Activities

We seek to support the microbiology community through Connecting People, and Sharing Knowledge with a variety of scientific development, knowledge sharing, and network-building activities:

• We publish seven highly regarded journals – Articles from our journals are read over 5.5 million times annually (2020). Together, they provide the revenues that support our charitable activities, enabling us to continue Investing in Science.  We thank and acknowledge the hard work and dedication of every contributor to this process: the Authors, the Editorial boards, Editors, Reviewers and our not-for-profit publisher, Oxford University Press (OUP) who together make this possible. Our Journals also award prizes to the best research they encounter at scientific meetings and in their publications.

• We hold a biennial scientific congress and other events – Our Congress of European Microbiologists is hosted in different European locations and hosts some of the biggest names in microbiology, attracting around 2,000 participants; we also run two Summer Schools, and a smaller regional Conference on Microbiology.

• We provide research, travel, industry placement, and meeting organizer grants – In 2019, we gave out more than 300 grants worth nearly EUR 500,000 to members of our Member Societies and Congress attendees.

• We recognize excellence by giving out awards – Our first awards program was set up in 1999. We now give 9 types of award to recognize excellence in microbiology. These awards include the Måkåla-Cassell Award with the American Society of Microbiology (ASM), the FEMS-ESCMID Award with the European Society of Clinical Microbiology and Infectious Diseases (ESCMID), and our most prestigious award: the FEMS-Lwoff Award. We also award excellence in Science Communication, Early Career Microbiology, Education Development and Industry & Innovation.

• We promote education, and continuing professional development (CPD) – our Education Network runs sessions at our Congress, helps to organize a Summer School on Microbiology Education, and inspired the Professional Development section in FEMS Microbiology Letters. Our well renowned FEMS Webinar series brings regular top-quality scientific lectures to a global audience for free.

• We lead outreach initiatives and science communication through our projects such as International Microorganism Day, the #FEMSmicroBlog, and our Microbes and Us podcast. We also train and manage volunteers from the microbiology community for our #OnThisDay, Journal Social Media Editor (JSME), and Translation volunteer teams. The FEMS Opportunities Board provides a one-stop-shop for finding all the latest jobs, events, resources, and initiatives from the microbiology community.

• We initiated and fund the European Academy of Microbiology (EAM) – A leadership group of eminent microbiology experts, with their own high impact Open Access journal microLife (Twitter: @microLifeJrnl)

• Our international ambassadors in China, Japan, South Korea, India, Brazil, Canada and Australia help us promote our mission, vision, and activities of spreading microbiology knowledge, and connecting microbiologists and microbiological societies for benefit of humankind.

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