Conferences

Focused Meetings

Not registered yet? There's still time. Simply visit the Microbiology Society's events section and complete the online registration form for the first of the Society's Focused Meetings.

Emerging Challenges and Opportunities in Soil Microbiology

MONDAY 1-TUESDAY 2 SEPTEMBER 2014 - HOLYWELL PARK CONFERENCE CENTRE, UNIVERSITY OF LOUGHBOROUGH, UK

A fundamental knowledge of the functioning of healthy natural and agricultural soils and their resilience is a prerequisite to meeting the many natural and man-made challenges of the 21st century. These include climate change, food and (fresh) water security, nutrient cycling and availability, carbon capture, pollution and biodiversity. Microbial communities in soils can affect these processes and also have to be able to adapt to changes in the soil interface with, for example, water distribution, soil/nutrient particles, plants and other soil biota, and gas exchange with the atmosphere.

The last decade has seen tremendous advances in next-generation nucleic acid sequencing, mass spectrometry and high-resolution imaging technologies, such as atomic force and confocal microscopy, X-ray computed tomography and neutron radiography, which offer exciting opportunities for soil microbiologists to study the crucial ecological roles of soils. Soil microbial community composition, dynamics and functioning can now be probed to depths not possible before.

This Focused Meeting will bring together soil microbiologists, ecologists, soil scientists, geographers and technologists providing expertise in environmental 'omics', imaging and bioinformatics to present and discuss emerging challenges and opportunities in soil microbial ecology and to promote multidisciplinary collaborations. Early career scientists are especially encouraged to participate.

Topics will include:

• The impact of climate change, water scarcity, flooding and agriculture on soil microbial community functioning and vice versa
• Structural and functional soil microbial diversity
• Biophysical processes affecting the life of soil microbes
• Bioengineering soil sustainability
• Spatial ecology, biogeography and (changes in) land use
• (Re)cycling of nutrients, waste and pollution

Organisers: Geertje van Keulen (Swansea University), Alex Dumbrell (University of Essex) and Wilfred Otten (University of Abertay, Dundee)

On-site registration will be available at Loughborough University.

Modelling Microbial Infection

MONDAY 17-TUESDAY 18 NOVEMBER 2014 - CHARLES DARWIN HOUSE, LONDON, UK

Infection models are essential for dissecting microbial–host interactions, unravelling disease processes and in the development of novel therapeutic agents. This Focused Meeting will discuss the range of models available to study microbial pathogenesis and will explore how technological advances, such as in vivo imaging, can increase the information obtained from these models. Bacterial, viral, fungal and parasitic infection modelswill be discussed and the use of alternative infection models debated. The use of models for drug discovery/development will also be discussed. This meeting is relevant to any researcher working in the area of microbial pathogenesis and offers the opportunity to learn about the range of models and resources available. The meeting will appeal to scientific researchers at all levels, and in particular PhD students, clinicians and those with an interest in translational and commercial research.

Organisers: Donna MacCallum and Carol Munro (University of Aberdeen)

Abstract submission deadline: Monday 22 September 2014

Early-bird deadline: Friday 17 October 2014

Annual Conference 2015

MONDAY 30 MARCH-THURSDAY 2 APRIL, INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE CENTRE, BIRMINGHAM, UK

The Society's 2015 Annual Conference will feature a range of scientific sessions including:

• Natural and unnatural virus evolution
• Antimicrobial resistance
• Virus assembly
• Life at interfaces
• Rhizobiome
• Building blocks of microbial evolution
• Mitochondria
• Paleomicrobiology
• Microbes in space

A call for abstracts will be made in September. The closing date for abstract submissions will be Monday 12 January 2015.

Irish Division Meeting 2015

WEDNESDAY 17-FRIDAY 19 JUNE, UNIVERSITY OF GALWAY, IRELAND

The Irish Division Meeting 2015 is titled Microbial Interfaces and will take place at the University of Galway, Ireland.

Topics will include:

• The host-microbe interface
• Health from the environment
• Microbiology for engineering and the bioeconomy
• The pathogen-device interface
• Ecosystems microbiology

Abstract submissions will open in October 2014.

Grants

Grants are available to eligible Microbiology Society members. View all grants online.