Annual Conference 2026: Message from the Treasurer and Chair and Chair-elect of the Scientific Conferences Panel

03 September 2025

Every year, we celebrate our thriving microbiology community through our Annual Conference, which provides opportunities to amplify our members’ voices and advance the understanding of microbiology and the ways it can have an impact and influence in the world.

We will shortly open registrations for Annual Conference 2026 in Belfast. At the Society, we know that the scientific landscape is changing and that our members face growing challenges and pressures at all career stages.

We understand that attending events is a choice as well as a financial commitment, and that there are many meetings and conferences available to you. We believe that Annual Conference is a fantastic opportunity to meet with your community and benefit from the science, networking and professional development activities on offer.  We want to make it the best it can possibly be.

We have listened to your feedback following Annual Conference 2025, and in 2026, we will:

• Reinstate the two-day Conference rate
• Revise and enhance the catering with additional options on offer (we will continue to make provision for all dietary requirements)
• Increase the time allocated for poster sessions from two hour-long sessions to two 75-minute sessions (per poster)
• Introduce new content across the programme
• Deliver more cross-divisional symposia
• Offer pre-Conference workshops for training and networking

We will continue to provide:

• Grants to attend Conference
• A free crèche for the duration of Conference
• Dedicated spaces across the venue, including quiet rooms, prayer rooms and nursing rooms
• Networking and social opportunities, including a session for anyone new to Conference

As you will be aware, the Society is not-for-profit – it reinvests in the microbiology community, benefiting members at all career stages wherever they are based in the world. For some time, our events programme operated at a substantial loss, and we have worked hard to make it financially sustainable.

We also ask members to remember that the main revenue for all Society activities remains our publishing portfolio. When you submit to one of our titles, you are investing in microbiologists, not the profits of shareholders, and you are enabling us to deliver events, including Annual Conference.  

Next year we will be at the ICC Belfast from 13–16 April 2026. We hope you choose to join us for a wonderful showcase of microbiology research and to engage with your community.

Best wishes,

John Sinclair, Treasurer

Kalai Mathee and Nicolas Locker, Chair and Chair-elect of the Scientific Conferences Panel