Molecular mechanisms in evolution and ecology

Time (Europe/Berlin)	Speaker
14:30 – 16:00	Registration and coffee
16:00 – 16:15	Opening remarks by scientific organisers
16:15 – 17:15	Keynote lecture: Fitness landscapes in host-virus interactions Harmit Malik – Howard Hughes Medical Institute and Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center, USA
	Session 1 – In the wild Session chair: Antonis Rokas – Vanderbilt University, USA
17:15 – 17:45	Tumultuous evolution of a floral yeast clade: impact of gene loss and HGT on metabolic adaptation Paula Goncalves – Nova School of Science and Technology, Portugal Not available on demand
17:45 – 18:15	Choanoflagellates: introverted, or just repressed? Nicole King – Howard Hughes Medical Institute & University of California Berkeley, USA (virtual speaker)
18:15 – 18:35	Mass lysis of bacterial predators drives the enrichment of antibiotic resistance in soil microbial communities Samay Pande – Indian Institute of Science, India Not available on demand
18:35 – 18:55	Gene conversion drives natural product diversification in soil bacteria Aleksandra Nivina – University of Zurich, Switzerland
18:55 – 20:00	Dinner in EMBL Canteen
20:00 – 21:00	Pub quiz in EMBL Canteen
21:00 – 22:00	Poster session sneak peek with drinks

Time (Europe/Berlin)	Speaker
	Session 1 – In the wild Session chair: Antonis Rokas – Vanderbilt University, USA
09:00 – 09:30	Evolution in a complex world: predator-prey interactions in the soil  Jordi van Gestel – EMBL Heidelberg, Germany Not available on demand
09:30 – 10:00	Evolution of reproductive strategies: lessons from seaweeds and their virus Susana Coelho – Max Planck Institute for Biology Tübingen, Germany Not available on demand
10:00 – 10:20	Environmental and genetic control of Saccharomyces yeasts mating strategies Chiara Vischioni – Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS) – IRCAN, France
10:20 – 11:00	Coffee break and meet the speakers
11:00 – 11:20	The life cycle of natural budding yeast polyploids Cintia Gómez-Muñoz – Sorbonne Université, France
11:20 – 11:40	Unraveling the molecular mechanisms behind multicellularity evolution in brown algae-virus interactions Liping Wang – Max Planck Institute for Biology Tübingen, Germany
	Session 2 – The genotype-phenotype map Session chair: Gilles Fischer – Sorbonne University, France
11:40-12:10	Evolution of the genotype-phenotype map across an entire subphylum of yeasts Antonis Rokas – Vanderbilt University, USA
12:10 – 12:30	Robust genetic codes enhance protein evolvability Hana Rozhonová – Charles University, Czech Republic
12:30 – 13:30	Lunch and meet the speakers
13:30 – 14:10	Flash talks by poster presenters (odd numbers) #43 Fabrizio Angaroni, #63 Anna Czerwinski, #83 Chloé Haberkorn, #93 Tera Levin, #99 Paul Mathias Jansen, #109 Lea Kloss, #117 Ming Liu, #119 Tomoya Maeda, #123 Nora Martin, #133 Ambre Noly, #145 Zsuzsa Sarkadi, #149 Andreas Sichert, #153 Junya Sunagawa, #161 Isabella Tomanek, #163 Nikolaos Vakirlis, #169 Andriy Volkov
14:10 – 16:00	Poster session 1 (odd numbers) Poster listing
16:00 – 17:00	Meet the editors Serena Bradde – PRX Life, USA Vera Domingues – Nature Ecology & Evolution, UK Andrea Du Toit – Nature Reviews Microbiology, UK Francois Mayer – Nature Microbiology, Germany Stephanie McClelland – Springer Nature, Germany Yehu Moran – EMBO Press, Germany Roland Roberts – PLoS Biology, UK
17:00 – 17:30	Ecological dynamics of bacterial cell collectives Julia Schwartzman – University of Southern California, USA Not available on demand
17:30 – 18:00	Highly parallel evolution in a recombination-driven molecular arms race Georg Hochberg – Max Planck Institute for Terrestrial Microbiology, Germany
18:00 – 18:30	Interpreting the evolution of SARS-CoV-2 Jesse Bloom – Howard Hughes Medical Institute & Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center (virtual speaker)
18:30 – 18:50	From infection to protection: how prophages contribute to antiviral defence in Pseudomonas aeruginosa Anna Olina – University of Exeter, United Kingdom
18:50 – 19:10	Quantitative analysis of repeatability and contingency in antibiotic resistance evolution Gabriela Petrungaro – University of Cologne, Germany
19:10 – 20:40	Dinner in EMBL Canteen
20:40 – 22:00	After dinner drinks in ATC Foyer

