Why Microbiology Matters
Why Microbiology Matters

The Microbiology Society is a membership charity for scientists interested in microbes, their effects and their practical uses.
What is microbiology?

Microbiology is the study of all living organisms that are too small to be visible with the naked eye. This includes bacteria, archaea, viruses, fungi, prions, protozoa and algae, collectively known as 'microbes'.

Aims and objectives

The Microbiology Society has a vision and mission around which we base our strategy. Our members have a unique depth and breadth of knowledge about the discipline. The Society’s role is to help unlock and harness the potential of that knowledge.

Our history

Discover more about the history of the Microbiology Society, including its inception in 1945.

How the Society works

As a registered charity and a company limited by guarantee, the Microbiology Society's Council bears legal responsibilities. The Society also has a number of committees, including Division Committees.

Early Career Forum

Find out about what the Early Career (EC) Forum is and why it was established.

Equality, diversity and inclusion

The Microbiology Society supports greater diversity within the field of microbiology.

Science and the EU

The Microbiology Society is working with the scientific community to engage with policy-makers on the issue of Brexit. The Microbiology Society's Council's Statement on Brexit can also be found here.

Collaborations

The Microbiology Society collaborates with several organisations to push the science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) agenda forward.

Contact us

Details on how to contact the Microbiology Society and where our office is located.

Our staff

Find out who our staff are at the Microbiology Society.

Jobs

View the current job vacancies at the Microbiology Society.
Our Work
Our Work

We support our members to champion microbiology and to access the best microbiological evidence and expertise.
Our journals

Microbiology Society journals contain high-quality research papers and topical review articles. We are a not-for-profit publisher and we support and invest in the microbiology community, to the benefit of everyone.

Showcasing Why Microbiology Matters

Explore our new collections of digital content which celebrate 'Why Microbiology Matters' and helps us demonstrate the impact of microbiologists past, present and future.

Knocking Out Antimicrobial Resistance

The Microbiology Society is leading the way with the Knocking Out AMR project, an ambitious, bold and extensive scheme of work aiming to promote feasible and effective solutions to AMR.

Microbiology’s transformation to fully Open Access

Having published advances across the field of microbiology for 75 years, Microbiology – the Microbiology Society’s founding journal – is now fully Open Access (OA).

SARS-CoV-2 and COVID-19 Hub

Access all content published by the Microbiology Society
relating to SARS-CoV-2, the cause of COVID-19 in our digital hub.

The microbiome

Microbiome research is a rapidly developing area of science and innovation, seeking to explore and exploit the complex communities of microbes associated with humans, animals, plants and other environments such as soils and oceans.

Climate change

Discover everything you need to know about the role microbiology plays in climate change, browse our resources and access some of the latest research in our journal collections.

Policy

The Microbiology Society widens the impact of microbiology by drawing on the expertise of its membership and amplifying their voices in policy circles
Membership
Membership

Join the Microbiology Society and become part of the largest microbiology community in Europe.
Join the Society

We offer a range of membership options. View the categories available to find the one most suitable for you.

Renew your membership

Renew your membership.

Microbiology Today magazine

Explore Microbiology Today, the Society's membership magazine.

Get involved

Find out how to get the most out of your membership.

Society Champions

Meet our members

The science helping us understand our world.

Membership resources

View our range of resources available to Microbiology Society members.

FAQs

Have a question about Membership? These FAQs may be of help.

Leaving a legacy

By remembering the Society in your Will you can help support the future of microbiology and the next generation of microbiologists.
Careers
Careers

Advice and information for those interested in a career in microbiology.
What microbiologists do

The range of roles and fields that microbiologists work in.

Information for school leavers

Choosing a course and university, and what you need to apply.

Information for undergraduates

What to do after you graduate and how to get a job.

Information for postgraduates and beyond

How to improve your employability and find funding.

Non-research career options

Some of the roles outside of research where you could use your knowledge.

Job profiles

Find out about the different career paths available after studying biology or microbiology.

