YSF Programme

Overview

The 25th FEBS Young Scientists’ Forum (YSF 2026) will commence on Thursday, 2nd July 2026, in Wageningen, starting with an opening lecture and welcome cocktail. The scientific programme will cover diverse scientific topics, with talks from renowned keynote speakers and opportunities for participants to showcase their own work through oral presentations and posters. In addition, the ‘Career Skills’ sessions will provide advice on core competencies, soft skills, and career options. Throughout the YSF, participants will have many opportunities to grow their international connections and engage in discussions with peers and senior scientists, and show their own work. On Saturday, 4th July 2026, we will transfer to Maastricht, ready for the start of the FEBS Congress!

Keynote lectures will feature Luca Scorrano (University of Padova, Italy) on mitochondrial pathophysiology; Joanna Sułkowska (University of Warsaw, Poland) on structural biology and biological systems modelling; Tom de Greef (TU Eindhoven, Netherlands) on synthetic biology strategies for DNA-based data storage; and Philippe Glaser (Institut Pasteur, France) on the evolution of antibiotic resistance. Career speakers will include Alain van Gool (Radboud University Medical Center, Netherlands) on choosing your career path; Jana Christopher (FEBS Press, Germany) on publishing integrity and the impact of generative AI; Keith Elliott (University of Manchester, UK) on CV preparation; and Jason Perret (Free University of Brussels, Belgium) on good scientific practice.

Find introductions to YSF speakers here.

Preliminary Schedule*

Thursday 2 July 2026

15:30 – 18:00	ARRIVAL AND REGISTRATION
18:00 – 18:30	OPENING REMARKS Ricfrid van der Marel, Chair of the 25th FEBS YSF Organizing Committee Jan Willem Borst, Co-Chair of the 50th FEBS Congress Riccardo Miggiano, Acting Chair of the FEBS Careers of Young Scientists Committee Miguel A. De la Rosa, FEBS Secretary General
18:30 – 19:15	OPENING LECTURE Luca Scorrano, Italy ‘Keeping mitochondria in shape: a matter of life and death’
19:30	WELCOME RECEPTION

Friday 3 July 2026

08:30 – 09:15	KEYNOTE LECTURE 1 Joanna Sułkowska, Poland ‘Topology in biological matter: new ways to use entanglement in structural biology’
09:15 – 10:30	SELECTED SHORT TALKS 1 Ilse Lagerwaard, The Netherlands ‘Delineating the protein network regulating early termination/elongation of RNA Polymerase II’ Ludovic Poire, France ‘Discovery of novel immunity systems against plasmids in the opportunistic pathogen Acinetobacter baumannii’ Regina Mengual, Spain ‘Multidirectional neuron-glia mitochondrial transfer and metabolic rewiring’ Jakub Kanka, Czech Republic ‘Enlightening the quietness – The search for early silenced proviruses’ Gabriela Guedes, United Kingdom ‘Exploiting the versatility of engineered consensus tetratricopeptide repeat proteins as multivalent theranostic agents’
10:30-10:35	SPONSORED TALK – PreLights
10:35 – 11:00	COFFEE BREAK
11:00 – 11:35	CAREER SKILLS 1 Alain van Gool, The Netherlands ‘Sliding doors in my career as translational biomarker scientist’
11:35 – 12:10	CAREER SKILLS 2 Jason Pettet, Belgium ‘The most underrated soft skill: the lab book’
12:10 – 12:30	CAREER SKILLS 3 Marta Reyes-Corral, Spain ‘Funding opportunities from the FEBS Fellowships Committee’
12:30 – 14:00	LUNCH
14:00 – 14:45	KEYNOTE LECTURE 2 Tom de Greef, The Netherlands ‘Physical and molecular strategies for secure DNA data storage’
14:45 – 16:00	SELECTED SHORT TALKS 2 Pablo Ortega Martínez, Finland ‘Extracellular electron transfer in cyanobacteria’ Susana Marques Costa, Portugal ‘A pair of ‘false twins’ ncRNAs in Pseudomonas putida: study of their role and regulation’ Tõnis Laasfeld, Estonia ‘Unlocking systems biology and pharmacology of biochemical reactions and interactions through structured approach to data’ Marianna Genta, Italy ‘Bacterial DNA nucleotide excision repair: a multi-approach investigation of the damage recognition process’ Agienszka Będzińska, Poland ‘Crosstalk between SLAMF7 and NF-κB signalling pathway in inflammation’
16:00 – 18:30	POSTER PARTY
19:00	SOCIAL PROGRAMME AND DINNER

Saturday 4 July 2026

09:00 – 09:35	CAREER SKILLS 4 Jana Christopher, Germany ‘Navigating image integrity, paper mills, and the impact of generative AI’
09:35 – 10:10	CAREER SKILLS 5 Keith Elliott, United Kingdom ‘Preparing your CV: how to make the most of yourself’
10:10 – 10:45	COFFEE BREAK
10:45 – 11:30	CLOSING LECTURE Philippe Glaser, France ‘Emergence and dissemination of antibiotic resistance’
11:30 – 12:00	CLOSING REMARKS AND PRIZES FEBS-IUBMB-ENABLE 2026 Conference FEBS YSF and Congress 2027 FEBS Junior Section Prizes sponsored by FEBS Open Bio and BioFactors
12:30	TRANSFER TO MAASTRICHT (lunch in transit)

Prizes at the YSF 2026

YSF prizes are being funded by the journals FEBS Open Bio and BioFactors.

Other Sponsorship

The 2026 YSF programme is also proudly sponsored by preLights.

Overview

Prizes at the YSF 2026

Other Sponsorship

Explore more YSF pages

Key dates