Time (Europe/Berlin)	Speaker
	Session 3 – Coevolution across trophic levels Session chair: Jordi van Gestel – EMBL Heidelberg, Germany
09:00 – 09:30	Mobile genetic elements shape the honey bee microbial community Irene Newton – Indiana University, USA
09:30 – 09:50	Recurrent hybridization‑to‑introgression cycles in a yeast population Eugenio Mancera – Centro de Investigación y de Estudios Avanzados del Instituto Politecnico Nacional, Mexico Not available on demand
09:50 – 10:10	Sedentary chromosomal integrons as biobanks of bacterial anti-phage defence systems Eloi Littner – Institut Pasteur, France
10:10- 10:30	Retracing the horizontal transfer of a novel innate immune factor in Drosophila Rebecca Tarnopol – University of California, Berkeley, USA
10:30 – 11:00	Coffee break and meet the speakers
11:00 – 11:30	Evolution of anti-viral immunity across domains of life Aude Bernheim – Institut Pasteur, France
11:30 – 12:00	Evolution of C. elegans-microbe interactions Hinrich Schulenburg – Kiel University, Germany
12:00 – 12:20	Experimental evolution of evolvability Michael Barnett – Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Biology, Germany
12:20 – 13:30	Lunch and meet the speakers
13:30 – 14:10	Flash talks by poster presenters (even numbers) #42 Danielle Adekunle, #48 Stefan Bassler, #70 Alice Dufour, #72 Sarah Frail, #90 Mathieu Hénault, #102 Jean-Baptiste Boule, #106 Dan Kehila, #116 Jun Liu, #132 Mariana Natalino, #134 Francisco Cubillos, #142 Lucas Santana Souza, #148 Ton Sharoni, #150 Luca Soldini, #152 Aleksandar Stanojkovic, #158 Nicolò Tellini, #160 AmirAli Toghani, #162 Vjaceslav Tretjacenko, #166 Petra Vande Zande
14:10 – 16:00	Poster session 2 (even numbers) Poster listing
	Free evening Optional: Castle tour (limited space available; sign up on-site)

