FEMS Regional COLLAB

Expand your network. Shape new collaborations.

On 14-15 September 2026, microbiologists, industry representatives, and funding stakeholders gathered in Vienna, Austria, for the FEMS Regional COLLAB, hosted within the 18th ÖGMBT Annual Meeting. The event was co-hosted by FEMS Member Societies from Austria, Croatia, and Slovenia and created a unique platform for strengthening scientific partnerships across Central Europe.

Designed to foster meaningful and long-lasting collaborations, the meeting brought together researchers working across diverse areas of microbiology to explore shared challenges, identify complementary expertise, and discuss opportunities for future cross-border projects. Through interactive sessions, structured networking activities, and informal discussions, participants had the opportunity to build new professional relationships and exchange ideas with peers from neighbouring countries and beyond.

Why a regional meeting?

The goal was to connect researchers who live and work near each other, making it easier to start and sustain collaborations, project consortia, and joint funding applications. International guests were welcome and brought valuable complementary perspectives to the regional event.

Bridging academia, industry, and funders

We saw a strong need to connect academic research with application and impact at an early project stage.

This meeting created structured opportunities for:

  • Academic scientists to explore exploitation potential and application routes for microbial solutions with industry partners.
  • Industry researchers to meet academic groups, outline real-world challenges, and co-develop research ideas.
  • Funding agencies to present schemes and, importantly, listen to academia and industry about emerging needs and future topic calls.

What was expected

This was a regional matchmaking event designed for scientists from academia, industry, and funding stakeholders. We kept plenary content short and interaction time long.
Participants had the opportunity to:
  • Meet peers and like-minded colleagues from neighboring countries experiencing similar scientific and practical challenges, and leave with a concrete list of people you can contact directly.
  • Learn from scientists working on the same themes and methodologies you are using in your own projects.
  • Experience how dedicated time for networking and discussion helps you grow as a professional and sparks new ideas.
  • Identify opportunities for future joint and cross-border research projects.
  • Explore what makes collaboration with industry successful in practice.

Meeting format

This year’s ÖGMBT Annual Meeting featured a unique international split format combining two interconnected scientific events:

  • FEMS Regional COLLAB : 14–15 September 2026
    Organised together with the Slovenian Microbiological Society and the Croatian Microbiological Society
  • FEBS3+ Meeting : 15–17 September 2026
    Organised together with the Czech Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology and the Slovenian Biochemical Society
  • Joint Programme Day: 15 September 2026

Participants could register for: the FEMS Regional COLLAB meeting, the FEBS3+ Meeting, or the complete combined programme.

For information on the programme you can view the FEMS Regional COLLAB programme here.

How participants got involved – Abstract submissions 

Every participant was invited to submit a research profile for one of the main conference topics: Eco Innovations, Biotechnology, Health Horizons, and Engagement & Growth. The purpose of these research profiles were to help identify suitable panelists for the FEMS Regional COLLAB and to support table discussions and scientific exchange among participants.

Who attended?

  • Scientists at all career stages who were curious, collaborative, and eager to build new networks.
  • Late-stage PhD students, early postdocs, tenure-track researchers, and early PIs who wanted to:
    • form new project consortia
    • Prepare European or bilateral funding applications
    • find complementary expertise in the region
  • Company and industry partners who want to engage with academia, present challenges, and co-design solutions and consortia.
  • Funding agencies that were interested in presenting programmes and learning directly from researchers and industry, where support is most needed.

Important dates and deadlines

Dates Deadlines
July 7, 2026 End of early registration & payment of early registration fee – EXTENDED. Now closed 
July 7, 2026 End of abstract submissions for oral presentations (posters still possible) * Now closed 
June 23, 2026 End of cancellation & refund possibility for participants who submitted an oral abstract. Now closed 
July 23, 2026 Notification about acceptance for oral presentations
July 31, 2026 End of cancellation & refund possibility for participants without oral abstracts
August 5, 2026 Deadline for submission of poster abstracts. Now closed 
August 10, 2026 Notification about acceptance for poster presentations
September, 2026 Deadline for upload of Science Flash Talk presentations. Now closed 
September 7, 2026 Online registration closes / end of payment for late registration fee. Now closed 

 

FEMS Journals and open access

Embracing an open future

Open access is key to supporting the FEMS mission of disseminating high quality research as widely as possible: when high quality, peer reviewed sound science is open access, anyone, anywhere in the world with an internet connection, can read it. All but one of the not-for-profit FEMS journals are fully open access (OA), with one journal, FEMS Microbiology Letters, offering free-to-publish and OA options.

Learn more
Publish with purpose
FEMS Journals