At the forefront of plant research (2nd edition)

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Following a sold-out and highly successful first edition that drew over 230 participants from 28 countries, we are excited to announce the second edition of the international VIB Conference 'At the forefront of Plant Research', which will take place in picturesque Ghent, Belgium.

Understanding and exploiting plant life lies at the heart of human civilization. Not only do we rely on plants to feed a growing world population and to improve our standard of living, plants also play a pivotal role in providing a significant portion of our energy needs, and in fulfilling our demand for renewable industrial resources. Plant research is therefore essential for developing sustainable solutions that increase crop productivity and quality while promoting agricultural practices that work in harmony with the natural environment.

The first edition of this conference was held in 2017, followed by a related meeting organized by CRAG in 2023. Since then, new developments have opened up promising opportunities in the field. This second edition aims to bring together leading experts from diverse cutting-edge fields to explore and share insights on the future directions of plant life science. The program will cover various topics, including advances in AI and machine learning powered discoveries, genome engineering, single-cell and omics technologies, evolution and development in non-model species, cell signaling, as well as cellular and structural biology.

Speakers

Salma Balazadeh | MPI Golm, DE
Madelaine Bartlett | Sainsbury Laboratory Cambridge University, UK
Emmanuelle Bayer | Laboratory of Membrane biogenesis CNRS, FR
Jan De Vries | Georg-August-Universität Göttingen, DE
Marcel Dickmanns | Max Planck Institute of Biochemistry & Heinrich Heine University Düsseldorf, DE
Xiaofeng Fang | Tsinghua University, CN
and many more.. visit our website for a full overview of all speakers

Discover the program

Deadlines