Time (Europe/Berlin)	Speaker
	Session 4 – Assembly and evolution of communities Session chair: Sara Mitri – University of Lausanne, Switzerland
09:00 – 09:30	Understanding and predicting microbiome dynamics  Kat Coyte – University of Manchester, UK
09:30 – 09:50	Divergence in gene expression plasticity is driven by a blend of trans-regulatory mechanisms Anna Redhuis – University of Michigan, USA
09:50 – 10:10	The link between amoeba predation, virulence, and multicellularity in yeast Helen Murphy – William & Mary, USA
10:10 – 10:50	Coffee break and meet the speakers
10:50 – 11:20	Candida biofilms: importance, regulation, and evolution Clarissa Nobile – University of California, Merced, USA
11:20 – 11:50	Evolutionary genetics of opportunistic bacteria growing on surfaces or in hosts Vaughn Cooper – University of Pittsburgh, USA
11:50 – 12:10	Relationship between bacterial interspecies interactions and carbon source diversity Hiroki Ono – The University of Tokyo, Japan
12:10 – 12:30	How does the environment shape bacterial interactions? Josephine Solowiej-Wedderburn – Umeå University, Sweden
12:30 – 14:00	Lunch and meet the speakers
14:00 – 14:30	Global ecological interactions enable prediction of community-level functions Juan Díaz-Colunga – CSIC-University of Salamanca, Spain Spain
	Session 5 – Innovative & integrative approaches for ecology and evolution Session chair: Kimberly Kline – University of Geneva, Switzerland
14:30 – 15:00	The role of metabolism in shaping enzyme structures over 400 Million years of evolution Markus Ralser – Charité University Medicine, Germany
15:00 – 15:20	Genome-wide sweeps create fundamental ecological units in the human gut microbiome Xiaoqian Yu – University of Vienna, Austria
15:20 – 16:00	Coffee break and meet the speakers
16:00 – 16:20	Understanding the functional range of antiphage systems in Pseudomonas aeruginosa Aleksei Agapov – University of Exeter, UK
16:20 – 16:50	What chemicals do to our bugs? Kiran Patil – University of Cambridge, UK Not available on demand
16:50 – 17:10	Genetic and ecological determinants of bacterial pathogen success during plant infection Julien Luneau – University of Lausanne, Switzerland
17:10 – 17:40	Coffee break and meet the speakers
17:40 – 18:10	Mapping the human body one cell at a time Sarah Teichmann – Cambridge Stem Cell Institute, UK (virtual speaker)
18:10 – 18:30	From molecules to communities: predicting the emergent properties of spatially structured microbial systems Simon van Vliet – University Basel, Switzerland
18:30 – 18:50	The role of mutational buffering genes in shaping the phenotypic effects of de novo mutations Mohammed Tawfeeq -VIB-KU Leuven Center for Microbiology, Belgium
18:50 – 19:00	Closing remarks and poster prizes
19:00 – 20:30	Dinner in EMBL Canteen
20:30 – 23:30	Party in the ATC Foyer with band

On-site registration fees include admission, conference materials, meals and coffee breaks. Participants are expected to book and pay their own accommodation and travel expenses.

Virtual registration fees include access to all of the talks (livestreamed and on demand) and facility to submit questions.

On-site Academia	€550
On-site PhD Student	€350
On-site Industry	€750
On-site Journal Editors*	€300
Virtual Academia	€200
Virtual PhD Student	€150
Virtual Industry	€275

* Editors from scientific journals are allowed to attend at a reduced rate, but asked to contribute to the conference in return by taking part in ‘meet the editors’ sessions or other planned activities within the programme.

A letter to support your visa application will be issued, on request, once payment of the registration fee is confirmed. We recommend that you book your visa appointment as soon as possible, to avoid any delay with your visa application.

Accredited journalists may be eligible to register for complimentary press registration. Registrants may be required to provide accreditation or equivalent proof of press membership after registration. Please contact Aline Schnieder for more information. Please note that we do not offer complimentary registrations for editors of scientific journals.

Confirmation and payment

Registration will be on a first come, first served basis. Your place can only be confirmed after payment of the registration fee. If you are added to our waiting list, please consider taking advantage of our offerings to participate virtually.

On-site participants: Types of payments accepted are international bank transfers and credit card payments. 

Virtual participants: We are only able to accept card payments. In exceptional cases we can accept bank transfers. Please contact events@embl.de for details.

Abstract submission

Only participants registering to attend the on-site event are eligible to submit an abstract. Abstracts will not be accepted from virtual participants.

After registration you can submit your abstract via a separate link that will be provided in the email confirmation. Alternatively, you can access the link on the confirmation page directly after registering. The same login credentials are used for both processes.

Please note:

Abstract body: The limit of 2000 characters refers to manually typed text and excludes spaces. If an error occurs try using a different web browser (preferably Google Chrome or Mozilla Firefox).

If you copy-paste the text into the form, hidden formatting might still be included which may cause the text to exceed the 2,000 character limit resulting in an error message. We recommend you clear all formatting before pasting in the text.

If you have special symbols in your text, make sure you are using Unicode characters, otherwise these will not be recognised.

Title: The title should not exceed 20 words. Only the first word of the title should start with a capital letter and the rest should be lowercase.

Authors and affiliations: Please fill in the author’s details as requested in the online form. The compulsory fields are: First Name, Last Name, Organisation Name (Affiliation or Company), Country and Email.

Kindly mark only one author in the role of First Author and please don’t forget to indicate who will be the Presenter.

