FEMS Summer School for PostDocs 2023
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This summer school gave us a great opportunity to meet in person some excellent professors & mentors, with amazing and inspirational talks, and great postdoc scientists for future collaborations.”
Source: Summer School for Postdocs 2022 evaluation
Quick facts
- When? 4 – 11 September 2023
- Where? Accommodation and all facilities are in the Mediterranean Institute for Life Sciences (MedILS) in Split, Croatia
- Who? Selected applicants. Applicants must be currently working in a postdoctoral position, or have completed a postdoc within 5 years (excluding special leave) of the end of the FEMS Summer School. Abstract submission opening tba.
- What? This Summer School will focus on Cutting-edge microbial technologies for a sustainable industrial future.
Programme
The final programme is under construction.
Introduction
The FEMS Summer School for PostDocs 2023 will involve a combination of formal lectures, brainstorming sessions, problem-solving exercises and will finish with a small-group project design competition.
The Summer School aims to foster a mindset of translating cutting-edge technologies from the research bench to scalable industrial applications. It will focus on state-of-the-art in vitro and in vivo technologies that can be used to engineer microbes for a range of novel industrial, environmental, and healthcare applications. In many cases these applications are designed to replace existing energy intensive processes that currently relay on non-sustainable substrate and energy sources.
The Summer School will appeal to post-doctoral microbiologists who see their future careers in academia, collaborating with industry on technology and product development, or in industry as researchers, industrial microbiologists, or project managers.
Learn about the FEMS Summer School for Postdocs from the class of 2021 (event postponed to April 2022):
Summer School Co-Directors

Newcastle University
United Kingdom
Colin Harwood is Professor of Molecular Microbiology at Newcastle University (UK). He has been involved in 12 EU-funded research and training programmes, in two cases as project coordinator. He has collaborated with many of the world’s largest producers of industrial enzymes, as well and many Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (SMEs) and start-up companies. He also spent a sabbatical year at KabiGen AB (SE), one of the world’s first biotechnology companies. His expertise is primarily on the molecular biology of bacteria in the genus Bacillus, which are extensively employed in the production of industrial enzymes and metabolites. He provides consultancy services to companies on strain development and on regulatory issues associated with antibiotic resistance and resistance transfer. He has published more than 150 research and review articles and has edited a number of journals and method books.

Kobe University
Japan
Ken-ichi Yoshida is Professor of Applied Microbiology at Kobe University (Japan). He has specialized in bacterial structural and functional genomics since the very beginning of his career, including as a postdoc at the French National Institute for Agricultural Research (INRA). He has published more than 130 research papers and reviews. In particular, he is recognized as an international pioneer in the elucidation of bacterial inositol metabolism and its applications. He was awarded the prize for the “Encouragement of Young Scientists” and on two occasions the “Excellent papers” prize from the Japan Society for Bioscience, Biotechnology and Agrochemistry. He received the “Fermentation and metabolism research award” from Japan Bioindustry Association and the prize from NAGASE Science Technology Foundation. He has previously served as a Program Officer in the Japanese Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology. He is currently the honorary FEMS Ambassador to Japan.

Founder of MedILS
Honorary Director
Miroslav Radman is a FEMS-Lwoff Award winner (2011) for his research of DNA repair mechanism in Deinococcus radiodurans and Co-founder of MedILS. He is an Honorary Director of the FEMS Summer School for Postdocs
A Message from the FEMS Director of Events & Internationalization, Prof. d-r Vaso Taleski
Dear potential students of the FEMS Summer School for Postdocs 2022!
With great pleasure I would like to inform you that the fourth FEMS summer school for postdocs will take place at MedILS, Split, Croatia, from 4-11th September 2023.
It is my honor to announce that we have great directors and distinguished speakers-mentors, as well as an excellent and very attractive 8-day program of cutting-edge science.
This event is a great opportunity to improve your personal knowledge and skills, open new horizons, start new collaborations and scientific projects. It could have a significant impact on the direction of your future scientific career. The extremely positive feedback from postdocs, directors, mentors and speakers who attended the previous three summer schools confirms the excellence of both the venue and the teaching program; with special mention of the success of the group exercises.
Ambitious postdocs should not miss this unique event and lifetime opportunity.
Looking forward to your participation.
Prof. d-r Vaso Taleski
FEMS Director of Events & Internationalization
Costs
Successful applicants are expected to pay the costs of their travel and travel insurance. The bench fee for each successful applicant is € 400, payable to MedILS within 15 days of receiving an invoice after selection. The fee covers accommodation, catering, and attendance for the duration of the Summer School.
Cancellation Policy
If you need to cancel your attendance after paying your fee, you will be reimbursed:
- before 15 June 2023, 50%
- before 31 July 2023, 30%
- after 31 July 2023, 0%
Timeline
- OPEN applications system 27 February 2023
- Deadline for applications 15 May 2023
- Notification of outcome of applications tba
- OPEN Online registration for successful applicants tba
- Online registration for successful applicants close tba
- Registration fee payment deadline tba
- Summer School Arrivals and Opening: 4 September 2023
- Summer School Closing: 11 September 2023
- Summer School Departures: 12 September 2023
Organization
Summer School Co-Directors:
- Colin Harwood, Newcastle University, United Kingdom
- Ken-ichi Yoshida, Kobe University, Japan
- Miroslav Radman, Founder of MedILS, Honorary Director
Persons involved in the organization FEMS:
- Vaso Taleski, FEMS Director of events & internationalization
- Carianne Buurmeijer, FEMS Project Manager: Events & Communication
- Joseph Shuttleworth, FEMS Science Communications Project Manager
Persons involved in the organization from MedILS:
- Jelena Ružić, Acting director
- Irena Rajić, Secretary
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Anaerobic Biological Dehalogenation
FEMS Microbiology Ecology is proud to present this latest thematic issue on Anaerobic Biological Dehalogenation. Knowledge on anaerobic microbial dehalogenation has advanced significantly since its first discovery. Understanding of the biochemistry, physiology and ecology of organohalide-respiring bacteria (OHRB) has allowed development of bioremediation technologies for clean-up of contaminated sites. At the same time, a fundamental understanding of the processes, enzymes and organisms involved has allowed to discover new exciting features in biochemistry and microbiology. OHRB are either members of novel bacterial genera or already known ones with other metabolic features indicating the importance of horizontal gene transfer in this anaerobic respiration process. Reductive dehalogenases, thus far discovered, are all corrinoid-containing enzymes revealing unexpected biochemical features of this cofactor normally known to be involved in alkyl-transfer reactions. This special thematic issue shows nicely that there remains still a lot to be discovered regarding anaerobic biological dehalogenation.