Career development

Find out about development opportunities that can help you to advance your career.

Useful links

The links provided on this page contain a list of institutions that may be useful and able to provide further information.
Grants & Prizes
Grants & Prizes

Funds received though the Microbiology Society publication subscriptions, membership and other activities are used to support microbiology in the form of grants and prizes.
All Grants

A list of all grants and prizes available to members of the Microbiology Society.

Travel & Research Grants

The Microbiology Society provides funding for microbiological research projects and travel to help members enhance their careers.

International grants

The Microbiology Society provides funds to support microbiologists and develop microbiology, teaching and research in countries defined as low-income or lower-middle-income economies by the World Bank.

Education & Outreach Grants and Prizes

The Microbiology Society supports microbiology-related education and outreach activities and funds are available for members keen to run and participate in these events.

Unlocking Potential Fund

The Society's first fundraising initiative for members who may require support for a variety of reasons, in order to help them to progress and to reach their full career potential.

All prizes and competitions

Learn more about the prizes and competitions that the Microbiology Society offers.
Events
Events

The Microbiology Society holds and supports conferences and events to disseminate research knowledge and provide a forum for communication between microbiologists.
Annual Conference

Annual Conference is the Society’s flagship event. The Conference brings together scientists who work in microbiology and provides a comprehensive overview of current microbiological research and discoveries. The event takes place over the course of a week each April at one of the UK or Ireland’s major convention centres and is designed to maximise opportunities for networking and the formation of new collaborations.

Society events and meetings

At the Society, we provide a number of high quality events and meetings throughout the year, including the Focused Meeting series.

Event proposals and conference grants

Submit ideas for Microbiology Society Annual Conference sessions and Focused Meetings, or apply for a Society-Supported Conference Grant.

Society-supported conferences

The Microbiology Society provides financial support for events held by other organisations in the areas of microbiology and virology.

Full events listing

The Microbiology Society will highlight details of any event held by other organisations in the areas of microbiology. If you would like to list an event here, you can submit your details in through our online form.

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Scientific Seminar Series

The Scientific Seminar Series is designed to reach a priority microbiology community to support it in disseminating knowledge across its professional networks. The events are designed as a regularly repeated series of short (typically 1–2 hour) online meetings.
News
News

The Microbiology Society promotes the public understanding of microbiology.
Society news

News and updates from the Microbiology Society.

Press and media

Press releases and resources for journalists and the media

Blog - Microbe Post

The Microbiology Society's blog.

YouTube channel

The Microbiology Society regularly produces videos which are hosted on our YouTube channel.

Podcast - Microbe Talk

The Microbiology Society has a podcast called Microbe Talk.

Newsletter

Archive of the monthly newsletter from the Microbiology Society.

Resources and further reading

Microbiology Today: The Microbiome

Microbiome research is a hot topic at the moment, and is the focus of this edition of Microbiology Today. The study of the microbiome highlights the microbes within these complex communities, and the interactions they have with each other and their environment.
Microbiology Today: The Ocean

How do marine microbial ecosystems respond to climate change and pollution? Why could eukaryotic marine parasites have a wide impact on marine ecology? In this issue of Microbiology Today we explore oceans.
Unlocking the Microbiome report

This report summarises the view of the working group and the wider community that there are many opportunities both for the advancement of scientific knowledge about microbiomes and for the useful application of that knowledge.
Microbiology Today: Water

Water is the focus of this edition of Microbiology Today. The microbial interactions with this ubiquitous substance are vast. This issue features articles on how microbial life in the ocean affects climate change and the microbial issues affecting the aquaculture industry.
Microbiology Today: Life's A Gas

In this issue of Microbiology Today we explore microbes and oxygen, the microbial genetics of seaside smells and toxic gases of the nitrogen cycle.
Microbiology Today: Microbes in the garden

In this issue of Microbiology Today we explore the microbes in our garden, including symbiotic fungi, bacterial and fungal plant diseases, the war on garden weeds and home composting.
Microbiology Today: Marine microbiology