Please enter your co-authors correctly via the system by adding accounts together with their organisation/institute. Do not copy-paste them into the body of the abstract text, as they will not be indexed in the abstract book.

Presentation types: When submitting your abstract, you can apply for an oral or poster presentation. A selection process will take place with the results announced 2-3 weeks after the abstract submission deadline.

For detailed instructions on how to submit a conference abstract, follow the instructions provided in this video.

Please check our FAQs pages for further information on how to submit an abstract.

Financial assistance

Limited financial assistance is provided by the EMBL Advanced Training Centre Corporate Partnership Programme and EMBO in the form of registration fee waivers, travel grants, and childcare grants.

Your place in the meeting is only confirmed by paying the registration fee, which is mandatory even when receiving a fee waiver.

Registration fee waiver

The fee waiver will cover the registration sum that you have paid to attend the course or conference.

Travel grant

The travel grant will cover the cost of travel to an on-site event (airfare, train, bus, taxi, accommodation, visa, and/or registration fees*) and is provided up to specified caps which are normally as follows:

–up to €400 for participants travelling to an EMBL Conference or EMBO|EMBL Symposium from within Europe.

–up to €1000 for participants travelling to an EMBL Conference or EMBO|EMBL Symposium from outside Europe.

–up to €500 for any participant travelling to an EMBO Workshop.

–up to €1000 for any participant working in Chile, India, Singapore or Taiwan travelling to an EMBO Workshop.

–up to €700 for any participant working in Croatia, Czech Republic, Estonia, Greece, Hungary, Italy, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Poland, Slovenia, and Turkey travelling to an EMBO Workshop.

*Registration fees are only covered for EMBO Workshops

The organisers may reduce the grant cap to accommodate more participants. Recipients will be notified of their travel cap amount when they are informed of the outcome of their application. Original receipts must be provided with your signature for all costs incurred within two months of completion of travel. Scanned copies cannot be accepted.

Childcare grant

There is the possibility to apply for a childcare grant to offset child care costs incurred by participants, speakers, and organisers when attending a conference.

Eligible costs include (but are not limited to) fees for a baby-sitter or child-care facility, and travel costs for a caregiver. Please note that priority will be given to early stage researchers. In order to apply for this grant, you must be registered by the abstract submission deadline. There is a limited amount of funding available for the childcare grants and funds will be distributed amongst eligible applicants.

Application

On-site participants

You may apply for financial assistance when submitting your abstract. In your application you will be asked to answer questions regarding why your lab cannot fund your attendance and how your attendance will make a difference to your career. Application for financial support will not affect the outcome of your registration application.

Virtual participants

If you are attending virtually, you can apply for financial assistance in the submission portal by the abstract deadline. Read the instructions on how to apply for financial assistance. Only submissions for financial assistance will be accepted. Presentation abstracts cannot be submitted here and will be declined. 

In your application you will be asked to summarise your current work,  answer questions regarding why your lab cannot fund your attendance, and how your attendance will make a difference to your career. Application for financial support will not affect the outcome of your registration application.

Selection

The scientific organisers will select the recipients of registration fee waivers and travel grants during the motivation letter or abstract selection process. Results will be announced approximately 6 – 8 weeks before the event start date, however for some events this may be delayed. Selection results do not impact your admission to the meeting. Selection for registration fee waivers and travel grants is based on scientific merit, your current work or study location, the reasons for needing financial support, and the impact this event will have on your career.

Childcare grants will be allocated in the same timeframe (6-8 weeks before the event start date). Please note that priority will be given to early-stage researchers.

Reimbursement

Costs will be reimbursed after the meeting only once a reimbursement form and original receipts (from travel costs) have been received.

Further details

View our list of external funding opportunities and information on attending a conference as an event reporter.

For further information about financial assistance please refer to the FAQ page.

Accommodation is not included in the conference registration fee.

The hotels below have rooms on hold for participants until 10 September 2024, in some cases at special rates. Please email the hotel directly, quoting the booking code EAE24-01 to confirm the exact price of the room.

