FEBS-IUBMB-ENABLE Conference
The FEBS-IUBMB-ENABLE Conference is hosted by a different institution each year. In September 2021, FEBS, IUBMB and the ENABLE consortium had a call for applications to find an academic institution in Europe to host the November 2022 conference. The Institute of Biomedicine of Seville (IBiS), in Spain, submitted a successful application and will host the event next year. Read on to find out more about previous ENABLE events, and please note that the call for the 2023 and 2024 events will open soon. More information will be shared on this website and on social media.
Based on a successful project funded by the EU H2020 Research and Innovation Programme (www.enablenetwork.eu), the FEBS-IUBMB-ENABLE conference series is a joint initiative of FEBS, IUBMB (the International Union of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology) and four leading biomedical research institutes across Europe: the Institute for Research in Biomedicine (IRB Barcelona, Spain), the Radboud Institute for Molecular Life Sciences (Nijmegen, the Netherlands), The Novo Nordisk Foundation Center for Protein Research (Copenhagen, Denmark), and the European School of Molecular Medicine (Milan, Italy).
Since 2017, the ENABLE consortium comprising these four institutes has promoted international, interdisciplinary 3-day conferences organized by and for young researchers from the molecular life sciences disciplines, bringing together up to 300 participants from all over the world. Each of these annual gatherings has been hosted by one of the partner research institutes of the consortium. Since the launch of ENABLE, FEBS and IUBMB have been the main sponsors of the events, awarding more than 40 travel grants and thus allowing young researchers to attend the conferences in Barcelona, Copenhagen and Nijmegen1. FEBS, IUBMB and ENABLE have now joined forces to give continuity to these successful events and to offer research institutes devoted to molecular life sciences worldwide the opportunity to host and participate in the organization of one of these conferences.
These events stand out because they have been organized by a scientific committee of young researchers (PhD students and postdocs) from several European institutions. The annual gatherings comprise various parts, the most significant being a scientific symposium, which seeks to explore the latest research and pioneering developments in the molecular life sciences. Coupled to this symposium, a wide range of activities focused on employment opportunities, including a career day, career workshops and a job fair, are also organized. These conferences also seek to engage the public via outreach activities especially tailored to target certain audiences. In addition to the relevance of public engagement, these activities provide an ideal training opportunity for PhD students and postdocs interested in science communication. The FEBS-IUBMB-ENABLE conference series seeks to empower young researchers by giving them the necessary tools and inspiration to successfully organize a set of activities aimed at their peers.
1Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the event that should have been held in Milan in 2020 was postponed to May 2021 and was held online.
Within FEBS, this activity is overseen by the FEBS Working Group on the Careers of Young Scientists.