate his entry, read it here.

Congratulations, Mark, and a big THANK YOU to all the contestants.