Learn more about marine microlights, the importance of marine snow, red tides in the sunset and the topics of marine biotechnology.
Microbiology Today: Microbes in the air

Discover more about the spontaneous generation debate, microbes and our climate, birds and the spread of disease and the impact of desert dust on microbiology.
Microbiology Today:The microbiome of things

Microbiomes have always been with us, and have always played fundamental roles in how systems function. In this article in Microbiology Today we learn more about soil and aerial microbiomes and how microbiomes are fundamental to global ecosystem functions, services and life.
Unlocking the microbiome policy report

This report summarises the view of the working group and the wider community that there are many opportunities both for the advancement of scientific knowledge about microbiomes and for the useful application of that knowledge.
Unlocking the Microbiome Launch Event Summary

On 15 November 2017, the Microbiology Society launched its science policy report ‘Unlocking the Microbiome’, at an event held at The Royal Society in London. Here is a summary of the key highlights.
Microbiome journal collection

This unique collaboration breaks traditional disciplinary boundaries, bringing the microbiology and immunology communities together over shared interests.
Impact of conservation on ocean animal microbiomes

In this issue of Microbiology Today Associate Scientist Amy Apprill discusses the impact of conservation on ocean animal microbiomes.
Microbiome- Beyond the Gut

Microbiomes have always been with us and have played fundamental roles in how systems function. Although we have a personal interest in understanding human microbiomes and how they influence health and disease, environmental microbiomes are fundamental to global ecosystem functions, services and life.
Pioneer fungi start degrading dead wood before it hits the ground

Next time you go walking in a forest during the summer months, take a look up and see if you can spot any branches missing their leaves. It might not seem obvious at first, but you’re looking at a poorly understood, although rather important, ecosystem.
Microbe talk: Microbes in Chernobyl

In this podcast we spoke to Dr Alexandre de Menezes, a soil microbiologist who went to the Chernobyl Exclusion Zone to see how the nuclear disaster has impacted on microbes in the soil.
Microbe Talk Extra: Swallowed by a whale

The diversity and function of the gut microbes living inside baleen whales has never been studied before. In this podcast we spoke to Annabel Beichman (UCLA) and Jon Sanders (Harvard University) about the surprising discovery they made when they looked inside the whale.
Microbe Talk: Forensic Microbiology Part 2: Secrets of Soil

Could the mud and soil a person walks through be used to identify where they’ve been? In part two of our forensic microbiology special, we look at the ways that soil from crime scenes can help pinpoint the whereabouts of people and objects in police investigations.
Microbe Talk: Microbes in New York's Central Park

In this podcast we spoke to Dr Kelly Ramirez (Netherlands Institute of Ecology) about investigating below-ground microbial diversity in Central Park.
Microbe talk: a sustainable future and a circular economy

Professor Alison Smith Head of the Department of Plant Sciences at the University of Cambridge and Emilia Wojcik, PhD student at the University of Manchester discuss how their research contributes to moving towards a circular economy as part of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (UN SDGs).
Microbe Talk: a sustainable future in soil health

Dr Ellie Harrison, Research Fellow at the University of Sheffield and Luke Hillary, PhD student at Bangor University tell us about how their research into soil health is contributing to achieving the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (UN SDGs).

Image credits:

Steve Gschmeissner/Science Photo Library
iStockphoto / Thinkstock
Steve Gschmeissner/Science Photo Library
Steve Gschmeissner / Science Photo Library
Photos.com / Jupiter Images
Ian Atherton
Ian Atherton
Toshihide 6otoh / Dex lmage / Creata
Thierry Berrod, Mona Lisa Productions/Science Photo Library
Steve Gschmeissner/Science Photo Library
iMartina Birnbaum/iStock
Amy Apprill
Scubazoo/Science Photo Library
Anna Rawlings
IG_Royal/iStock
Christopher Michel on Flickr under CC BY 2.0
Alan Cleaver on Flickr under CC BY 2.0
Roman_slavik/iStock
iStock/andreusK
iStock/Max Labeille