Hotel Anlage	Hotel ibis Heidelberg	Premier Inn Heidelberg City
Hotel Bayrischer Hof	ISG Hotel	Staycity Aparthotel Heidelberg
B&B Hotel	Hilton Heidelberg

Travel information

For travel information, please see here.

If you are travelling to the conference within Germany then you are eligible for the Deutsche Bahn ‘Event Ticket’ (called the ‘Veranstaltungsticket’ in German). This will result in a lower ticket price if your travel distance to Heidelberg is more than 100 km. You need to provide proof of your event attendance when purchasing the ticket.

For more information in English see here or in German see here.

You can book your ticket here.

Conference shuttle buses

Conference shuttle buses are free of charge for participants, and depart from designated bus stops near the hotels to EMBL and back, mornings and evenings.

Please find the conference shuttle bus schedule here.

The bus stops for this conference are:

• Staycity Aparthotel (Speyerer Str. 7)
• Kurfürsten-Anlage (Opposite Main Train Station)
• Premier Inn (Kurfürsten-Anlage 23)
• Leonardo Hotel Heidelberg City Center (Bergheimer Str. 63)
• Neckarmünzplatz (Heidelberg Tourist Information)
• Peterskirche (Bus stop)
• Hans-Böckler-Straße Bus stop (Rohrbacher Str. 22)
• ISG Hotel (Im Eichwald 19)

View Conference shuttle bus stops and hotels in a larger map. Please note that not every bus stop will be used for every event.

Further details

Address: EMBL, Meyerhofstraße 1, 69117 Heidelberg, Germany.

For more information about accommodation and travel, please refer to the FAQ page.

Catering

All meals and coffee breaks are included in the registration fee. Our catering staff will prepare a wide variety of vegetarian meals, meat and fish dishes, soups, pasta, fresh fruit and vegetables, as well as a variety of desserts.

Please wear your badge at all times when serving yourself.

No food or drinks are allowed in the auditorium.

Charging lockers

There are lockers available next to the stairs leading down into the Auditorium. You will find some of those equipped with sockets to charge your smartphone/tablet etc.

Electricity and charging station

In most places the electricity is 220 volts AC (50 cycles). An adaptor and a plug that fits the German socket may be needed for your appliances/laptop (i.e. American, Japanese, etc.). A USB charging station for electronic devices is available at the registration desk.

EMBL merchandise

If you are interested in purchasing EMBL merchandise (products presented in the glass display in the registration area), please email the EMBL shop to place an order or get in contact with your Course Organiser.

Kindly note the EMBL shop is only open upon request and all purchases must be made in cash (Euros only).

Health and safety notes

Please read EMBL’s COVID-19 safety policy for on-site events.
Do not smoke in any EMBL building.
Eating and drinking is prohibited in the Auditorium and all laboratories.
Do not enter any restricted areas or the laboratories unless instructed to do so.

If first aid is required …

• The first aid room is located next to the ATC Registration Desk (room 10- 205).
• Dial the Emergency number 222 from any EMBL internal phone only.
• Where is the accident? What happened? How many injured?
• Emergency number 06221-387 7821 from mobile phones.
• Please report all accidents to the conference officer at the registration desk.

In case of fire …

• Press the nearest fire alarm button or the Emergency number 222 from any internal phone.
• A loud fire alarm will go off if an evacuation is required. On hearing the alarm leave the building immediately following the escape route and fire wardens and head to one of the meeting points
• Do not use the lifts.

Beyond first aid…

Please remember to bring your own medication, if needed, to the conference. Note that the next pharmacy is a 4-minute drive from the EMBL, but for many medications you will be required to see a doctor to get a prescription.

Ensure in advance that your medical insurance will cover you during your visit in the event that you do need to see a doctor while in Heidelberg. In any case, the EMBL Course and Conference Office will assist you to get to the pharmacy and a doctor of your choice if necessary.

Internet

Wi-Fi is available on campus using the EMBL-Events network and the event specific password, which will be provided on site. The eduroam network (secure, worldwide roaming access service developed for the international research and education community) is also available.

Lost and found

‘’Lost and Found’’ items are kept at the registration desk until the end of the conference.

Luggage

There are lockers available on-site to store your luggage, which require a 2 EURO coin to operate. There is another luggage room on level E0, which is free to use but remains unlocked during the conference.

Nursing room

There is a nursing room available in the ATC Rooftop Lounge on level A29.

Photography

During the conference, an EMBL Photographer may be taking photos. If you would not like to appear in these, please inform the photographer or a member of the Course and Conference Office.

Printing

We can help to print your boarding pass/train ticket. Please send it to events@embl.de and collect your print-outs at the registration desk.

Room for prayer, yoga and meditation

There is a room for prayer, meditation and yoga located on level E0 behind the Auditorium. Please be respectful of others using the room.

Sightseeing

A variety of activities in Heidelberg can be found on the website of Heidelberg Marketing.

Travel to and from the venue

During the event, we provide conference shuttle buses to and from EMBL. In addition, there is the public bus 39A that serves the EMBL campus and taxis can be easily booked at any time. Information on the conference shuttle buses can be found on the individual event website and more detailed information on travelling to EMBL can be found on our Travel Information page.

Useful German expressions

Hello	Hallo
Goodbye	Auf Wiedersehen (formal) Tschüss (informal)
Good morning	Guten Morgen
Good afternoon	Guten Tag
Good evening	Guten Abend
Good night	Gute Nacht
I’m sorry	Es tut mir leid
Excuse me…	Entschuldigen Sie
How are you?	Wie gehts?
I’m fine thanks. And you?	Mir geht es gut , danke. Und Dir/Ihnen?
What is your name	Wie heißen Sie? (formal) Wie heißt Du? (informal)
My name is	Ich heiße…
Do you speak English	Sprechen Sie Englisch?
I don’t understand	Ich verstehe nicht
Please speak more slowly	Können Sie bitte langsamer sprechen
Thank you	Dankeschön
Where is the toilet?	Wo ist die Toilette?
Please call me a taxi	Bitte rufen Sie mir ein Taxi
How do I get to….?	Wie komme ich zum/zur…..?
A beer/two beers please	Ein Bier/zwei Bier bitte
A glass of red/white wine please	Ein Glas Rot/Weisswein bitte
The menu, please	Die Speisekarte, bitte
Is there a local speciality?	Gibt es eine Spezialität aus dieser Gegend?
I’m vegetarian	Ich bin Vegetarier/ Vegetarierin
It was delicious	Es war hervorragend
The bill, please	Die Rechnung, bitte
I have a headache	Ich habe Kopfschmerzen
I have a sore throat	Ich habe Halsschmerzen
My stomach hurts	Ich habe Magenschmerzen
I’m allergic to	Ich bin allergisch gegen
I need a doctor who speaks English	Ich brauche einen Arzt, der Englisch spricht

What’s included?

• Access to all the livestreamed talks
• Video library of the recorded talks during the event and for two weeks afterwards. Please note: at the request of individual speakers, some talks are not recorded.
• Facility to submit questions

* Talks will only be recorded upon speaker’s consent

Please note that only on-site participants are able to submit abstracts and participate in the poster sessions.

Event platform

We are using an event platform for this conference. More information about the platform will be shared ahead of the conference.

Guidelines

• Do not broadcast the conference to unregistered participants.
• You are encouraged to tweet and post about the event. Tweet unless the speaker specifically says otherwise, but be mindful of unpublished data. 
• Please do not capture, transmit or redistribute data presented at the meeting.

Additional information can be found in our Code of Conduct.

Health and well-being

It is important to stay healthy and move around, especially when you are attending an event virtually. We have put together a few coffee break stretches and yoga videos in the conference platform for you to enjoy during the event.

How to ask questions

Please use the Q&A function in the event platform.

If you have any other questions, you can go to the Help Desk in the event platform. Click on ‘more’ on the top menu and click Help Desk. 

Time zone

The programme is planned based on the Europe/Berlin time zone, unless otherwise stated. Please take your time zone into consideration when planning your attendance.

Please find additional information including FAQs, terms and conditions, COVID-19 safety policy and travelling to EMBL on our Information for participants page.

COVID-19 information for on-site events at EMBL Heidelberg can be found in our COVID-19 FAQs.